When thinking of the Middle Ages, many will hold that the essence of asceticism was rejection of the world and complete condemnation of life lived in the world. This judgment is sometimes found in history books, but it is not entirely true. Suffice it to look at the few remaining letters of St. Francis of Assisi. One in particular, written to a friar who asked to be relieved of his office, can help understand how deeply rooted Francis was in...
Fr. Bartolomeo Sorge – a former director of our magazine – died in Gallarate on the morning of November 2, 2020, having turned 91 a few days earlier. Born on October 25, 1929, on the Island of Elba (Rio Marina), where his father was on military duty, he always proudly remembered his Sicilian roots on his father’s side and Venetian ones on his mother’s. At the age of 17 he entered the novitiate of the then Venetian-Milanese Province of the...
A project born from afar In his Message for the Launch of the Educational Pact, dated September 12, 2019, Pope Francis invited all those working in the field of education at different levels (academic, institutional, pastoral and social) to Rome on May 14, 2020, to work together to develop a global educational pact. The event was then postponed due to Covid-19. The pandemic has made the Holy Father’s appeal even more pressing; it is necessary to unite efforts for the...
A United Arab Emirates official in long flowing robes, white headdress firmly in place and face covered with a Covid-19 mask, rubbed elbows with the Israeli National Security Advisor, dressed in a smart suit, his head covered with a large Jewish skullcap and his features also obscured by a Covid mask. The scene took place on September 1, 2020, as the first official Israeli delegation visiting Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, flew home on a direct flight...
Tyger Tyger burning bright / In the forests of the night... / Did he who made the Lamb make thee? William Blake, Songs of Experience, 1794 The Covid-19 pandemic and other recent outbreaks of infectious diseases of animal origin have shed a new light on one of the most famous passages of Genesis, the story of the creation and the relationship between human beings and the animal world. In Gen 1:26, in an inner monologue, God shows his intention to...
When it was announced in April 2020 that the German authorities had arrested four Tajik citizens who were planning an attack on an American military base in Germany,[1] many wondered: “Where did these people come from? What country is this? Is it yet another hotbed of Islamic terrorism?” These are not the questions we will seek to answer. Instead, we will attempt to understand why a country deep in the heart of Central Asia is only known for its Islamic...
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