An Interview with Brother Vicente Botella Cubells, OP, Master of Sacred Theology
The theological work that the Order can offer to the Church and to the world today “must be a theology at the service of the preaching of the Good News and, therefore, in contact with the reality, the problems, the concerns and the frontiers of the men and women of today.” These are the words of Brother Vicente Botella Cubells, OP, who received the degree of Master in Sacred Theology from the Master of the Order in 2023, in the following interview granted to the media of Ordo Praedicatorum.
Magister in Sacra Theologia1
What does it mean to you to have received the degree of Master in Sacred Theology from the Master of the Order?
First of all, it was a surprise. I really did not expect that my brothers, led by the Prior Provincial, would consider that I had the merits required for the reception of the Order’s Master in Theology and that, moreover, they would present it to the Master of the Order. Consequently, gratitude (to the Order, to the Master of the Order and to my brothers) is the second word that resonates in me in relation to this distinction. All that I have studied, reflected on, taught or published I owe to the Order which welcomed me and offered me a good formation, arranging things so that I could dedicate myself to theology. Finally, this honour speaks to me of a responsibility and an incentive. I have to be consistent with the recognition that has been granted to me and continue to serve,Dominican preaching through my theological work with even greater zeal if possible.
In your opinion, what would be the Order’s current theological mission to the Church and the world?
Well, I don’t know if I am able to outline exactly the theological mission the Order has to offer today to the Church and to the world. I understand, in any case, that it has to follow our tradition and, therefore, the path opened by that harmonious communion between Dominic’s preaching charism and Thomas Aquinas’ way of doing theology. It must therefore be a theology at the service of the preaching of the good news and, therefore, in touch with the reality, problems, and concerns of the men and women of today. A theology based on the Word of God, but in constant dialogue with the different disciplines of knowledge and science; in this sense, an interdisciplinary theology or, as Pope Francis says in Veritatis Gaudium, transdisciplinary. A theology concerned with the contribution that Christians (ecumenism) and religions (interreligious dialogue) can make towards a just, peaceful, fraternal and ecological world. A positive theology which, in spite of the difficulties and problems, expresses the Christian God’s trust in human beings and therefore hope. A theology based both on the depth of contemplation and on scientific rigour.
In the light of the Theology of Marriage, what can be the response of the Order and the Church to the challenges facing the family today?
The Christian understanding of marriage is based on the greatest and most recognised principle of all in human life: love. Of course, this love, considered from the point of view of revelation, has a height that reaches to God and, reaching to God, also speaks the truth of the human being. Love presupposes otherness, since it is never self-referential. The mystery of the Christian God is evidence of this, given its Trinitarian profile. God is love and, therefore, a mystery of communion which, moreover, has overflowed by calling into being what was not. In creation, therefore, he has left his mark (a mark of love). In particular, this imprint is present in the human creature (imago Dei). Consequently, the person, whose raison d’être is love, reaches its fulfilment when he opens himself lovingly to otherness.
Without interpersonal relationships oriented by love that seeks communion, the human being does not develop in its integrity. From this process, anthropological and theological at the same time, the reality of marriage is an eminent sign, a sacrament. Hence its richness and significance. Thus, the experience of the communional love of marriage is itself an experience of God the Creator, but above all of God the Saviour, who in Jesus Christ has manifested love in all its radicality, breadth and depth. For this reason, this same experience also reflects the mystery of the Trinitarian God, since human life is transmitted and grows: marriage becomes family. In this way, in the family, the astonishing wonder of the gift of life that has as its source the One and Triune God becomes more visible. In short, marriage-communion gives rise to a wider communion: the family. There is, as can be seen, an intrinsic and natural relationship between the two realities. Against this background, it is only natural that a crisis in the understanding of marriage should lead to a crisis in the understanding of the family and vice versa. What can the theology of marriage contribute to the crisis in the family? I understand that, above all, the value of an effective sign within which it must be understood. Given that it is a sacrament, it projects a significance that makes us think, and therefore, despite the difficulties, it can serve as a guide, within the confusion in which we live.
On the one hand, there are the dimensions reflected in the sign of marriage: total, definitive and fruitful self-giving in love. On the other hand, there is the space of trust and care provided by the experience of the sacrament of marriage; a space of trust that translates, for example, into the stability it offers to the family reality for its development and implementation. These values or principles offered by the theology of marriage are still valid and should be offered without fear to the people around us. Moreover, I am sure that many can recognise themselves in them because they probably aspire to live them. Sometimes, in repeated marriages and in the desire to find refuge in the warmth of the family home, there is, on the contrary, the affirmation of what the theology of marriage teaches and fails to achieve… It is true that the new anthropologies, with the questions of gender and transhumanism, pose a great challenge for the theology of marriage and the family. Here, the challenge of enlightening dialogue is not only on the side of the theology of marriage, but also on the side of the Christian vision of the human being (theological anthropology).
How can the sacrament of reconciliation help young people today?
Yes, I believe that the sacrament of reconciliation can help young people today in many ways. Provided, of course that we present it in a meaningful way. First of all, there is the recognition and acceptance of responsibility and vulnerability. We have not taught young people in Western societies to recognise limits and failures. In this context, it is not easy for them to take responsibility for their own actions: the awareness of sin does not exist. Teaching young people to examine themselves, to discover that they do things wrong, that they harm others and themselves, is healthy. Curiously, this Christian assumption of responsibility, far from diminishing, humanises and matures, because it shows that assuming the poverty and weakness of one’s own condition can change things. It is the essential first step on the path of personal growth. Being vulnerable and making mistakes is not a tragedy, it is an opportunity to improve. The reconciliation that God offers in the sacrament of forgiveness points us in the direction of healing and helps us overcome the Peter Pan mentality in which we have been formed by today’s society. In this mentality, there is no awareness of guilt, and so when someone feels guilt, they do not know how to deal with it. This does a lot of harm, especially to young people. Then there is the whole aspect of being listened to, understood and forgiven. Today’s young people, despite being super-connected, are very lonely. Sadly alone. It is not easy for them to open up with sincerity (to show themselves as they are) because they are rather preoccupied with getting “likes” from others for everything they do or post on social media. Thus, part of the richness of the sacrament of reconciliation is that in it one finds a space and a person with whom to express what one feels or experiences without being judged and then receives mercy. These features of the sacrament must be passed on with wisdom. Moreover, feeling welcomed and forgiven helps one to understand others, to put oneself in their shoes and in this way it facilitates social relations. Another value of reconciliation for young people is the possibility to start spiritual direction or accompaniment. Feeling lost in today’s society is relatively easy. Finding a person with whom to consider things is a priceless gift that needs to be treated with great value. The sacrament of forgiveness offers this possibility. This perspective, which is at the origin of the model of auricular confession that has been used in the Church for a long time, is a value to be pedagogically proposed to our world and, in particular, to young people.
Would you like to add anything?
Simply, thank you for this opportunity. Greetings to all.
Brother Vicente Botella Cubells, OP, was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1962. He made his profession in the Order in 1981 in the Province of Aragon (now Province of Hispania). He was ordained priest in 1987. A Master of Theology of the Order of Preachers with Doctorate in Theology from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), he is professor of Dogmatic Theology in the Faculty of Theology of Valencia, of which he has been Dean on two occasions. He is currently Vice-Dean of the Faculty.
From 1998 to 2007, he was Master of Students of the Dominican friars of
the Provinces of Aragon, Andalusia and Spain. He is the current Episcopal Delegate
of Interfaith Relations and Interreligious Dialogue in the Diocese of Valencia.
He is the author of several books, among them, Hacia una theología tensional (1994), El Vaticano II ante el reto del tercer milenio (Salamanca-Madrid), El Vaticano II ante el reto del tercer millennium (Salamanca-Madrid, 1999), Dios escribe y se escribe con trazo (Salamanca-Madrid, 2002), Sacramento, una noción cristiana fundamental (Salamanca, 2007) Creer la Palabra y ponerse en camino (Madrid, 2016).
- It is an honorary degree granted by the Master of the Order, following the recommendation of the General Council in accordance with certain requirements. The title dates back to 1303, when Pope Benedict XI, a Dominican, created this degree so that the Order of Preachers could grant the faculty of teaching theology. Today it is exclusively an honorary title, but it is the highest recognition of excellence in the sacred sciences within the Order of Preachers. ↩︎
