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See Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life
Also Presentations by Cardinal Paul Poupard
and Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald
Jesus with the Samaritan Woman
New Age will never provide what Christ can offer
For years the complex phenomenon of New Age has
given rise to many questions and provoked the concern of the pastors of
the Church, not just because it is a widespread trend, but also because it
is difficult to understand it in its overall approach and complexity.
At this time, it is necessary to respond to the requests
of many bishops and persons engaged in the pastoral work of the Church who
come into contact with the New Age phenomenon. The Commission on
New Religious Movements, whose members were the Secretaries of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, of the Pontifical Councils
for Promoting Christian Unity, for Interreligious Dialogue and for
Culture, and staff members of these offices, has drawn up a set of points
for reflection. Its principal editors are the Pontifical Councils for
Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue, and it is published by the Libreria
Editrice Vaticana. It is entitled: Jesus Christ, the Bearer
of the Water of Life. A Christian
Reflection on the "New Age".
Report will help to understand the appeal of the movement
This publication is a "preliminary report" that
wishes to acquaint persons with the New Age from the
doctrinal, cultural and pedagogical viewpoints. It seeks to help us
understand the fascination that this type of religiosity exerts over so
many Christians who are perhaps not fully satisfied with their own
communities, and are convinced of feeling frustrated because, in their
opinion, the community does not pay sufficient attention to the spiritual,
moral and cultural topics which many contemporaries hold to be fundamental
for the meaning of life.
It is not enough to know the New Age in order to
understand its strictly cultural dimension. This report reminds Catholics
of the need to understand genuine Catholic doctrine and spirituality in
order to assess correctly the themes and content of the New Age
cultural trend.
Modern desire to privatize religion, to lessen
institutions
In the contemporary context, marked by strong pressure to
privatize religion and liberate the individual from
"institutions", New Age seems to correspond with the new
cult of the human being that culminates in the celebration of the
sacredness of the self. Far from being a religious break with
"enterprise" or "consumer" culture under the banner of
prosperity, this movement shares many of its "values". New
Age is in easy harmony with the syncretist tendencies that favour the
so-called "super-market religion" in which each one chooses in
the different sectors whatever suits him and skips the rest. In this
perspective, there are not lacking deviations that lead from Christianity
to theism even before the radical turning to self, that is the sign of a
genuine paganism that is in perfect harmony with today's cultural
tendencies,—freedom, authenticity,
autonomy, etc.—oriented to the cult
of the individual. "Instead Christianity is an invitation to look
outwards and beyond, to the 'New Advent' of the God who calls us to live
the dialogue of love".
Historical roots in Gnostic mediators
Rooted in the ancient esoterism of the West, many
contemporary New Age currents have not much to offer that is new.
They developed in a parallel way with the scientific visions of the 18th
and 19th centuries that were marked by the gradual rejection of a personal
God and the focus on "mediators" between God and men, left-overs
from ancient gnosticism. Religious relativism, indifference or antipathy
to the Christian faith, and, especially, to the Catholic Church, in
addition to a deep desire to feel emotionally integrated into an affective
community, have substantially contributed to the spread and success of the
New Age, while challenging the Pastors of the Church, and also
Christian communities in which sometimes the warmth of a true family can
be lacking.
If we admit that New Age religiosity in some ways
responds to some legitimate aspirations of our contemporaries, we should
also observe that it tries to do so by opposing Christian revelation. In
fact, it spreads essentially by exploiting our contemporaries' nostalgia
for and curiosity about ancient forms of wisdom, esotericism and gnosis,
for what is known today as "Celtic" spirituality, or one that
refers to the religions of the ancient peoples. In his book, Crossing
the Threshold of Hope the Holy Father comments:
"Gnosticism never completely abandoned the realm of Christianity.
Instead, it has always existed side by side with Christianity, sometimes
taking the shape of a philosophical movement, but more often
assuming the characteristics of a religion or para-religion in distinct,
if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian" (op.
cit., ed. Vittorio Messori, Jonathan Cape, London 1994, p. 90).
Difficulty in understanding movement
There is no doubt about it, "the success of the New
Age offers the Church a challenge". Christians, therefore, must
be ever more firmly rooted in the fundamentals of their faith, come closer
to Christ the one Saviour and hear the cry of those who need to be
welcomed with brotherly love.
This document, the result of a joint effort by various
offices of the Church, offers "a pastoral response to a current
challenge" in the attempt to understand it correctly, "in order
to evaluate it fairly",
The basic difficulty is this: the New Age is not a
movement in the normal understanding of the term, "new religious
movement", nor is it exactly a "cult" or a
"sect". "Because it is spread across cultures, and is
present in phenomena as varied as music, films, seminars, workshops,
retreats, therapies and many more activities and events, it is much more
diffuse and informal". Yet the New Age is also a coherent, if
syncretistic, current of thought; it is the profound reaction of many
people to the mainstream culture, a current of thought that rejects
organized religion, "because in their judgement it has failed to
satisfy their needs", and it has the features of a searching for
"spirituality" that could put it in the context of an
"esoteric religiousness".
Pastoral aid for critical assessment
This document, which is presented as a pastoral aid, is
first and foremost, an effort to understand and assess the phenomenon. It
is also intended as an invitation to readers to enter into a critical
dialogue with those who follow the main lines of the cultural movement of
the New Age, "whose essence is precisely to break out of what
are seen as the constricting limits of rational discourse". In fact,
the extreme rationality of science and technology is in sharp contrast
with the radical irrationality of the indeterminate New Age and
makes dialogue all the more difficult.
Syncretism of secular and esoteric elements
For this reason, this document intends to help those who
encounter difficulties in facing the complex and elusive reality of the New
Age. Keys for the interpretation of the phenomenon are offered, for an
understanding of New Age thought and in order to "produce a
Christian assessment" of its components, that form a "syncretism
of esoteric and secular elements" whose goal is to bring about a
fundamental change in individuals, societies and in the world in reaction
to the mainstream culture.
A fascination with extraordinary manifestations and
paranormal entities, with "mediums", friendly angels and
counsellors from the spirit world as well as the quest for harmony
characterized by "good vibrations"—because
they stem from love, a positive energy—all
this, oriented to developing our human potential, is considered an
excellent way of putting every person in touch "with our inner
divinity".
As a pastoral aid, this document sums up the fundamental
principles and cultural themes of New Age thought in order to help
Christians who are living in cultures marked by this extremely widespread
phenomenon, in which "we recognize an implicit pantheism". In
this way the reader can discover what New Age says about God, the
human person and the world, the better to understand its attraction which
is profoundly linked to the cult of the individual.
Meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman is key
To describe New Age in terms of spirituality, I
will borrow the words of Cardinal Poupard, President of the Pontifical
Council for Culture at the press conference for the presentation of the
new document, Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: "When
we see and hear the expression New Age Movement, it is
important to remember that originally this referred to the New Age
of Aquarius.... The title of the document itself, from the outset, makes
it clear that Aquarius will never be able to offer what Christ can offer.
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar
(Jn 4,1-42), narrated in the Gospel of John, is the key text that has
guided the reflection during this first report on the New Age
presented to you today. As one can see, the Document is not intended to be
a definitive declaration on the issue. It is a pastoral reflection".
On the same occasion, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald,
President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,
explained: "Light is shed on the dialogical character of the
Christian life that is founded on the eternal dialogue at the heart of the
Trinity and shapes from within the conversation between God and the human
creature, giving a new shape to all interpersonal relations". On the
other hand, the document highlights the need for Christians to be ever
more deeply rooted in their own faith and in ecclesial communion.
Archbishop Fitzgerald notes: "Dialogue is fruitful if our identity is
clear"; dialogue is not fog, it does not mean eliminating the
differences.
Solid formation of Christians
Consequently, anchored in the faith, and prompted by love,
Christians should feel the need for a solid formation since New Age offers
nothing less than an alternative to the Christian faith and the
Judeo-Christian heritage, given that "many of the movements which
have fed the New Age are explicitly anti-Christian. Their stance
towards Christianity is not neutral, but neutralizing". When they
come up against irrationality, for Christians "the challenge is to
show how a healthy partnership between faith and reason enhances human
life and encourages respect for creation".
Once again, let us not forget that the document is a
pastoral guide that aims to provide pastors and faithful with information
on the New Age so as to spread knowledge, discernment and dialogue
in the truth. In an appendix, it sets out a list of pastoral documents and
other useful resources for study, as well as a glossary that explains key
concepts not only of today's New Age, but also of the
most ancient currents of thought at the root of the fundamental ideas of
this trend.
Recalling the Holy Father's words in his Apostolic Letter Novo
Millennio ineunte: "There is also a call in all of this to
come closer to Jesus Christ and to be ready to follow Him, since He is the
real way to happiness, the truth about God and the fullness of life for
every man and woman who is prepared to respond to his love",
Catholics will not fail to base their life and action on contemplation of
the face of Christ, the Word who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin
Mary.
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