“Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis and the strong objectivity in theology

Authors

  • Leno Francisco Danner Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR)
  • Fernando Danner Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR).
  • Agemir Bavaresco Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/175-1838.11.002.AO01

Keywords:

Pope Francis, Theology, Strong Objectivity, Differences, Weakening

Abstract

The paper argues that Pope Francis’s attitude of epistemological-moral sensibility regarding the differences exemplifies a very pungent challenge to institutionalized and universalist religions in the 21st century, namely the necessity of moderating the essentialist and naturalized foundations which are the basis of institutional constitution, legitimation and evolution. In our post-metaphysical times, in the time of differences, the weakening of the strong objectivity concerning the grounding of the creed by theological and religious institutions is the way from which a renewal and a recovery of the political core-role of the institutional religions can lead to the strengthening of democracy exactly from the religious sphere. So, it is our belief that Pope Francis’ question “Who am I to judge?” represents a point of no return for institutionalized and universalist religions in the 21st century: to moderate the grounding and the social foment of the creed in order to protect and emphasize the normative, the epistemological-political centrality of the differences. The paper’s central intuition is that Pope Francis’ affirmation “Who am I to judge?”, that leads directly to his encyclical document “Amoris Laetitia”, establishes a dialectic between, on one side, strong institutionalism, strong objectivity and fundamentalism and, on other, the challenges and conditions posed by pluralism, by differences, which conducts to the moderation, to sensibility and to openness to otherness, meaning that the primacy of ethics regarding truth.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Leno Francisco Danner, Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR)

Doutor em Filosofia (PUCRS). Professor de Filosofia e de Sociologia no Departamento de Filosofia da Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR).

Fernando Danner, Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR).

Doutor em Filosofia (PUCRS). Professor do Departamento de Filosofia da Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR).

Agemir Bavaresco, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

Doutor em Filosofia (Université Paris I - Pantheon Sorbonne). Professor de Ética e de Filosofia Política no Departamento de Filosofia e no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

References

CATROGA, F. Entre deuses e césares: secularização, laicidade e religião civil — uma perspectiva histórica. Coimbra: Edições Almedina, 2006.

COLLINS, J. J. A Bíblia justifica a violência? São Paulo: Paulinas, 2006.

CONCÍLIO ECUMÊNICO VATICANO II. Compêndio Vaticano II: constituições, decretos, declarações. Introdução e índice analítico de Frei Boaventura Kloppenburg. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1983.

DANNER, L. F. “Um fundamento para o ecumenismo: a irredutibilidade do outro”, Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, v. 12, n. 33, p.70-98, jan.-mar. 2014.

DANNER, L. F. “The emergence of rationality: a philosophical essay”, Conjectura: Filosofia e Educação, Caxias do Sul, v. 12, n. 01, p. 11-31, 2017.

DUSSEL, E. 1492, o encobrimento do outro: a origem do mito da modernidade. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1993.

FORST, R. Contexts of justice: political philosophy beyond liberalism and communitarianism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

HABERMAS, J. The inclusion of other: studies in political theory. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1998.

HABERMAS, J. Postmetaphysical thinking: philosophical essays. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1992.

HONNETH, A. The struggle for recognition: the normative grammar of social conflicts. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1995.

INSTITUTO HUMANITAS UNISINOS. “Ao explicar o ‘Quem sou eu para julgar?’, Francisco dá um passo adiante no debate LGBT”. IHU Online, São Leopoldo, 19/01/2015. Disponível em: <http://www.ihu.unisinos.br/noticias/550960-ao-explicar-o-quem-sou-eu-para-julgar-francisco-da-um-passo-adiante-no-debate-lgbt>. Acesso em: 03 set. 2016.

LYOTARD, J.-F. La diferencia. Barcelona: Editorial Gedisa, 1999.

MARRAMAO, G. Céu e terra: genealogia da secularização. São Paulo: Editora da UNESP, 1997.

POPE FRANCIS. Amoris Laetitia. Vatican: Vatican Press, 2016. Disponível em: <http://m.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf>. Acesso em: 08 set. 2017.

RAWLS, J. Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.

RORTY, R. Uma ética laica. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2010.

SYNOD OF BISHOPS. XIV ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY. “The vocation and the mission of family in the Church and in the contemporary world: the final report of the Synod of Bishops to the Holly Father, Pope Francis”. Roman Curia, Vaticano, 2015. Disponível em: <http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20151026_relazione-finale-xiv-assemblea_en.html>. Acesso em: 28 ago. 2016.

TODOROV, T. A Conquista da América: a questão do outro. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 1993.

VATTIMO, G. After Christianity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Downloads

Published

2019-08-30

How to Cite

Danner, L. F., Danner, F., & Bavaresco, A. (2019). “Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis and the strong objectivity in theology. Pistis Praxis, 11(2), 413–437. https://doi.org/10.7213/175-1838.11.002.AO01

Issue

Section

Articles