Beginning with the Many

Horizons of Fraternal Thought

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Vatican City, Jan. 19, 2023.- The project "Rescuing Fraternity - Together" is enriched with a new book of study and reflection. The book Beginning with the Many. Horizons of Fraternal Thought (Iniziare dai Molti. Orizzonti del pensiero fraterno) published in Italian by Vatican Publishing House, collects ten contributions commenting on the call Rescuing Fraternity - Together published by Vatican Publishing House in June 2021.

The call was developed by a group of ten theologians coordinated by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia and Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri:

   https://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/salvare-fraternita.html

Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, in the Introduction to Beginning with the Many, notes that "the analyses contained in this book are to be understood as the second phase of the project of creating a basis for comparison and reception of the call to rediscover fraternity presented by Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti. The suggestion to develop a protocol for the beginning of this dialogue, explicitly destined to expand through the contribution of the intellectual community, Christian and non-Christian, religiously believing and non-believing, comes from the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, H. E. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia." "Our proposal for reflection on the responsive potential of a fraternal style and an open method of thinking appeals to an intellectual convergence capable of effectively countering the resignation to the nihilist and conflictual tendencies of individualism that drive this epochal transition."

In the Foreword, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia sums up the meaning of this initiative, which today is enriched by this book of further considerations and studies. "It is about creating a real synodal space: it is about listening, discernment, critical and self-critical responsibility among bishops and theologians. A space that is alien to any vindictive logic: where fraternal custom drives out distrustful fear and no one takes over the  role of exclusive guardian of the common cause, which includes respect for ministries and gratitude for charisms. Finally, our formula is that of a space that is not occasional, but habitual and continuous, which therefore evolves over time into a garrison of fraternity. A permanent but flexible meeting table: not informal, but not bureaucratic either. In short, an experiment in unity between charism and ministry that is already capable of bringing added value to the synodal and testimonial form of the communio ecclesiae."

More details about the Rescuing Fraternity - Together project can be found on the website of the Pontifical Academy for Life: https://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/salvare-fraternita.html

Iniziare dai Molti. Orizzonti del Pensiero Fraterno, LEV, pp. 238, 22 euros