The Cathedral of Mary Immaculate, Mother of the Church, in Vitoria, Spain, was the scene yesterday afternoon of the Conversations at the CathedralA fluid dialogue between more than a hundred people and the Bishop of Vitoria, D. Juan Carlos Elizalde. A first meeting in which the prelate, in statements to Omnes, said he "felt very comfortable".
This initiative of the diocese of Alava, which will continue next year, had an excellent reception, despite the storm that was present in the capital. More than a hundred people attended these Conversations at the Cathedral. As Bishop Elizalde himself pointed out, "in this first meeting the people who attended were, for the most part, close to the Church, militant Christians... although the questions were very diverse".
The talks began with a brief introduction of the speaker's curriculum vitae and an explanation of the initiative. In his statements to Omnes, Bishop Juan Carlos Elizalde pointed out that "one of the things I wanted to convey is that I am aware of the risk involved today in speaking about the Gospel, about complex issues concerning the Church or society, because you can always be misunderstood".
The dialogue was "fluid and natural", as the Bishop of Vitoria pointed out: "there were questions of many kinds, about the secularization of society, the future of the Church, the mission of Christians today, or the challenges and obstacles facing Catholics today". The questions, said Bishop Elizalde, "denoted real concern, not unhealthy curiosity or morbid curiosity".
For Bishop Elizalde this format of meeting is a privileged way to know the real questions that Catholics have in a natural and close way: "I think it is a format that helps and makes family within the Church," he said.
The Bishop of Vitoria is convinced that "all bishops want to be close to their people, to know their concerns. Initiatives like these Conversations at the Cathedral help to eliminate that gap, that separation that we often find between social reality and the Church. In my case, I was very happy to speak and together we were able to find a hopeful vision of the return to the Gospel or the humanization of social structures.
