In the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis met with members of the International Theological Commission.
During the audience, the Pope encouraged the Commission to face today's issues guided by three principles: creative faithfulness to Tradition, prudence in action, and cooperation.
POPE FRANCIS
[Tradition] is what makes the Church grow from the bottom up, like the tree—it is the roots. Someone else said that traditionalism is the 'dead faith of the living': when everything shuts down. Tradition— I want to emphasize this—makes us move in this direction: from down up—vertical. Today, there is a great danger to go in another direction: 'backwards.' Going backward.
The Pope also suggested the need to include more women in the Commission's work as they play a unique role.
POPE FRANCIS
I think perhaps it would be important to increase the number of women, not because they are fashionable, but because they think differently from men and make theology something deeper and also more 'flavorful.'
The International Theological Commission was founded in 1969 by Pope Paul VI with the role of studying doctrinal questions.
KG
