Pope Francis' first intention with this letter The aim, as he himself explains, had been "to propose a radical change in the attention that should be given to the literature in the context of the formation of candidates to the priesthood". But considering that his message is perfectly valid for anyone who has the desire to understand the heart of man, he extends it to all those who share this concern.
"This is the question," the Pope affirms"; the task of believers, and in particular of priests, is precisely to 'touch' the heart of contemporary human beings so that they may be moved and open to the announcement of the Lord Jesus and, in this effort, the contribution that the literature and poetry can offer is of unparalleled value".
Whoever is indifferent to art, to the inner world that artists express, whoever does not allow himself to be impregnated by the beauty it manifests, most likely has an impoverished experience of life and truth.
Therefore, a priest, any Christian who wishes to nourish that "passion for evangelization" to which the Pope refers on numerous occasions, can in no way be unaware of the absolute necessity of living in contact with that higher world.
The papal document must be inserted in a double tradition. On the one hand, in the Church's secular and multifaceted interest in art, expressed in recent decades in various magisterial texts, some of them expressly cited by the pontiff. On the other hand, in the educational movement - to define it in some way - which, reflecting on the nature of authentic culture, on the qualities that truly enrich the person and are indispensable for a just society, emphasizes knowledge of the so-called "great books".
Precisely a good part of the papal document, together with the pondering of the benefits of the simple act of reading for maturation, is linked to the classic theme of the "praise of the book".
Access to the heart of man
What interests him is to show that the approach to literature is a "privileged access to the heart of human culture and more specifically to the heart of the human being".
Reading helps to open up new spaces of interiorization in each of us insofar as it puts us in contact with other experiences that enrich our own universe.
Reading means "listening to someone else's voice", touching the hearts of others, freeing oneself from one's own obsessive ideas and inability to be moved. Those who read can see through the eyes of others, no matter when and where they have lived; they can feel with the heart of other cultures and other times.
These benefits of reading, to which, among others, the Pope refers in his letter, are analyzed in particular from the specific perspective of the pastor of souls, to whom nothing authentically human should be alien.
Thinking concretely about priestly ministry, Francis addresses the question of the nature of the priestly ministry. wordreflects on its meaning and value, on what is sacred in it. In this regard, he contributes a very interesting idea, which would be worthwhile to deepen: "All human words leave the trace of an intrinsic longing for God".
Pope Francis asks that those who have the duty of speakthose who must speak to others to announce the good news, value and respect the word, always remembering their responsibility, for it is precisely speaking How can they reach the fibers of the spirit, since "the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword; it penetrates to the point where soul and spirit, joints and marrow are divided; it judges the desires and intentions of the heart"? (Heb 4:12-13).
The light of art
And in order to develop with ease in this territory of transmission, of cordial communication, where the ability to understand the truth of the heart and the sensitivity to perceive the beauty and power of forms are combined, it is a necessity of the first order to know how to perceive the light that emerges from the works of art. "In man expressed in art are the seeds of the supernatural," and it is there that we must go to gather them and then, as St. Paul did in Athens, make them bear fruit with the teachings of the Gospel.
There is "a mysterious and indissoluble sacramental union between the divine word and the human word," the Pope insists; and it is very suggestive to confront this affirmation with the following text of the Russian thinker Pavel Florensky (1882-1937): "Just as there are persons who are especially inspired and filled with interior light, sometimes words are filled with the Spirit. Then the sacrament of the transubstantiation of the word takes place: 'under the guise' of ordinary words, words with another substance are born from the entrails of the spirit-bearing person: words upon which divine grace has truly descended. And from these words a gentle breeze constantly blows, silence and tranquility for the sick and weary soul. They pour over the soul like a balm, healing the wounds". This is an unpublished text in Spanish, which can be found at The Weeping of the Mother of God. Introduction to the Russian translation of the 'Canon of the Crucifixion of the Lord and the Weeping of the Mother of God.', by Simon Metafraste.
The task of evangelization, in conclusion, is to be carried out by those - in the words of St. John Paul II - "heralds," experts in humanity, connoisseurs of the human heart. The certainty of the value of the way of beauty, of the Via Pulchritudinisbeats at the heart of this letter of Pope Francis. And not only the pastors of the Church, but every Christian, must esteem it, know it and follow it for what it is: a privileged way to know God, to speak of God, to know man and to speak with men.
The memorable discourse on the contemplation of beauty that Cardinal Ratzinger delivered in August 2002 states it with complete clarity: "I have often said that I am convinced that the true apologia of the Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against any denial, is to be found, on the one hand, in its saints and, on the other, in the beauty that faith generates. For faith to grow today, both we and the men we meet must turn to the saints and to the Beautiful."
The promotion of humanistic studies (which substantially depend on the ability to read) is an absolute priority for any educational entity inspired by the gospel.
Professor of Literature.
