THEOLOGY SHOULD enable Christians to alleviate the suffering of God’s children and connect faith with people’s experiences, the Archbishop of Manila said.
After receiving his honorary Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula said being sacred means belonging to God and adhering to a Theology that listens.
“Theology must never become detached from life. It must remain attentive to the concrete realities where people encounter God, struggle with suffering, search for meaning, and hope for salvation,” Advincula said on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Theology, he added, must also listen to God to bridge faith and lived experience and take into account people’s questions, joys, wounds, hopes and even their doubts.
“It is to recognize that before theology speaks, it must learn to hear, to hear the Word of God and, illumined by it, to hear the voices of the people among whom God continues to dwell,” the prelate said.
According to the Thomasian cardinal, he realized during his 25 years as a priest that listening is much more difficult than speaking.
“[A pastor] must learn to listen: to God, to the Church, to the signs of the times, to the people entrusted to his care, and especially to those who are voiceless,” Advincula said.
The archbishop also stressed that theology does not begin with the need to have all the answers, but to start with humility to listen to the questions, scripture, traditions and the sorrows of people.
“A theology … listens to the poor, to migrants, to families, to young people, to those who feel forgotten, to those who struggle to believe, and even to those who have stopped listening to the Church,” the prelate said.
Advicula then cited Pope Francis’ teaching on synodality, emphasizing that listening in the Church goes beyond simply hearing, as it involves mutual listening and recognizing that everyone can learn something. He also mentioned Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas, which discussed the Church’s mission to engage with the realities and challenges of the contemporary world.
The cardinal also talked about listening theology, a kind of doctrine that does not change the truth of the Gospel, but connects with the community, exists within the people and lives there like Christ.
Advincula expressed gratitude for his theological formation in UST, noting that the works of its patron, St. Thomas Aquinas, reflected how the Dominican Doctor of the Church listened attentively.
“He (Aquinas) does not begin by silencing questions. He brings them into the conversation. He takes seriously the objections of those who disagree with him. He listens to philosophers who lived before Christ, to thinkers from other religious and intellectual traditions, to those with whom he disagrees, and even to arguments that at first appear to challenge the faith,” he added.
The prelate said listening is one of the gifts that the Dominican tradition has given to the Church, pointing out that theology is confident enough to ask difficult questions, humble enough to listen to different voices and faithful enough to remain rooted in the Gospel.
Advincula, is the latest in a line of Church leaders to receive an honorary doctorate from UST. The University last conferred an honorary doctorate on a cardinal in 2009, when it recognized Paul Josef Cardinal Cordes for his contributions to the Church’s humanitarian and charitable work.
Advincula completed his bachelor of Sacred Theology at UST in 1975. He was proclaimed a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020 and named Manila archbishop in 2021. The prelate was awarded The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni Award for Service to the Church the following year.
In 2023, Advincula was conferred a Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities, honoris causa by San Beda University. F – Maverick John Felipe
