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 Cristina Beffa, daughter of
St. Paul, graduated in philosophy and a professional journalist is, at
present, the Directress of the Editorial Pauline audio-visual, the
Directress of Novaradio and vice-directress of the magazine
Famiglia Oggi (family today). She does not want to renounce to the
many experiences heaped up in her life and proposes to transfer into the
audio-visual field all that she has learned: the family is a resource
for the society of all times, therefore also for today’s one; its crises
and the problematic linked with it are strictly bound to the social
changes; the family is to be supported with adequate politics, rather
than finding faults with it. School, liturgy, spectacle, entertaining
for children-adolescents-youths –with a particular attention to the
values of life, of nature, solidarity and peace- are the sectors towards
which she orients her editorial attention. We have addressed a few
questions to her.
To you, how far has the ecumenical dialogue gone?
«There are many positive experiences and this is proved by the Third
Ecumenical European Assembly organised in Sibiu, Romania
(4-9 September 2007), on the theme, “The light of Christ illumines
all men and women. Hope of renewal and unity in
Europe”
The meeting was jointly promoted by two European organisms: the Ccee
that puts together the 34 Episcopal Conferences of Europe, and the Kek.
2.100 official delegates from all the Christian Churches in Europe
attended the Assembly. The three words of the theme: all, hope,
unity, underline the truth that there is no exclusion of anyone;
difficulties and delays do not cause fear; the last reminder is always
that of the Gospel, implored by Jesus himself from the Father: “….that
they may be one”. The XVI International Marian Symposium, held in the
Marianum Pontifical Theological Faculty, Rome, on the theme, “Mary in
the Western Ecumenical Dialogue” confirms it further. Moreover, to
prove that the said attention is constant, I wish to highlight that the
literature on ecumenism is truly abundant.
Of
course, these themes should be studied and deepened not only by the
so-called experts –Bible experts and theologians- but really by all,
because all of us are called to unity, which –like love- constitutes the
essentiality of Christian life. In fact, it has been written that,
“ecumenism questions every believer”.
In
some dioceses the dialogue has never been interrupted; even the workers
continue to go ahead. Yet, to me, much more could be done by the
Catholic community and, above all, initiatives towards unity should
never be discouraged”.
What does the 2008 theme suggest to the women religious, today?
«This
year’s theme is, “Pray constantly”, the biblical text taken from the
First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, namely: pray without
interruptions, without intermittences, without intervals. This is a very
interesting theme, because prayer changes life and the mentality of
persons: it changes their going towards others. Prayer leads to overcome
frailties, loosens recurring tensions and launches us towards new
winning posts, never dreamt of before; it arouses inedited pushes; it
opens new horizons, favouring our being in the will of the Father to be
available for everyone. In fact, we are all God’s children and we
Christians, though of different confessions, must truly consider us as
brothers and, as such, we must esteem and exhort one another to live the
Gospel with humility, in search of the truth and in sharing the Word”.
How can everything find authenticity in our personal life?
«We
religious have always been living of prayer, but I am tempted to
underline that today’s society, in its constant transformations and
“liquidity”, as the Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman says, is strongly in need
of stability, security and serenity. Today, society asks from us an
existential answer, flowing from coherent experiences and full
responsibility, without delays or hesitations. We can attain all this
only through listening and prayer. There is no other way. In fact,
prayer makes a person to grow in everything, not only in spiritual life.
The encounter with God is always, anyhow, an encounter with humanity,
with the persons walking at my side. We are not afraid of different
confessions, because we know well the One we believe in and in whom we
put our trust. Above all –even through our multiple activities and
perhaps ever more pestering commitments- we are expected to be provokers
of ecumenical dialogue, with wise intelligence and qualified
preparation. After all, this year we celebrate the centenary of the
Octave of prayers for the unity of Christians, launched by Paul
Wattson, Episcopalian Minister, in 1908. Anniversaries are useful to
commemorate, but also to push us beyond. We should remember this and
should dream of building up bridges of love, hope, peace and universal
brotherhood. Prayer offers us the courage and audacity to go ahead along
the ways of dialogue”.
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