Luis Fernando Figari - Thought and Writings

Thought and Writings

Figari has published many articles and books on various subjects, such as Christian spirituality, the Virgin Mary, the Eucharist, Catholic social teachings, the Catholic view of family, human rights and evangelization of culture. He has strongly backed the ideal of reconciliation, as well as the organization of congresses on several occasions on the issue of reconciliation. He is considered one of the main Latin American Catholic thinkers.

Although his writings cover a vast number of subjects, a strong synthetic view of Christian life and mission emerges. First, an understanding of the itinerary which the Christian must travel on the road to holiness, based upon the cornerstone of the virtue of faith, which is the means to enter into communion with the mystery of love of the Holy Trinity. Figari's approach to spiritual life is deeply centered upon the event of the Incarnation, finding in the Lord Jesus the illumination for the mystery of human existence. In this context the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and specifically of paragraph 22 of Gaudium et spes is very important for Figari, as well as the role of Saint Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus and our Mother, in Christian life. Filial love to Mary is understood as a dynamic process of growth in love, by which the Christian, who has been led to Mary by the love he finds in the heart of Christ, grows in his love of the Lord Jesus as well as in the understanding of Him, in the measure in which he lives in the company of Mary. The incarnation is understood in terms of Reconciliation, which becomes the key to understanding all the relational dimensions of human existence: relationship with God, with oneself, with other persons, and with the whole of creation. This understanding of Christian life, which according to Figari must become everyday life, naturally develops into an ecclesial affirmation of the apostolic mission of which all Christians are responsible. Conscious of the need for Christian witness in the present context, Figari has reflected upon the challenges for evangelization, analyzing the crisis of our secularized cultured, which he describes as characterized by functional agnosticism. He has also developed different aspects of the mission of the People of God in our times. Among them, four have a special relevance in his writings: the evangelization of youth, solidarity with the poor, the family and the evangelization of culture.