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Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?
June 17 2026
Soline Humbert
Teilhard de Chardin vs. Magnificent Humanitas: Maturation or vigilance? Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas emerged at a time of profound cultural and technological transformation. It was an important and courageous intervention. However, the sufficiency of the metaphysical framework within which these concerns are formulated must be questioned. Paolo Gamberini SJ https://www.religiondigital.org/opinion/teilhard-chardin-vs-magnifica-humanitas_1_1457081.html (Text reworked and developed from the article by Ilia Delio published by the Center for Christogenesis on June 1, 2026 https://christogenesis.org/evolution-technology-and-the-divine-ground-teilhard-de-chardin-as-a-resource-for-responding-to-magnigica-humanitas/ )
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Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?
June 17 2026
M G-B
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." (George Bernard Shaw) Remember when we Catholics believed in: colonization; slavery; capital punishment; just war theory etc. etc. and we dug up scripture to agree with us? At the heart of this transformation for me, is COMPASSION! We are slowly becoming more loving. "I am a slow walker but I never walk back." (Abraham Lincoln)
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Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?
June 17 2026
Joe O'Leary
Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. The perfectibility of humanity was the creed of Rousseau, Kant, Godwin, Shelley, and it was resisted by church figures such as Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, who condemned Rousseau's Emile at the same time as the Parlement of Paris and the authorities in Geneva. Though he had a persecution complex, he really was persecuted. Kant had only one portrait in his house, Rousseau's, and legend has it that he missed his daily walk only once, when reading Emile. Of course, none of these brilliant thinkers were naive and they keyed progress to enlightened human behaviour. Leo XIV calls himself a son of St Augustine, and the great weapon against progressives and perfectibilists was Augustine's doctrine of Original Sin. The idea that humans could make themselves more perfect smacked of Pelagianism. The hostility to the progressive thinking was more on the basis of Original Sin than on that of the idea the human nature must have been complete in Jesus's time -- a new idea to me -- did Sean think it up? I would say that the historical Jesus and the Gospels are a seed that is capable of stupendous further growth. Jesus's discourse on the kingdom of God points in that direction, though out of date in some respects (as in the case of the imminent parousia) and needing to be supplemented under the influence of the Spirit and the Risen Christ (as the Last Discourse in the Fourth Gospel says). It's enough for Jesus to be a real human being for his human life, death and resurrection to qualify him as saviour of the world. The unfolding of the Christ-event is concretely historical, "it rides time like riding a river" as G. M. Hopkins says. The Catholic Church made a great concession to progressivism in Rerum Novarum, which sees the promise of improvement brought by modern industry. Vatican II in Gaudium et Spes strikes a note that is much more in accord with progressive thinking than earlier attitudes. Teilhard said that the world listens to those who give it the most hope-filled message. His message burst onto the public stage after his death in the years of Vatican II. His book Le phénomène humain is said to be the best-selling French book of all time. Human consciousness, which is a thrilling emergence in the trajectory of Evolution, is intrinsically developmental, in the sense that it grows increasingly complex and integrates more and more knowledge and insight. Also it changes immensely -- modern literature since Kafka has not only reflected but shaped the changing nature of human consciousness and existence. Is this an evolution for the better? Certainly we now have unprecedented possibilities and potential. But at the moment we are more anxious about preserving human freedom and dignity, building a more just world, surviving physically. Thinking about "the Christ that is to be" (for which Romans 8 might be an inspiration) seems beyond our reach just now. The optimism of the 1960s tends to be dismissed as an illusion.
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Séamus Aherne: Weekly musings on life … and life only!
June 15 2026
Paddy Ferry
Séamus It’s great to hear from you in the Algarve and thank you for your memories of Eddie. Eddie was a great man and such an important voice on this site. I remember, in particular, his deep sense of puzzlement that so few priests engage with this site. Fiona and I are enjoying our Tarsus Scripture Summer week here in Maynooth and I have spoken with men and women who share our enlightened view of our Church but have never contributed to any discourse on this site. Jessie and Séan are wonderful but, of course, we all miss Kieran. Though he is not physically present with us he is very much present in our thoughts and prayers. Enjoy the sunshine, Séamus. Shalom. PS Hearing a lot about Shalom here at Tarsus. Paddy.
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Most Recent Comments

Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?

Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?

Does ‘Humanness’ Evolve’?

Séamus Aherne: Weekly musings on life … and life only!