Categoria: Espiritualidade

Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns: teacher, refined intellectual, friend of the poor

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I have lost a teacher, a Maecenas, a protector and an intimate friend. Important statements will be proclaimed and written about Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, who died today, December 14, 2016. I will not do so. I will only offer my personal testimony.

I met Cardinal Arns in the late 1950s, when I was a seminarian in the city of Agudos, São Paulo. He was just back from Paris with the prestige of a Doctorate from the Sorbonne. In the seminary, with about 300 students, he introduced new teaching methods. He made us study Greek and Latin literature, languages he knew as well as we know our mother tongue. He made us read the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides in Greek. We learned Greek so well that we even presented Antigone in that language several times, and everyone understood it.

I encountered him again in Petropolis/Rio as a professor of Patristics and of Christian history of the first two centuries. He had us read the classics in their original language: Saint Jerome, his favorite, in Latin, and Saint John Chrysostom, in Greek.

When I visited him in the convent of nuns in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, two years ago, I found him reading sermons by Saint John Chrysostom, in Greek.

He was our head teacher throughout our theology studies in Petropolis, from 1961 to 1965. With interest he followed each of us in our searches, with a profound look in his eyes that seemed to reach deep into our souls. He always sought perfection. Even among us students, we challenged each other to see if anyone could find any defect in his life or activities. He sang the Gregorian Chant marvelously, in the Solesmes style, more delicate than the strict style of Beuron, that had predominated until his arrival.

For four years I accompanied him in the pastoral of the peripheries. Thursday and Saturday evenings and all day Sundays, I went with him to the chapel of the neighborhood of Itamaraty, in Petropolis/Rio. He would visit all the houses, especially the Portuguese families who cultivated flowers and other horticulture. Wherever he went, he would immediately found a school. He encouraged the work of local poets and writers. After the 10 o’clock Mass, he would gather with them to listen to the poems and short stories they had written during the week. He would intellectually stimulate everyone to read, to write and to narrate for everyone the stories they had read.

Cardinal Arns was a refined intellectual, well versed in French literature. He wrote 49 books. He urged us to follow Paul Claudel’s example, who used to write at least a page every day. I followed his advice, and now I have written more than 100 books.

What always impressed me most about Cardinal Arns was his Franciscan love and affection for the poor. When he was made Auxiliary Bishop of São Paulo, he immediately went to work in the peripheries of the city, encouraging the ecclesiastic base communities and personally committing himself to Paulo Freire. Since this was the period of the Brazilian dictatorship, which was especially fierce in São Paulo, he immediately undertook the cause of the refugees who had fled the horrors of the dictatorships of Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. His special mission was to visit prisons, see the wounds of torture, courageously denounce them and defend the human rights that were so savagely violated. He risked his life, in the face of threats and attempts on his life. But as a Franciscan, he always maintained serenity as one who is in the palm of the hand of God rather than the claws of police repression.

Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was the Brazil Project: Never again, which he developed with Rabbi Henry Sobel, the Presbyterian pastor Jaime Wright, and a team of researchers. It collected reports consisting of more than 1,000,000 pages, from the 707 processes of the Superior Military Tribunal. The book, Brazil Never Again, published by Editora Vozes, played a key role in the identification and unmasking of the torturers of the military regimen, and helped accelerate the fall of the dictatorship.

Personally, I am deeply grateful to Cardinal Arns for having stood by me in the doctrinal process carried out against me by the former Sacred Office, (the Inquisition), in Rome, in 1982, under the presidency of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. In the dialogue that followed my examination, between Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Lorscheider and Cardinal Arns, in which I also took part, Cardinal Arns courageously made clear to Cardinal Ratzinger: «That document you published a week ago about the Theology of Liberation, does not correspond with the facts, facts that we know very well; this theology is beneficial for the faithful and for the communities; you have accepted the version of the enemies of this theology, namely, the Latin American military and the conservative groups of the episcopate, who are unsatisfied with the changes in the pastoral and the modes of living the faith that this type of theology implies». And he added: «I await from you a new, positive, document, that recognizes this form of theology, starting from the suffering of the poor and in function of their liberation». And that happened, three years later.

All this is already the past. There remains the memory of a Cardinal who was always on the side of the poor and never let the cry of the oppressed for the violation of their rights be ignored. Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns is an everlasting reference to the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the smallest and those who suffer most in this world.

Leonardo Boff Theologian-Philosopher  and of the Earthcharter Commission

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, alfaro_melina@yahoo.com.ar.
Done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.

Despedida do Card. Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns,amigo dos pobres e meu amigo e mestre

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

Despedida de un entrañale amigo de los pobres y de los teólogos de la liberación

Estas fueron las palabras leídas al pueblo en la misa antes del entierro de Don Paulo Evaristo Arns, el viernes en la Catedral de São Paulo.

“Querido cofrade, amigo de los pobres y amigo mío, maestro y promotor de mi vida de teólogo, Don Paulo Evaristo Arns.

Morir no es morir. Es atender una llamada de Dios. Dios lo ha llamado y usted ha ido contento a su encuentro. Allí habrá encontrado, estoy seguro, a los miles de pobres, refugiados, torturados y asesinados que usted defendió y protegió, y por los que llegó a arriesgar su propia vida.

Jamás olvidaré el tiempo de Petrópolis a principio de los años 60 del siglo pasado, cuando juntos practicábamos los fines de semana la pastoral de periferia en el barrio de Itamarati, su amor a los pobres de los cerros, su cariño con los niños.

Aun no he terminado de agradecerle el valor con el cual tomó la defensa de la teología de la liberación y de mi persona en el diálogo que tuvimos con el entonces cardenal Joseph Ratzinger inmediatamente después del interrogatorio al que fui sometido en Roma. En mi presencia, y junto al cardenal don Aloysio Lorscheider, usted afirmó que la teología que nosotros los teólogos hacíamos en favor de los pobres y con ellos era buena para las comunidades y significaba un bien de la iglesia local que debía ser defendido por sus pastores. Por eso justificaba su presencia en Roma.

Siempre me animó y apoyó en mi actividad teológica. Guardo hasta hoy, como un sacramento, la nota que usted me dejó en la mano antes de subir al navío que me llevaba para hacer estudios en Europa.

“Caro cofrade fray Leonardo: quiero que sepa esto: queremos darle lo mejor porque la Iglesia de Brasil necesita lo mejor. Tú también sabes que has sido enviado en nombre de Dios. Vive y estudia por Él y para Él. Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laborant qui aedificant eam”: “Si el Señor no edifica la casa, en vano trabajan los que la edifican”.

Quiero ser fiel a este mandato el tiempo que me quede de trabajo útil al servicio de la fe y de la liberación de los sufridores de este mundo, la salvaguarda de la vida y la protección de la Madre Tierra.

Si es verdad lo que dice el poeta “que morir es cerrar los ojos para ver mejor”, entonces ahora, querido Don Paulo, estará viendo usted a Dios, al que siempre sirvió, cara a cara, participando de la fiesta con todos los liberados y
bienaventurados del cielo.

Con mis oraciones ante el Señor, y con saudades, le pido que desde ahí junto al Padre y Madre de bondad mire hacia todos nosotros y nos ayude a seguir el ejemplo luminoso que usted nos ha dejado.

Su antiguo alumno y amigo

Leonardo Boff”

Petrópolis 15 de diciembre de 2016.

Traducción de José Maria Gavito

Despedida de Dom Paulo Evaristo Card. Arns, confrade, amigo dos pobres e meu amigo

Leonardo Boff7 Comentários

Estas foram as palavras lidas ao povo numa missa com o povo antes do sepultamento de Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns,na sexta-feira, na Catedral de São Paulo.

“Querido confrade, amigo dos pobres e meu amigo, meu mestre e promotor de
minha vida de teólogo, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns.

Morrer, não é morrer. É atender a um chamado de Deus. Deus o chamou e o Sr.
foi contente ao seu encontro. Lá encontrará, estou seguro, os milhares de
pobres, refugiados, torturados e assassinados que o Sr. defendeu, protegeu e
por eles arriscou sua própria vida.

Jamais esquecerei o tempo de Petrópolis nos começos dos anos 60 do século passado, quando juntos, nos fins de semana,praticávamos a pastoral de periferia no bairro do Itamarati, o seu amor aos pobres dos morros e o carinho para com as crianças.

Ainda não terminei de lhe agradecer a coragem com a qual tomou a defesa da
teologia da libertação e de minha pessoa no diálogo que tivemos com o
então Cardeal Joseph Ratzinger logo após o interrogatório a que fui submetido em Roma. Na minha presença e junto com o Card. Dom Aloysio Lorscheider, o Senhor testemunhou que a teologia que nossos teólogos fazíamos em favor dos pobres e com eles era boa para as comunidades e significava um bem da igreja local que devia ser defendido por seus pastores.Por isso justificava sua presença em Roma.

Sempre me animou e apoiou em minha atividade teológica. Guardo até hoje
como um sacramento o bilhete que me deixou na mão antes de subir ao navio
que me levava para estudos na Europa:

“Caro confrade Frei Leonardo: gostaria que soubesse isso:queremos dar-lhe o melhor porque a Igreja do Brasil precisa do melhor. Você também sabe que foi enviado em nome de Deus. Viva e estude por Ele para Ele. “Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum,in vanum laborant qui aedificant eam”: “Se o Senhor não edificar a casa, em vão
trabalham os que a edificam”.

Quero ser fiel a este mandato pelo tempo que me resta de trabalho útil a serviço da fé e da libertação dos sofredores deste mundo, da salvaguarda da vida e da preservação da Mãe Terra.

Se é verdade o que diz o poeta “que morrer é fechar os olhos para ver melhor” então, agora, querido Dom Paulo, o Senhor estará vendo a Deus a quem sempre serviu, face a face, participando da festa com todos os libertos e
bem-aventurados do céu.

Com minhas preces diante do Senhor e com saudades peço que lá junto do Pai e Mãe de bondade olhe para todos nós e nos ajude a seguir o exemplo luminoso que nos legou.

De seu antigo aluno e amigo

Leonardo Boff”

Petrópolis 15 de dezembro de 2016.

Leonardo Boff | Francis of Rome; Francis of Assisi

Leonardo BoffDeixe um comentário
Leonardo Boff | Francis of Rome – Francis of Assisi