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October 17th: Meeting with Sister Nuria Calduch-Benages
Today Rita Houlihan and I had the pleasure of having lunch with another of our synod “experts” Sister Nuria Calduch-Benages, a religious of the Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Sr. Nuria is a professor of the biblical theology of the Old Testament at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, where she has taught for almost 20 years. Fluent in several languages, she is a Spaniard with two doctorates, one in philology from Spain and the other from the Biblicum in Scripture. Sr. Nuria also collaborates with the Catholic Biblical Federation and with various world theological institutions.
A vivacious woman who looks younger than her 52 years, Sr. Nuria speaks passionately on the subject of women in the Bible and women in the Church. She has written an Italian book on Jesus and Women that has recently been translated into Spanish and may soon be available in English if the publisher moves forward. She was very encouraging about the work FutureChurch does in parishes and small faith communities to raise up the witness of biblical women.
Sr. Nuria told us that when she lectures on women prophets at the Gregorian and the North American College her students ask why they never heard of these women before, and invariabley want to learn more. Eighty percent of her students are seminarians with the remaining being lay people and religious.
In her role as biblical “expert” Sr. Nuria serves one of two Spanish language small groups at the synod. In the small groups, the bishops discuss various issues and formulate propositions for consideration by the whole body of the synod. Sr. Nuria told us that all the invited experts were told it would be up to the small group moderator whether they would be invited to speak or not. She said moderators in some of the small groups have not permitted their expert to speak, though she believes most have. She did speak in her designated group and was then asked to write one of their propositions.
When I asked Sr. Nuria what she saw emerging as the main themes of the synod so far, Sr. Nuria gave these perspectives:
1. The quality of preaching and of homilies is a widespread cause for concern and many propositions will likely address this topic. The issues seem to be related to poor education and background in scripture on the part of priests; too little or no time spent in homily preparation; a tendency to moralize rather than to explain the biblical text as it relates to the lived experiences of church goers; and a tendency to discuss unrelated topics while not dwelling on the biblical text at all.
2. Lectio Divina. This is “the practice of the prayerful reading of Holy Scripture, individual or communal, to 'learn the heart of God through the words of God'. (presentation given on 10/14 by Bishop SILVA RETAMALES, Auxiliary Bishop of Valparaíso, (CHILE)
An ancient practice rooted in monasticsm, Lectio invoves reading a scripture passage, meditating upon and “mining” it for personal/communal understanding and engaging in conversation with God with a view to conversion and or action in one’s personal life. It is widely practiced by religious orders in the US, though Sr. Nuria tells me it has not been as well known in Europe where it is increasingly popular. It is an excellent way to make biblical passages part of one’s inner life and a source of strength and conversion for mission. Because Lectio is biblically rooted it is of great interest to the synod.
3. Exegesis (explanation/interpretation) and Theology. In brief, this relates to a head/heart concern that too much academic analysis of biblical texts can tend to undermine the totality of their meaning as a “Word of God” for one’s life. It does not mean that Church leaders are against historical critical and other methods of biblical interpretation, since these in fact frequently function to better reveal the meaning of the text. It does mean that the Bible as “Word of God” is not a dead book, but rather a dynamic opening to the heart of God at work in the world of today, as well as in the world of the biblical text. [In a recent interview with John Allen, Cardinal Levada pointed to the possibility of getting “Catholic exegetes and Catholic theologians to talk to each other, to dialogue about the methodologies of their particular specializations…we need to see how those two [exegesis and theology] work together.”
4. Seminary preparation. Sr. Nuria said there is concern to prepare future priests to be more biblically rooted and competent preachers, as well as to experience deeper formation in how biblical contemplation is food for the journey of life. She also heard that some small groups are discussing the need to have more women teaching in seminaries. Whether the latter will emerge as an actual proposition or not is unclear.
5. Lectionary texts need updating. Some bishops believe there is a need for better pairing of Old Testament and New Testament readings in the lectionary. This might better recognize that Christians read the Old Testament through the lens the New Testament’s witness to God’s salvific action in Christ.
When I asked Sr. Nuria if she thought any of the synod bishops would address our requests in their small groups, she sadly said she doubted it, since for so many, women in the church and women in the scriptures are just not in their awareness. She believes the best way groups such as ours can work is through the things we are already doing, cautioning us however to continue to engage our leadership. Her hope is that as more women become involved in biblical and theological studies, church men will become more comfortable with viewing women as equal partners in the work of the Church.
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