The Unwritten Letters. A Theological Interpretation of the Time of the Epidemic in the Pastoral Letters of Polish Bishops

Abstract

The documents of the post-Vaticanum II Church make it clear that preaching the word of God is a priority among bishops’ duties. Besides preaching the truths of the faith, an important duty of theirs is interpreting the contemporary reality in the perspective of the Gospel. The documents on the pastoral office of bishops present a pastoral letter as a basic form of preaching, besides a homily, and specify that pastoral letters ought to be published in situations of extraordinary circumstances for the Church. Seemingly, the coronavirus epidemic causing the COVID-19 disease has been such a special situation for the Church. A search of official Internet pages of dioceses has shown that from March to the end of June 2020 among 41 diocesan bishops of the Latin rite in Poland only 12 have released letters dedicated (entirely or partially) to the issues concerning the epidemic. Only 3 of the letters presented attempts of a theological interpretation, including biblical models. Similarly, only 3 bishops have discussed the issue of interpreting the epidemic in terms of a supernatural evil. In other letters a pedagogical model of teaching prevailed. The authors wrote of the epidemic as a time of trial, a chance and opportunity to change ones ways and repent. The bishops did not take the opportunity to present a deeper theological reflection of the epidemic sub specie aeternitatis.