Pilgrims of hope

Religious experience is also under the magnifying glass of the polls. And, as regards the Italian situation (in the not comforting picture of the Western European scenario), the data and percentages tend towards strong and persistent decline. An en passant observation is enough to convince oneself that there is a rather problematic comparison in the numbers, which has been pushing in the direction of a marked minority for some time now. But what should question us even more is the quality of the experience of faith itself: sociologists speak of a religiously "faded" context, that is, a little dragged, tending towards the residual, unable to stem a certain marginality. Today we are talking about Luca Diotallevi's book, The mass is faded, Rubettino editions. And it is underlined - again sociologically - on the one hand the disruptive force of the prophetic voice of Pope Francis which leaves its mark, but - on the other - it is noted that the horizon awaits other voices in its wake, capable of taking root in communities and in companies an announcement that conquers. And again, phenomena are mentioned that are embittering - even just remembering the encouraging season of the Council - such as taking refuge in belongings of unthought traditionalism. Without forgetting that the evangelical possibility of involving the new generations is becoming increasingly difficult, marked by the distance that is widening precisely in the world of youth, moving towards other existential references.

It is also true that within the ongoing synodal experience we are mobilizing to understand, reflect, measure ourselves... Compared to these concrete and daily challenges in which Christian life seems to be rarefied, at least within the moving coordinates and at full speed that mark the western horizon. And there is no shortage of courageous, unprecedented and surprising gestures and breakthroughs. In order not to lose contact, indeed to propose ourselves again with an inexhaustible faith, despite the fading of many realities and expressions. The long process of the Gospel in history - together with the promise of the Risen One to his followers - urges us not to lose heart, to seek unexplored paths, to invest in listening to the Spirit along the way. Collecting the handful of questions on how we can live in this world with in our soul a "hope that does not disappoint, to be shared", in which we can recognize ourselves and look at the events, situations, problems, anxieties and worries of today . This is why, perhaps, Pope Francis has given the next Jubilee of 2025 the horizon of becoming Pilgrims of hope, walking among the people, having something great to bring, not losing the way, but cultivating encouraging steps, together.


Corrado Avagnina
NP April 2024