“The novel, literature, you see, reads the human heart. It helps us embrace desire, splendor and misery. It is not theory. It is helpful for preaching to know the heart…”[1] That is what Francis told me when I interviewed him in 2016, near the end of our meeting. Ten years after his election to the papacy (March 13, 2013), we want to go in search of the formation of his thinking and pastoral attitude. We are doing so by retracing...
“Each one of you, dear friends, has a life story that speaks to us of the tragedies of war, of conflicts that are all too often linked to international politics. Yet, above all, every one of you bears a wealth of humanity and a religious sense, treasures to welcome rather than to fear. Many of you are Muslim or members of another religion. You come from various countries, from different situations. We mustn’t be afraid of differences! Fraternity enables us...
Congo, a continent in the great African Continent At 8:10 a.m. on January 31, 2023, the papal flight took off from Fiumicino airport for N’djili International Airport in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it landed around 3 p.m., and the pope was welcomed by the prime minister. Pope Francis then proceeded to the Palais de la Nation, located in La Gombe, north of Kinshasa, on the banks of the Congo River, which is the official residence...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of philosopher Jacques Maritain. A leading exponent of contemporary French philosophy and neo-Thomism, his existential and intellectual contribution was extremely rich in many respects, as evidenced by his breadth of interests, activities and research in many fields (academic, political, ecclesiastical) and, above all, his extensive publications .[1] Some biographical notes Jacques Maritain was born in Paris on November 18, 1882, and graduated first in philosophy and then in natural sciences. During...
A recent volume by Alberto Melloni recounts the solemn opening of Vatican II through the two speeches the pope made on that occasion: the first, in the morning, in St. Peter’s Basilica, entitled Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, to the Council assembly and ecumenical observers; the other, in the evening, which has gone down in history as the “Discourse of the Moon,” to the faithful present at the torchlight procession in St. Peter’s Square.[1] Although they are two different speeches – the...
The stories about our origins are sometimes quite shocking. When the Lord God presents man with the woman he has just taken from his side, Adam exclaims, playing on the words, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. / She shall be called ‘woman’ (‘iššâ), for she was taken out of man (‘îš)” (Gen 2:23). The reader shares Adam’s amazement that he has finally found “help to match him.” However, this first reaction cannot sustain...
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