Cardinal Cobo: Without prayer theology becomes an empty discourse

The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo, stated that “without prayer theology becomes an empty discourse, a word without sap,” during the inauguration Mass of the academic year of the San Dámaso University that took place this Wednesday in the Cathedral of La Almudena.

The cardinal also highlighted that this academic discipline is, like any human knowledge, an approach to the Mystery and, therefore, “a humble word about a God who is always more than surpasses us, amazes us, envelops us.”

In relation to prayer, Cardinal Cobo explained that both personal and community prayer intertwine and feed each other: “Without community, prayer withers; without prayer, the community loses its soul.”

Thus, he asked the Lord to “make us men and women of prayer as a requirement to be men and women of study,” because theological discipline “is not a mere intellectual exercise,” but rather knowledge “that is born from faith and returns to faith,” because prayer “opens the soul to the mystery” and study “helps us understand it with the intelligence that God has given us.”

The Archbishop of Madrid pointed out that, in the same way that it is impossible to separate prayer and theology, “it is also impossible to separate them from life”, in such a way that “theology is done in contact with reality, in listening to the signs of the times.”

Specifically, Cardinal Cobo referred in the current context to wars, the challenge of artificial intelligence “and, above all, the silent cry of the poor.”

“A theology that does not listen to the cry of the world becomes self-referential and without spirit,” he stressed.

On the other hand, the cardinal reflected on the convenience of the Catholic university being “a place of dialogue and a meeting place, a space where faith and reason mutually fertilize each other, where people think with an open mind and a believing heart, in full harmony with the journey of the entire Church.”

In this sense, he proposed that “synodality be assumed as a priority and transversal line in all dimensions of university life” in response to “a deep feeling of the Spirit that, through the synodal path and prayer, inspires a new way of thinking, discerning and acting in community.”

Likewise, the cardinal encouraged the university to “be a space where faith is thought about, where reason is illuminated and where truth is sought with joy” and that, he added, “underlines the character and synodal structure of the Church.”