Serra International and the Cultural Challenge

by Giovanni Novelli, President, Serra International

Technological development and the related fallout in people’s daily lives are issues under observation. Certainly, even if on the one hand, this permits an amplification and refinement of our actions, we have to ask ourselves if such an expansion always has beneficial results and if it obeys a logic of service to men or women, or if it is the result of an automatic mechanism that loses sight of the human person. Christian faith today faces the danger of being relegated to a kind of private reservoir from which everyone takes whatever fragments give sense to his or her own life. The cultural challenge to which the Christian is called instead, consists in transforming such a private reservoir into a world vision, more harmonious, even if critical, to be lived consciously together with all men.

The problem of consecrated vocations, as can easily be foreseen, is connected to this cultural challenge as well, a challenge that endeavors to create or re-create the soil that is needed to permit the seed to flourish and the thin small plant in development not to be choked by weeds.

My own diverse contacts with Serrans all over the world, in connection with my duties particularly last August, from North and South America, to Asia and Europe, confirm this vision about the sense we ought to have in our promotion and mission action.

If it is true that the members of our association represent – at this point at the international level - an intellectual force and a social nucleus, involved and influential in the Church, in a more delicate structure like the diocese (and in consequence in the service of the bishops), they must be clear in their intentions and explicit in their witness.

They have to take positions on key issues about which the Church also is not afraid to take a stand: in the field of the science (starting with bioethics), but also in literature, the arts and a philosophy of life that expresses itself through projects of peace and justice!

Serrans who live out their witness at times in a less energetic way in countries where Catholics are theoretically a majority group or in large numbers, should learn from the effective action developed by their distant friends operating in a minority position. These Catholic minorities are able to obtain respect through their coherent and exemplary deportment which has possible positive effects on the environment of family and society.

They promote values of a religious character, offering a fresh perspective amidst the confusion produced by popular short-lived hedonistic messages that lead nowhere and have no horizon!

A further consideration struck me during my encounters with many Serrans in the different countries I visited. Often we have good ideas, a spirit of service, dedication and enthusiasm for our Catholic Church, its Hierarchy and its ministers. We are also well disposed to prayer for vocations, but in the concrete, often we do not have a clear vision of definite financial needs that continuously arise during the different promotional routes we are developing, at least in order to give some follow-up to our practical actions. We understand that this is a delicate issue, with possible special meanings in some countries that are less wealthy, but it would be hypocritical not to face and discuss them with more clarity and openness. The cultural challenge is to recognize these needs and make a call to any possible generosity.

I invite you to reflect with me on these important issues for the good of Serra.
May God bless you and your families!

Return to Top