Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali writer and activist was in charge of opening the three days of reflection that have made up the Catholics and Public Life Congress of this edition in which it has completed 26 years of life. An edition that has inaugurated a co-direction of the hand of Maria San Gil and Jose Masip and that this year has been held under the title: 'Quo vadis: Thinking and acting in uncertain times'..
The Congress began on Friday, November 15, with the opening session, which was attended by the president of the Catholic Association of PropagandistsAlfonso Bullón de Mendoza, the Nuncio of His Holiness in Spain, Bernardito Auza, together with the co-directors of the congress.
In her presentation, Hirsi Ali called for the recovery of a committed Christianity that is capable of confronting dangers such as "pseudo-religions that present themselves as equal or superior to Christianity itself". This Somali also recalled the "restrictions on freedom of expression, of religion and the resurgence of a valid and legitimate racism against whites and against Jews in Europe and America in the name of intersectional social justice".
Hirsi Ali also stressed that the recovery and promotion of social models that protect and encourage the creation of families and increase the birth rate can only be achieved "by recovering a sense of unity based on common values and not on differences, we can build stronger and more cohesive societies in these times of uncertainty".
Laity, the engine of evangelization
Different lay realities such as Communion and Liberation, Emmaus, Hakuna, the Neocatechumenal Way or General Catholic Action focused the round table of the first afternoon entitled "... And in all charity". They addressed the problems and opportunities of evangelization in these uncertain times, as indicated in the program of the congress. The moderator was Carmen Fernández de la Cigoña, secretary general of the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP), who said at the end that "we all agree".
When asked by the moderator to summarize his contribution to "go together" in the evangelizing tasks, Miguel Marcos (Hakuna), pointed out the need for prayer, openness to the richness of each one, and union with the person of Christ, and Francisco Ramirez, a "parish layman" (Catholic Action), asked that prayer "lead to going out into the world, and then return to the community".
Enrique Arroyo, recently appointed head of Communion and Liberation in Spain, pointed out that these are "exciting times in which we have the challenge of giving life," and the existing "affective fragility" requires that today's young people see that there is a "meaning to life" through an encounter with Jesus Christ. The priest Segundo Tejado (Neocatechumenal Way), also advocated showing that "there is a path to follow, which is Christ, and that false prophets do not lead people to happiness". Earlier, Ludi Medina (Emmaus), had said that "Emmaus is a retreat, an encounter with Jesus, a way, a hope".
Munilla: The world suffers in its flight from suffering
Saturday morning began with a talk by the Bishop of Orihuela, Alicante, Jose Ignacio Munilla. The prelate spoke about the theme of the congress, highlighting the historical significance of the event. Quo Vadiswhich is "a wake-up call against the temptation to flee from the Cross".
Munilla underlined how "the problem is that we run away from the Cross and the solution, like Peter, is to return to it. Sometimes we think that we can solve it with denunciation and political alternation, but we cannot. It supposes a change of worldview that leads us to dare to go from being enemies of the Cross to being people of the Cross. It is a conversion. We will only come out of this crisis with a renewal of holiness, a movement of converts".
The Spanish bishop made a decalogue of what he calls "enemies of the Cross today" among which are consumerism, the internal secularization of the Church or the uncommitted living in today's affective relationships.
Faced with these enemies, often subtle, Munilla pointed out that the "solution is to love the Cross. Receive the spirit of God and see how it permeates every part of our life. "This world suffers a lot for not wanting to suffer," said the prelate, who recalled that "the key is not to suffer or not to suffer, but to do it with meaning or without meaning. The only response of the Church to the decadence of the Roman Empire was to give itself up to martyrdom. The answer to the decadence of the West is to preach the Gospel of the Cross, and that entails sharing it, living the Cross and the persecutions.
The second part of Saturday morning featured a round table discussion between journalist Ana Iris Simon and philosopher Jorge Freire on the presence and action of Catholics in the social, political and cultural life of Spain. A table characterized by its dynamism in which Simon made a defense of the action that is already present in the Church. The journalist and writer, who converted to Catholicism a few years ago, pointed out, with grace, that perhaps instead of the old advice that we were given before "live before committing yourself, now we will encourage our children to commit themselves to live great things".
For his part, Freire encouraged the recovery of a new missionary spirit, as opposed to the mercenary spirit that seems to be the general trend in the political panorama.
Young people, bearers of the first announcement
After the midday break, the auditorium again ran out of seats, although the average age of the audience was 25 years lower: an organizational success that has ensured that the congress also reaches a young audience.
The afternoon began with a round table discussion on "Evangelizing in the networks. Digital missionaries". Macarena Torres, head of communications at Fundación Hakuna, was in charge of moderating the three guests: Carla Restoy (@carlarlarestoy), director of Fundación Bosco Films, Carlos Taracena (@carlos_taracena) from Misión Jatari, and Irene Alonso (@soyunamadrenormal), who among many other things is the mother of 12 children and shares her family adventures on social networks.
Irene began by highlighting how her messages "touched some people" and encouraged them to change. Carlos, for his part, explained how this capacity to influence is a consequence of knowing that he is in love, of knowing that he is loved by God.
Carla explained that the current secularized social context has a positive aspect for evangelization, because young people have not received the first proclamation of the Gospel, but they have tried many proposals of meaning that have left them empty. For this reason, when they meet an authentic Christian, it attracts their attention and attracts them. Authenticity became the central theme of a large part of the round table: regardless of the followers one has on social networks, in the virtual and real world, what is decisive is the coherence between what one is and what one shows.
The afternoon concluded with a series of testimonies: Alvaro Trigo, Carlota Valenzuela and Lupe Batallán shared with more than a thousand young people gathered at the CEU headquarters their various life experiences that have led them to be witnesses of faith in different environments.
Hadjadj appeals for hope
The Catholics and Public Life Congress 2024 closed with a speech by the French writer and philosopher Fabrice Hadjadj.
Under the title: 'The challenge of living in this time', Hadjadj gave a conference in which he affirmed that "Europe despairs of what is human and tends today to constitutionalize abortion and euthanasia; to revise colonial history that puts the conqueror and the missionary in the same bag; postmodern demands that many imagine to be linked to the affirmation of individual freedom and, in reality, emanate from the death of desire, correspond to the agitation of despair". A panorama in which only divine mercy, the philosopher pointed out, holds the key to our salvation.
