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- The Peaceful Coexistence of Different Faiths
An Interview with Alessandra Trotta, Moderator of the Waldensian Church
Alessandra Trotta, the Moderator of the Italian Waldensian Church, was interviewed by Till Hüttenberger at the spring meeting of the Friends of Servizio Cristiano on May 24 in Riesi, Italy. The following AWS weekly e-mail newsletter is excerpted from that interview.
Alessandra is pictured above.
What do you expect from the newly elected Pope Leo XIV in regard to ecumenical cooperation with Protestant churches?
I expect continuity on many levels, including in the Catholic Church’s ecumenical relationships with the Protestant churches, a subject which is likely to be very familiar to the new US-born pope. I also hope for significant progress on other important issues such as eucharistic hospitality, though I recognize that eucharistic hospitality itself involves ecclesiological questions that are so central to the Catholic Church’s understanding of itself that progress in this area will not come easily.
For European Christians, the main question is how much attention Pope Leo will devote to European Christianity, whether he will consider it relevant to the Christianity’s future, and what its contribution will be. European Christianity was a matter of great importance to Pope Benedict. I don’t believe that Pope Francis, who came from Argentina, fully appreciated its relevance.
Pope Leo, with his roots in both North and South America, is in an interesting in-between position. Hopefully his background will help him appreciate how interconnected the realities of Christianity in the “Global South” are with the tensions and problems facing Christians in the so-called “West.”
As the Moderator of the Waldensian Church, what do you see as the fundamental challenges for the work of the Protestant churches in the current cultural, political, and social situation in Italy and beyond?
I am convinced that the greatest challenges facing Protestant churches today are the same ones that face all Christian churches. I believe that facing these challenges requires a high commitment to dialogue and collaboration. We are living in a time when entire generations have pushed God—as the “Wholly Other” (to use the 20th century theologian Karl Barth’s definition of God)—as well as the communal dimension of faith out of their lives. For generations, we have lived under the illusion of a boundless freedom without limits or constraints and, as a result, have been subject to the law of the strongest. We have been left in a desert of agonizing loneliness and we have become prisoners of ourselves in a life in which nothing is to be believed and nothing seems to have meaning.
As Christians, we must remind ourselves that we have a treasure in earthen vessels—one that must be lived out daily in the worship and community life of faith, such as exhibited in the congregation in Riesi. It is in congregations that the good news of God’s love must be heard in a way that is credible for our time.
This takes place in an increasingly complex and merciless world—marked by the rage of the excluded, the horror of wars, a growing gap of inequality, and the nihilism of young people who no longer can dare to dream of a future.
In this situation, European Protestants have a particular responsibility to help preserve the liberal and pluralistic democracy which is now in serious crisis. More than many others, we understand its value as the only political system that does not claim the authority itself to define what is good and what is evil, but rather seeks to guarantee every citizen the space to live in accordance with their own conscience, to make free and responsible decisions, and to use their talents for the common good. We believe that participatory democracy is an essential foundation for building peace. It is also the best environment for proclaiming the Gospel.
Let me say one more thing: The truth of the Gospel, I believe, is quite different from the currently powerful ideology—often marketed in the name of Christianity—of “God, Homeland, and Family.” This ideology represents a completely unbiblical model of Christianity, one that believes that it serves God by claiming a socially dominant and ruling role. It is an ideology permeated by a theology of success, in which wealth and power—often gained at the expense of others—are seen as signs of God’s blessing. To me, this ideology – that calls itself Christian nationalism – is incompatible with the example and teaching of Jesus.