Theologian to address Discern annual lecture

Fr Carlos Mesters will be the speaker at this year's Discern annual lecture which will be held at the Radisson Hotel on Monday at 7 p.m. His lecture is entitled La Parola Di Dio Nella Formazione Di Comunità Di Base.

Although born in The Netherlands in the early 1930s, Fr Mesters, a Carmelite Friar, can claim to be one of the foremost Latin American Biblical theologians. At the age of 18, while he was a student in a Carmelite secondary school, he went to Brazil to become a missionary. He studied philosophy in Brazil, theology in Rome and scripture at both the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome) and at the École Biblique (Jerusalem).

Since 2001, Fr Mesters has been the Councillor for Latin America to the Prior General of the Carmelite Order after being elected on the first ballot.

Fr Mesters sees the bible as a book born of a people working hard for their liberation, trusting in God's promises. He believes that our interpretation of the scriptures is active and not passive, dynamic and not static. His commentaries on the Scripture reflect the situation of misery and oppression that many people are today suffering in both Latin America and other Third World countries.

In describing the social, political and religious milieu in which Jesus lived, Fr Mesters discerns the action of God the Father in favour of the wretched of the earth. However, his is a non-violent cry.

The lecture, which is open to the public, is being sponsored by APS Bank Ltd.