Seeing the Other in Times of Epidemics: a Catholic's Reflection on History. Remarks delivered by Fr. Davide Meli at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem on (original) (raw)

During the COVID 19 emergency medical professionals and theologians of different faiths met in Jerusalem at the Van Leer Institute to speak about complementary approaches to a social emergency.Biblical figures and forms convey a strong message which is: God acts in human history. Yet, human history contains many events that have brought horrible pain to humankind. What can theology say about history when history appears far from godly? Epidemics are painful historical events; what can theology help us learn from them? This paper seeks to introduce readers to responses given by Christians in three epidemics: Cyprian's Plague (Third Century), the Plague of 1348 and the Cholera epidemic of 1892.