"Today we are very tempted to judge everything that has happened throughout history by our criteria, the criteria of the 21st century. This is anachronistic. I cannot judge the society of the 16th century, the 13th century, or the 4th century B.C., with the criteria I have today. If we act in this way, unfortunately so widespread, we will never be able to correctly understand the development of history. Anachronism, judging the events of one era with the criteria of another, is a lethal danger for those who want to judge history with today's criteria.
This is the opinion of Dr. Fermín Labarga, professor from La Rioja, director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the University of Navarra, with whom we talked about Church History and history in general, but before that, of course, of the ISCR, on whose web site he launches a few words of welcome.
Welcome to whom? In particular to students, lay professionals from all fields; to those in the educational sector, in training and in qualification, to women and men who are getting on or wish to get on board, from all over the world, the boat of quality training in an Institute that opened its admission period on May 1.
Omnes has already spoken about this Institute of Religious Sciences. It did so with its deputy director, Professor Tomás Trigo, we asked students We are now, after some time, talking with Dr. Fermín Labarga, its director. He is a theologian and historian whose specialization in history and the study of manifestations of popular devotion, such as the confraternities, "a great treasure that has been accumulated over the centuries, because it is also part of something as important as the inculturation of the faith," he says.
The ISCR of the University of Navarra
Let's start with your data. You are a servant. What fifth are you from? Where did you study and when were you ordained a priest? How long have you been a director of ISCR.
- I was born in 1969 in Logroño, I studied at the University of Navarra, I have a doctorate in Theology and History, and I have been a priest since October 1, 1994; I am a priest of the diocese of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, and I was appointed director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the University of Navarra on July 3, 2020.
You were already familiar with the ISCR, did you have any special objectives in mind?
- I have been a professor at the Faculty of Theology for many years. I did not really set myself any objective other than to continue with the work that was already being done, because it seems to me that it is fundamental, when one comes to direct something like the ISCR, to add to what is being done, because it had had a great development of its activity in previous years. Therefore, my objective was none other than to maintain what was already being done and, as far as possible, to contribute to its further improvement.
What did we have to do? To teach better and better, and that this reaches the more people, the better, because it is an opportunity for many people who may not be able to attend classes in person, for lack of time or because they do not take place in the place where they live. Well, here you have the possibility of having a training Christian quality.
Many ISCR alumni we have spoken to have expressed their appreciation. In your opinion, why such satisfaction?
- We have also found this to be true when students are surveyed. The students come to the formation given by the Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra, fundamentally for two reasons. One, the institution, the University of Navarra brand has prestige, in Spain and internationally. And second, the students who come are looking for a rigorous and serious formation; and in this case, it gives them a lot of security to know that the teaching follows, as it could not be otherwise in an institution like this, the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
On the other hand, students leave happy because they feel that they have made good use of their time, that they have learned, and that they have met interesting people, not only among the teachers but also among the other students, and that they have been treated well. These are important keys for a student to conclude his or her studies and to be proud of having invested time and money.
Are most of these studies online?
- Depends. The Institute of Religious Sciences imparts all the studies leading to the Bachelor of Religious Sciences. That requires a greater presence. But apart from that we have the Diplomas, of which we have spoken, which are entirely online. They are the University of Navarra's own degrees, and in this case they constitute a way that is accessible to many people from all over the world, and in general we could say, of a quite high professional qualification; some studies, as I say, that contribute to develop knowledge in some subjects of Theology, such as Moral Theology, Biblical Theology, which is always a diploma that has great success.
There is also one that deals with various aspects of theology, we could say that it is like a diploma in Basic Theology, and then we have one in Pedagogy in the faith, which is oriented towards those who have a greater interest in teaching, either because they are going to teach religion, or because they are catechists or perform any other service of this type. We also have a very interesting one on Philosophy, Science and Religion, where we have a good number of people interested in this very fruitful relationship, we could say, between the philosophical world, the scientific world, and the Christian Religion, which must also be present in this academic debate. These are entirely online diplomas that are of interest to many people. The truth is that we have students in practically every continent.
Church History
I would like to dwell on his specialty, Church History.
- We have just released the Manual of Ancient and Medieval Church History. The ISCR has a collection of Manuals, and precisely the 33rd is the History of the Ancient and Medieval Church, and then will come the History of the Modern and Contemporary Church. The manuals are written by each professor of his subject. I have written the History of the Ancient and Medieval Church, number 33. The characteristics of these manuals, written by the professors of the different subjects, is to try to bring together in an accessible manual all the corresponding subject matter, with a very pedagogical purpose: there are diagrams, summaries, etc.
In this one on Ancient and Medieval Church History, apart from the texts for commentary, there is a guide for the commentary itself, and maps have been designed to better understand the history of the Church. And I have tried to offer three types of bibliography in each tena: one to prolong the study with accessible books; another to deepen the subject of this topic, with classic books, already of thought; and a third field with enjoyable readings, which are novels that have to do with the era being studied, and that help to understand, perhaps in a more playful way, that era being studied.
Will the Manuals be translated into other languages?
- The collection of manuals is having great success, has been in existence for quite a few years now, there are already more than thirty, and they are being translated into English, Polish and Chinese.
Woke culture and education
It seems that now there is a desire to obscure the history, in general, in the youth education. In addition, there is the woke culture', the cancellation of epochs, of authors, of people?
- In the Manual, in the introduction, there is a series of warnings that I make for those who want to study Church history, because there are a series of dangers. The first, and I put it in bold capital letters, is anachronism, which consists in judging the events of one era with the criteria of another. Today we are very tempted to play everything that has happened throughout history with our criteria, the criteria of the 21st century. This is anachronistic.
I cannot judge the society of the sixteenth century, the thirteenth century, or the fourth century B.C., with the criteria I have today. If we act in this way, unfortunately so widespread, we will never be able to understand correctly the development of history, I point out in the Manual. For example, we cannot understand the true meaning of the Crusades if we approach it with contemporary criteria of rights and freedoms, such as religious freedom, recognized by the great treaties... eight hundred years later! We must be very careful with anachronism, it is a lethal danger for those who want to judge history with today's criteria.
But you acknowledge that there are certainly things that are wrong.
- Of course. For example, a murder has always been a murder. No matter the historical epoch. This does not mean that we have to compromise, so to speak, with what has been wrong. Far from it. But it is true that it is necessary to contextualize in order to understand each historical moment. Today slavery seems terrible to us, but five hundred years ago it did not seem so to almost anyone. It is necessary to understand each historical moment with its historical coordinates and to contextualize the events.
This will lead us not to be governed by movements that are part of a historical revisionism that sometimes harms us more than favors us, because in reality things are as they are. And we cannot try to manipulate history. This is something very typical of all times, not only of now. The manipulation of history. Manipulating history does not benefit us.
We have to be able to recognize the lights and shadows of each historical period. And then, when judging the characters, we must also keep in mind that we cannot make a Manichean dissection. Or to put it another way, like the good guys and bad guys movies. Not everything here is black and white. There is a large scale of grays. We will probably come across people who have done very good things, and they have also done bad things. Things worthy of praise, and things worthy of reprobation. This should help us to be more measured, cautious, balanced, when judging events. And always the public ones, because history does not really judge what is not public.
You also point out in this introduction that Church History is not suitable for those who are easily scandalized.
- I would like to recall that the Church is the only institution in the world that has asked forgiveness or apologized for some of the mistakes that some of its members have made throughout history. If we were to make an overall assessment, the good that the Church has done throughout history is infinitely greater than the evil that some of its members have committed at certain times.
Even so, John Paul II, on the occasion of the year 2000, had the courage to ask for forgiveness. And on the other hand, the Holy See has long had this commitment to the truth of opening the archives, an exercise of transparency that makes the Vatican archives and all the others accessible to the public, with access to documents that make it clear what has happened. This is very important.
The Church, or a nation in particular, or a community, has to be able to assume its history. With its lights and shadows. Because if not, it can happen to us as it happens to people, who sometimes are not able to assume a part of their history, for example traumatic, and that ends up creating tremendous psychological problems. The same can also happen to institutions, or to nations, if we are not able to assume our history, with its lights and shadows. I do not believe that there is any human collective that has not had lights and shadows.
We have gone down the paths of history, and there is hardly any time left. A commentary on popular religiosity and the brotherhoods...
- The whole study of popular religiosity, in the end, can be included within the more contemporary tendencies of history. Nowadays, history is not so much about studying the great personages, the great events, but about what the Annals did, the history of the Annals, for example in France, in the 60s and 70s, is about studying what ordinary people did.
Within the Church we have given much importance to the figure of the Popes, who has it, and the bishops... And it seems that we have confused the episcopology of a diocese with the true history of the diocese. The history of a diocese is shaped by what the bishops did, but also by what the clergy, the religious and, of course, the faithful people did. In that sense, studying the faithful people is not easy, because they have not left many historical traces. But its manifestations of devotion, everything that has to do with popular devotion, which is a great treasure that has been accumulated over the centuries, because it is also part of something as important as the inculturation of the faith. The Catholic faith, the Christian faith, has been inculturated wherever it has reached. It is interesting to see how inculturation is not exactly the same in America, or in Asia or Africa.
In our case, which is what I have studied the most in Spain, it is a very old inculturation of the faith, very accepted, with very rich manifestations. We do not have more than to see what it supposes the Holy Week, or right now, the pilgrimages and celebrations that are celebrated in honor of the Virgin. For there we have the traces of what the People of God has done throughout the centuries. From the historical documents of the confraternities, for example, we can analyze this, which, as I say, is a treasure of the Church, which must be valued. I believe that in these last years it is being done and it is becoming clear, as a result of many investigations that are being carried out in this field.
The conversation could be extended, because the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra generates a great deal of activity. And because a cursory reading of the introduction to the Manual of Ancient and Medieval Church History, by Dr. Fermín Labarga, allows us to review other dangers that the author formulates, for example, 'naivety'. The director of the ISCR also stresses that "the saints are the true protagonists of the history of the Church". You can read it in his Manual.
