Holy Week could make sense even for those who do not share the Christian myth, if it were a vindication, not of the brutal death of a single man two thousand years ago, but of the violated dignity of all those who were then victims of the viciousness of power, including those crucified with Jesus […]
Pope Nicholas V granted “full and free permission” to the Portuguese Crown to “capture and subjugate Saracens and pagans” in its African expansion (Bull Dum Diversas, 1452). Alexander VI Borgia blessed the arrival of the Spaniards in America and stipulated the division of dominions between Castile and Portugal (Bull Inter Caetera, 1493). These and other […]
“Do we educate to achieve serenity and peace?” These are the opening words of this brief, dense book; they end with a black question mark and are surrounded by a white, empty space. In that white space of the question, the reader becomes trapped, suspended, attentive to silent, white emptiness. And calmly. That is where […]
Taking stock of Pope Francis’ 10 years Eight months following his election in November 2013, Pope Francis published the first of his major documents, which I believe is the best of all the texts written or signed by him: the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. It was like a programmatic proclamation. Like a spring proclamation. It […]
In October 2022 the Organic Law guaranteeing sexual freedom, more widely known as the “Only yes means yes” law, came into force in Spain. It stipulates that any sexual act without consent is now regarded as a crime of sexual assault, and the concept of mere “abuse” has been eliminated. The law covers any kind […]
“Take your hands off the Democratic Republic of Congo, do not touch Africa. Stop suffocating it, because Africa is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be plundered. Let Africa be the protagonist of its own destiny.” “The poison of greed has bloodied its diamonds.” “We cannot get used to the blood […]
Is it still worth talking about “God”? I do not honestly know, but, in spite of all doubts, for many people –and for myself- it is still a good way to speak about the deepest and best unspeakable Mystery of the universe, and an inspiring source of justice and peace in a world that needs […]
People go to their temples to greet Me… How simple and ignorant are My children who think that I live in isolation. Why don’t they come and greet Me in the procession of life, where I always live, in the farms, the factories, and the market, where I encourage those who earn their living by […]
The recent open letter from the theologian José Ignacio González-Faus to his Jesuit brother Marko Rupnik, a renowned artist, and spiritual guide and who was canonically prosecuted and convicted for sexual assaults, deeply disappoints me because of what it says and what it does not say. I will begin by briefly commenting on some points […]
Life consists in opening cracks until finally understanding that that was the way to follow. And then I am again surprised by the capacity of life to find loopholes to let me continue creating. This is something that stuns me, as someone who well understands that life surpasses us and is beyond and above everything […]