A piece of news that should have been read with attention between the lines of an interview Pope Francis gave in a recently published publication has gone almost unnoticed. It is about the probable birth, still without concrete details, of a new Vatican organism of a purely cultural nature, which could take the name of "Vatican Apostolic Media Library".
This would be a Central Archive for the permanent and orderly preservation of the historical audiovisual collections held by the various agencies of the Holy See and the entire Church, similar to the existing one. Vatican Apostolic Archives -The Vatican Apostolic Library, which was once known as the "Secret" and which preserves and enhances acts and documents relating to the government of the universal Church, and the Vatican Apostolic Library, whose first origin dates back to the fourth century.
As we were saying, the Pope announced it between the lines in the interview he gave to Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, former prefect of the Department of Communication of the Holy See, on the occasion of the book Lo sguardo: porta del cuore (The look: gateway to the heart)dedicated to neo-realist cinema, of which the Pontiff has always claimed to be a great admirer, often citing in his speeches and homilies references to this culture, which he considers to have a strong testimonial value.
For his part, the author of the book, in addition to teaching film and currently being vice-chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences of the Holy See, is also an author of films and documentaries and in the past directed for several years the "Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo" of the Italian Episcopal Conference, until his arrival at the Vatican as head of the reform of the Vatican media.
It is therefore not difficult to foresee that Viganò could be entrusted with the organization of this new body, which has the favor of the Holy Father and could serve to revalue a heritage of historical audiovisual sources that in the past have also represented a high religious, artistic and human level, especially if we think of the famous "community rooms" present in practically every parish.
In the interview, Pope Francis also speaks of the need we have today to "learn to look! After all, in the face of the fear and discouragement caused, moreover, by the recent pandemic, what is needed in the Church and in the world are "eyes capable of piercing the darkness of the night, of raising our gaze beyond the wall to scan the horizon".
The Pope is thinking of "a catechesis of the gaze, a pedagogy for our eyes that are often incapable of contemplating in the midst of darkness the 'great light' that Jesus comes to bring". A reflection on the gaze, in short, "that opens to transcendence," to which the neorealist cinema, which in many of its productions provoked the conscience of the spectators, can undoubtedly contribute.
On the other hand, Pope Francis said he was convinced that "the art of cinema has succeeded in illuminating the fabric of events to reveal their profound meaning." Thus, the mission of the Vatican's new Apostolic Media Library, which has been announced and about which we will probably have news shortly, seems to be mapped out.
