"Friendship favors the idea that in Navarra we must work together. We join forces, we collaborate from the public and private spheres in educational and health matters, because we know that in this way we provide a better service to the citizens". These words were pronounced today by the President of the University of Navarra, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, during the official opening ceremony of the 2021-22 academic year.

The event, which for the first time was held in the Museum Theater of the academic center, was attended by some 300 people, including members of the plenary session of the Executive Council of the board de Gobierno, the first authorities of Navarre and a representation of professors from the different Schools and schools.

The President referred in his speech to some ideas that have illuminated the University's strategic decisions in recent years. "Having clear priorities, committed professionals and excellent friends" are in his opinion the three pillars on which to build a "solid edifice".

The priorities of the University of Navarra, he said, are summary in the idea of "serving the employees, the students, the alumni, the patients of the Clinic and the whole society". Those who work in this center, he added, before any other purpose, seek the truth related to the science they cultivate and try to discover their own mission statement in the world: "At the University, only those who, in addition to being competent in their professional field, act habitually with generosity and a spirit of service, work well".

The University, a free environment, free from external pressures and self-censorship

This truth demands, in his opinion, a free environment, without external pressures or self-censorship, so that debates on relevant issues are commonplace, in which respect for the opposing opinion is non-negotiable. "In the University everyone should feel free, respected and appreciated. Differences of criteria and perspective do not separate one from the other: on the contrary, they enrich life at campus," he said.

After the priorities, a second basic element for moving forward is the commitment of the professionals working at the University of Navarra, said Professor Sánchez-Tabernero. In this regard, he highlighted the efforts of the 6,300 employees of the academic center during the pandemic, both of the professionals of the Clinic, who "have demonstrated the vocational nature of their work at the service of patients" and of the staff administration and services, and of professors and researchers. "The value contribution of professionals to the institutions in which they work comes from multiplying their knowledge, experience or skills by their Degree of commitment," he assured.

Finally, friends are the third factor that guarantees the capacity to respond in moments of truth: "Cultivating friendship, sharing dreams, taking an interest in other people's projects, joining forces, seeking points of meeting, detecting common aspirations... that is the way to go far". Thus, he recalled the financial aid provided during the pandemic to the University of Navarra: those who have offered scholarships to mitigate the economic impact of the health crisis on families; alumni that have helped recent graduates to enter the labor market; or companies that have financed projects of research related to covid-19. "There are many solidarity initiatives by friends of the University of Navarra - starting with the association de Amigos itself, whose support we will never be grateful enough - that encourage us to contemplate the horizon with hope," he concluded.

The President of the University of Navarra ended his speech looking to the future: "Always in the University the best is yet to come" and every day "we are amazed by wonderful and unexpected facts". One of these surprising realities, he stressed, has been the behavior of the students during the health crisis: "In such an arduous context they have shown their maturity and their sense of responsibility; they have faced adversity with determination and good humor; and they have turned difficulties into opportunities to grow and learn".

Theology and humor

The ceremony was attended by various authorities, including María Chivite, President of the Government of Navarra; Unai Hualde, President of the Parliament of Navarra; Enrique Maya, Mayor of the City Council of Pamplona; José Luis Arasti, Government Delegate in Navarra; Santos Induráin, Minister of Health of the Government of Navarra; Francisco Pérez González, archbishop of Pamplona and bishop of Tudela; Joaquín Galve, president of the High Court of Justice of Navarra; José Antonio Sánchez, chief prosecutor of the High Court of Justice; Ramón Gonzalo, President of the Public University of Navarra; Carmen Jusué, director of UNED Pamplona; Luis J. Fernández Rodríguez, director of UNED Tudela; Juan Miguel Sucunza, president of the Confederation of Businessmen of Navarra; and Javier Taberna Jiménez, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Navarra. 

After a Mass at the chapel of the Amigos Building, the opening ceremony began with the reading of the report by the University Secretary, Jesús María Ezponda. Then, the professor of the School of Theology César Izquierdo will give the inaugural lecture, "Sara's laughter. Theology and humor".

In his speech, he referred to "The laughter of Sarah", Abraham's wife, at the advertisement that, at the age of 90, she was going to have a son (Gen 18:13-15; 21:6) as the starting point to study the relationship between faith, Christian life and theology with humor. After referring to theories on humor, the author established the three basic conditions for humor to emerge: the capacity for synthetic perception, embodied reality and the concrete case. "These conditions are fully realized in the faith with which the Christian responds to the Christian mysteries," he said.

Faith, he said, is humorous precisely because it presents itself as a challenge. "Sara's laughter is that of one who does not know how the things that are announced to her can be realized, but at the same time she is aware that she is before the one who does not make false promises. It is, in final, the laughter before the undeserved grace that comes into her life and that unleashes an unimaginable state of things. It is the humor that arises from the gratuitousness of God's gifts. It is also the humor of an attitude of trust, indeed, of abandonment in the truth, love and power of God.