Giancarlo Pani SJ

A century ago, on  July 31, 1919, Primo Levi, writer, witness and “martyr” of the Holocaust, was born in Turin.[1] After graduating in chemistry, he worked in that profession before and after his dramatic experience of the concentration camp. He was also a partisan, and was captured as one, sent to the camp of Fòssoli,… Read the full article

Five hundred years after the death of Leonardo da Vinci (May 2, 1519), there are still many mysteries to be unveiled related to this protagonist of the Italian Renaissance and the history of humanity. He represents the emblem of “universal man,” a formula that echoes the universalis genius of the ancient Romans.[1] The fields in… Read the full article

Before the landings, which appear daily in the newspapers and the media, and the tragedies at sea, what happens to the refugees and displaced persons who cross the desert? The film Alganesh: Hope on the Horizon,[1] by the team of directors, Lia and Marianna Beltrami, answers this question. Lia and Marianna are a mother-and-daughter team… Read the full article

“The Gospel, the Mafia, the frontiers”: a few words that summarize “who Father Pino Puglisi, the parish priest of Brancaccio killed on September 15, 1993, really was. He was a man of unshakable faith and a master of spirituality, an educator of young people and a reference point for families, but also a frontier priest… Read the full article

“The story of Naboth is an old one, but it is repeated every day.”[1] This is how Ambrose begins the tale of poor Naboth whose death was contrived by King Ahab so that he could take possession of his vineyard. Naboth of Israel, Ahab of Samaria, his wife Jezebel and the prophet Elijah are the… Read the full article

“A bishop who became the Gospel”: this is the expression that Monsignor Agostino Superbo, the postulator of the cause of beatification, uses to define Don Antonio Bello, paraphrasing the latter’s own definition of a bishop. In fact, at the beginning of his episcopal ministry, Don Tonino said: “I would like to be a bishop who becomes… Read the full article

What does the Bible say about “power”? The subject is current and of great interest,[1] but not at all simple. Anyone searching for the word “power” in the Old Testament would be disappointed: it does not exist in Hebrew. Is that because Sacred Scripture does not provide any cause for reflection about power? Far from… Read the full article

A topic like Luther’s vocation does not capture the attention of his biographers. It is taken for granted. Everyone talks about it, but only in a generic way. In truth, the facts are not so apparent. Luther entered the monastery when he was 21 years old, after a storm. On July 2, 1505, while returning… Read the full article