{"id":93,"date":"2013-07-29T09:25:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T09:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=93"},"modified":"2023-06-21T09:23:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T09:23:07","slug":"uccr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2013\/07\/29\/uccr\/","title":{"rendered":"What is UCCR?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name=\"uccr\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/new.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Logo-UCCR-INGLESE-+-scritta.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-187\" src=\"http:\/\/new.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Logo-UCCR-INGLESE-+-scritta-300x289.jpg\" alt=\"Logo UCCR (INGLESE) + scritta\" width=\"234\" height=\"226\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right: 12%; padding-left: 12%; text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h2 align=center><a href=\"#uccr\">What is UCCR?<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">UCCR was founded on <strong>February 2, 2011<\/strong> by a group of university friends who have been joined by others they met along their online journey.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is simply a <strong>website<\/strong> and does not intend to be the official voice of the Church. It should be solely regarded as the expression of thought by some young Catholics on various topics.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"uccrname\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h2 align=center><a href=\"#uccrname\">Why UCCR?<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The (not very exciting) title we chose for this website (&#8220;<i>Union of Catholic Christians Rationalists<\/i>&#8220;) is intentionally ironic, a challenge to various associations of rationalist atheists, but it also aims to counter the erroneous idea of a dichotomy between <strong>faith and reason<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We claim the right, will, and possibility to &#8220;give a reason for the hope that is in us&#8221; (1 Peter 3:15), aware that the reasonableness of a position (believing or not believing) always implies subjecting reason <b>to the scrutiny of experience<\/b>, i.e., it must emerge from the interaction between reason and lived reality.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore, we reject the irrational aspects of faith that arise from mere fleeting emotions or psychological conditioning (such as fear of death, the need for spiritual comfort in the face of life&#8217;s difficulties, etc.).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The ongoing decision <strong>to believe in God<\/strong> arises from the experience of a meaningful encounter, an impact with a human reality that &#8220;warms the heart&#8221; (Pope Francis), or even through extreme situations such as death, suffering, joy, illness, loss of social status, injustice, or human fragility. Moments when the ephemeral nature of life gives way to questions about the meaning of existence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, it is only through personal and rational commitment that one can <strong>verify<\/strong> if what one has encountered fulfills the promise of happiness and eternity and meets the need for each person to find ultimate meaning in life. In other words, for example, it is one thing to encounter an exceptional person and feel the impact of love (or affection, in the case of friendship), and another thing to engage seriously with that experience before deciding to marry or place one&#8217;s trust in it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the natural path that leads human beings from initial experience to a form of <strong>moral certainty<\/strong>, thanks to the proper use of reason. When this journey has been undertaken and one is morally certain of what one believes, it is possible to <strong>justify one&#8217;s position<\/strong>, especially in the articulate and pluralistic context of modernity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The moral certainty of the truth of the Catholic faith is based on three pillars:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; the <strong>historical reliability<\/strong> of Christian events;<br \/>\n&#8211; the <strong>recognition<\/strong> of the Catholic Church, founded on apostolic succession (Matthew 16:18), as a witness to the ongoing presence of Christ among humanity;<br \/>\n&#8211; the <strong>personal experience<\/strong> in continuous relationship with reality, aimed at verifying the &#8220;claim&#8221; of Christianity, i.e., the possibility of encountering the Risen One through the face of the Christian community in which one lives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Based on this triad (which we intend to delve into in the internal sections of the site), we believe that our faith in God is an <strong>act motivated by reasonable<\/strong> and therefore rational grounds.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"objectives\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h2 align=center><a href=\"#objectives\">Our Objectives<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We live in a fascinating era where, due to widespread <strong>secularization<\/strong>, the Christian faith, in particular, is subjected to more intense criticism and attacks compared to others, based on the assumption that it is completely contrary to reason and incompatible with scientific advancements. This compels believers to <strong>not take their faith for granted<\/strong> and fortunately, it obliges us to give a reason for the hope that is in us to the people we encounter along the way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore, this website is born with the following objectives:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>1)<\/strong> Provide believers with a tool to <strong>deepen their understanding of the reasons for faith<\/strong> in the existence of God and the foundations of the Christian belief, helping them respond to their own doubts and those raised by contemporary culture. This will enable them to proudly and serenely testify to what they have encountered as most precious. In summary, the objective is to promote a greater awareness of the value of the daily choice to be Christian.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>2)<\/strong> Create an informative channel that competently and punctually addresses <strong>objections<\/strong> forcefully promoted by secularist culture, such as the credibility of the tradition on which Christianity is based, the compatibility of the Christian faith with modern science, the coexistence of Christian ethics in a secularized society, and the defense of the history of Christianity and the Catholic Church against alleged &#8220;black legends&#8221; and anticlerical prejudices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>3)<\/strong> Create a virtual space where anyone, far from religious and non-religious fundamentalism, can <strong>engage in dialogue<\/strong>, exchange ideas, express their doubts, and find their own reasons. We will be delighted to host believers, atheists, and agnostics, experimenting with the possibility of peaceful coexistence in real society.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a name=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h2 align=center><a href=\"#comments\">Comments in &#8220;Latest News&#8221;<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The editorial team <strong>does not assume<\/strong> any responsibility for the content of comments published by readers, whether signed or anonymous. The responsibility for what is written lies solely with the commenter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is important to emphasize that, respecting everyone&#8217;s freedom of expression and in compliance with current regulations, we reserve the right to <strong>delete and moderate<\/strong> comments that harm others&#8217; image, result in arguments, or violate the blog&#8217;s policy. Furthermore, comments must be relevant to the proposed topics.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"images\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<h2 align=center><a href=\"#images\">Use of Images<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The photos on new.uccronline.it have largely been sourced from the Internet and are considered to be in the public domain. If the subjects or authors have any objections to the publication, they simply need to inform the editorial team: redazione@uccronline.it, which will promptly remove the used images.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;\n<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover UCCR, the Union of Catholic Christians Rationalists, a website dedicated to exploring the intersection of faith and reason. Delve into the credibility of Christian tradition, the compatibility of faith with science, and the importance of Christian ethics in a secularized society. Join us for dialogue, exchange of ideas, and promoting peaceful coexistence. Explore our articles and deepen your understanding of the Catholic belief. Start your journey towards a reasoned and informed faith today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,47],"tags":[1460,1464,1463,1462,1465,798,12,1466,800,799,801,1461,10,797,1459],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-notizieno","category-uccr-1","tag-catholic-belief","tag-christian-ethics-in-a-secularized-society","tag-compatibility-of-faith-and-science","tag-credibility-of-tradition","tag-dialogue-and-exchange-of-ideas","tag-faith-and-reason","tag-our-goals","tag-peaceful-coexistence","tag-reasonableness-faith","tag-reasonableness-of-the-christian-faith","tag-religious-and-irrationality","tag-secularization","tag-uccr","tag-uccr-goals","tag-union-of-catholic-christians-rationalists"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is UCCR? - UCCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2013\/07\/29\/uccr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is UCCR? - UCCR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover UCCR, the Union of Catholic Christians Rationalists, a website dedicated to exploring the intersection of faith and reason. 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