Klara is an empathetic robot with a great capacity for learning. She is waiting at the back of the store, eager to be moved to the display case for someone to pick her out. Finally, Josie, a 14-year-old girl with an illness that is robbing her of her strength, notices her. She wants to make her her best friend. Her mother agrees and they buy her; however, she seems to have a second intention, or rather a dilemma: when her daughter dies, would it be possible for the robot to replace her, imitating her in everything so exactly that it could become the "continuation" of her daughter?

The basic question posed in Kazuo Ishiguro's (1954) latest novel, "Klara and the sun"(2021), has troubled many philosophers: What is the human being, what is it that makes us unique and unrepeatable?

For the Frenchman René Descartes (1596-1650), man is his consciousness. According to him, it would be possible to divide the world between res cogitans (thinking substance or consciousness) and res extensa (extensive substance, the body). This separation of man between consciousness and "the rest" laid the foundations for some to define us as "a consciousness that is master of its body".

The novel does not go into these depths, but the vacillations of the mother, her ex-husband, the scientist who is hired to help Klara in her task of imitation, etc., turn our stomachs. We are left with the following discussion: Is there a principle that reconciles consciousness and body? The German philosopher Robert Spaemann (1927-2018), for example, proposed that the key to overcoming this dissociation is to remember that man is a living being, since life is exteriority and interiority at the same time. Life as a principle of unity of the human being can be a way to resolve the above perplexities.

Also surprising is the point of view of the narrative. Ishiguro writes from the perspective of the robot's consciousness. Klara's "thoughts" gradually shed light on the discussion of our identity. She strives to get to know Josie, but gradually realizes that in the girl there is an invisible, distant background that might be impossible to reach, let alone imitate. It is what humans call heart. For this reason, Klara will put all her energies into taking the best possible care of Josie, so that she will be cured and will not need to be "continued" or "replaced".

The novel "Klara and the sun"moves us to reflect on the essence of man, the meaning of life, the quality of our relationships, love and all that nonsense that makes us unique and irreplaceable.

30 events including meetings, performances, workshops and guided experiences. After 800 years, the Rule of Francis will be reflected upon once again. Being in the Rule is, in fact, the central theme of the 9th edition of the "Courtyard of Francis".

"Through the Cortile of Francis," said Friar Marco Moroni, OFMConv, Custos of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis, "our Franciscan community wishes to enter the public debate in a style of fraternity. This is possible thanks to the underlying trust that each one is a treasure of good that does good to all.

The Cortile de Francesco, then, is not simply a festival, an orderly and organic set of conferences and events that can offer us thoughts, ideas, knowledge. It is rather an experience of intellectual friendship, because what changes the world are not only ideas, but people who, together, dream and develop wise ways of social good".

Introducing the event, Friar Giulio Cesareo, OFMConv, Director of the Sacred Convent Communications Office, said. "St. Francis did not write the Rule in order to obtain from the Pope a nulla osta for the lifestyle he led with his first companions. On the contrary, Francis wrote it to ask the Pope if the existence they were leading was in conformity with the Gospel of Christ, the only true goal of their life.

From this point of view, reflecting on "being in order" in the Cortile of Francis means promoting our freedom - the inexhaustible yearning of everyone's heart - with everyone else and never without them! In our times, so marked by the breakdown of social bonds and widespread aggressiveness, the rules of the good and beautiful life are at the service of a social lifestyle that places respect and care at the center, a civic expression of that fraternity of which St. Francis is the undisputed inspiration".

This edition features numerous guests, including Comieco CEO Carlo Montalbetti, businessman Brunello Cucinelli and the President of the National Federation of the Italian Press, Vittorio Di Trapani.

"We must change the anthropological principle that has prevailed for three centuries according to which Homo hominis lupus and adopt the thought of St. Francis according to which man is by nature a friend of another man," said economist Stefano Zamagni during the introductory panel on "New Rules for a New Economy." "We must not be afraid," he stressed, "even the sea needs rocks to reach higher," encouraging those present to face the obstacles of our time. The environment and climate change were also the focus of the first day.

The climate crisis can become a great opportunity for growth and development, because - as Rossella Muroni, ecologist and sociologist, pointed out - we are in the era in which we should be concerned with making people's happiness grow. The first day concluded with the screening of the docufilm "Perugino. Immortal Renaissance.

The day of Saturday, September 16, will be marked by an event defined as "historic" by the promoters (entitled "The Gospel is Life: the Rule of Francis" - 11:30 a.m. - Cimabue Hall). Sala Cimabue): the Ministers General of the Franciscan First Order, 800 years after the confirmation of the Rule of St. Francis by Honorius III on November 29, 1223, will gather in Assisi - together with many friars of the various religious families - to reflect together on the present and the challenges of Franciscan life in the third millennium.

The dialogue will be enriched by the presence of Maria Pia Alberzoni (historian of Franciscanism), Friar Sabino Chialà (prior of the monastic community of Bose) and Davide Rondoni (internationally renowned poet and President of the National Committee for the celebrations of the VIII Centenary of the death of St. Francis). On the same day, Saturday 16, a dialogue entitled "TV: mother or stepmother?" will be held between Giampaolo Rossi, general director of Rai, and the director of the Osservatore Romano Andrea Monda. A reflection on the challenges of quality programming that can be combined with the search for truth, pluralism and audience ratings.

This year there will also be a "Children's Courtyard", the usual event reserved for the little ones, as well as guided experiences inside the library, the archives and the basilica.

And then the guided experiences in the Archives and Library of the Sacro Convento and in the Basilica of St. Francis, and the activities for the little ones in the Children's Courtyard, on the lawn of the upper church.

The round tables and conferences of the Cortile de Francisco 2023 are streamed on the YouTube channel "Patio de Francisco". The complete program is available at www.cortiledifrancesco.it

Closing the three-day event will be the company Donne del Muro Alto (composed of former inmates of Rome's Rebibbia prison) with a theatrical performance of Medea in Tailor's Shop in the setting of Piazza Inferiore di San Francesco at 9 p.m. on September 16.

The Chancellery Palace is one of the architectural jewels of the Italian Renaissance. Unlike other palaces in the Eternal City, which were modified in the style that characterized the sixteenth century, this building was the first to be built 'ex novo' in Renaissance style and is one of the most beautiful in Rome.

The construction of this palace is not without something Cyclopean: to make it, it was necessary to dismantle and move about 30 meters away the ancient basilica of "San Lorenzo in Damaso", today included within the complex; its foundations in that then marshy area took advantage of the bases of existing Roman buildings and although other new foundations were necessary; and the marble columns of the courtyard - taken from the Baths of Caracalla - "turned from fluted to smooth thanks to the work of the craftsmen," explained the architect Claudia Conforti who presided over the visit.

In the Apostolic Chancellery, which today also houses the tribunals of the Holy See - the Roman Rota, the Apostolic Signatura and the Penitentiary- was opened to the press by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) on September 13, 2023, on the occasion of the presentation of a documentary on the restoration of the architectural complex.

Nunzio Galantino, pointed out this initiative as a response "to the invitation to transparency from the APSA administration"He also recalled that 60 percent of the 1.5 million square meters of the Vatican's patrimony does not yield economic returns and stressed that "good administration also means distributing beauty, culture and transmitting history. He also recalled that 60 percent of the 1.5 million square meters of the Vatican's patrimony does not yield economic returns and stressed that "good administration also means distributing beauty, culture and transmitting history".

Inside, on the second floor, there is one of the most extraordinary spaces of the building: the Vasari Room or of the 100 days, because it was made in just over three months by the artist Giorgio Vasari, surrounded by frescoes with depth effects (3D) that make the visitor have the feeling that you can enter inside them.

Claudia Conforti, professor of architectural history, did not hesitate to define these paintings as "a colossal propaganda machine" in which "each painting is a theatrical scene" at a time when not everyone knew how to read or write, and which immortalizes moments such as the summit in Nice in 1538 between Pope Paul III, Francis of Valois and Emperor Charles V.

Before it, we pass through the Sala Regia, of enormous dimensions and with paintings made in the early eighteenth century, during the pontificate of Clement XI, taking advantage of the cartons used as models for various gobelins that are currently in the Vatican.

The imposing palace with its travertine marble facade was built on the initiative of Cardinal Raffaele Riario, passionate about Imperial Rome and nephew of Sixtus IV, on the site of what was the oldest parish church in Rome and where there was a building from the fourth century, from the time of Pope Damasus.

"The influence of Bramante -genius Renaissance architect- is clear in the structure, although it was never documented, as well as the use of the so-called 'golden ratio' in the design, sizes and symmetry," explained engineer Mauro Tomassini

In the hypogeum or subway, there is a tomb of the consul Aulio Irzio, submerged in the water of an artificial channel still visible, made in Roman times to make the water flow from the baths of Agrippa to the Tiber River.

The Palazzo della Cancelleria, one of the most beautiful monuments in Rome, a stone's throw from Campo De' Fiori, is normally closed to the public, but inside there is an exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci and his inventions, which allows you to enter the monumental cloister of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and part of its subway.

Religion Today Film Festival, the film festival on spirituality and interreligious dialogue returns from Wednesday, September 13 to Wednesday, September 20. The theme of the XXVI edition is "Community".

Born in 1997 as a pioneer of spiritual and interreligious cinema in Italy, this cultural event offers every year the opportunity to reflect on its evolution and its role in society.

Over the years, the Festival has traced a remarkable path, creating a universal link with religious cinema, which is now recognized and admired everywhere. It does not merely present films, but proposes a journey capable of uniting minds, ideas, creeds and visions.

It also offers a fascinating and unprecedented vision of Trentino. A region historically linked to the Council, today increasingly a land of encounter and interreligious dialogue, bearer of a message of solidarity and peace.

A frontier land that, thanks to the memory of the Tridentine Council and the traumatic experiences of the great wars of the twentieth century, has been able to reinvent itself as a place of welcome and dialogue, where research, economic development, attention to the environment and the new generations make it one of the regions with the highest level of well-being and standard of living in Italy.

The XXVI edition of the Festival aims to deepen the concept of community by linking it to the concept of community (also digital) so dear to young people.

A community that we can define - say the promoters - as "rediscovered" after the difficult years of the pandemic, that has shown great solidarity and courage, that has not disintegrated into selfish individualism but has been able to rediscover meaning and values without leaving anyone behind.

At the same pace has developed in recent years, thanks in part to the explosion of social networks, the digital community, a community that is difficult to define and frame within boundaries that are, on the contrary, blurred and permeable. Everyone has experienced belonging to one or more digital communities.

The virtual connection was the only contact many had with their loved ones. Festivals also had to significantly rethink how to engage their audiences through digital channels. Many of them discovered the value of creating engaging, live digital experiences that brought together people and young people from all over the world.

Communities of the faithful have also reorganized themselves to keep their worship services and rituals alive through live streaming, digital platforms and videoconferencing. Digital streaming platforms have saved the cinema, and "the challenge today is to bring people back to the darkness of the theaters for a communal and sharing experience like live cinema."

Rediscover the wonder of a spiritual, sensory and cultural experience. At the same time, because there is no faith without wonder. To remember the words with which the Pope Francis addressed the members of the Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo last February: "A world tormented by war and so many other evils needs signs, works that arouse wonder, that reveal the wonder of God, who never ceases to love his creatures and to be amazed by their beauty. In an increasingly artificial world, where man has surrounded himself with the works of his own hands, the great risk is that of losing wonder".

RelatedThe Holy See participates at the Venice Biennale

– Supernatural Venice Biennale of Architecture is a powerful showcase to present the latest trends in this discipline worldwide. During the last decades, the hottest topics have become the statements to design provocative and innovative proposals that combine social, political and, in many cases, ideological dimensions.

In this exhibition, architecture is presented from its most propositional facet, making the more operational aspects take a back seat. What matters in the end is not so much the answer, but the way in which the curators of the biennials and each of the local curators are able to connect with fundamental issues of our society and culture.

In 2018, lhe Holy See had the opportunity to participate in the 16th edition of the biennial by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi and curated by Francesco Dal Co and Micol Forti. Their proposal, set on the lush island of San Giorgio Maggiore, was materialized with 10 small artifacts designed by prestigious architects who inquired about places of worship. Norman Foster, Eduardo Souto de Moura and Smiljan Radic, among others, were in charge of erecting different constructions called chapels, although without pretending, a priori, to be spaces for liturgy. These facilities are still available to visit.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, the result was somewhat disturbing. The premises given by Dal Co were to realize a small-scale intervention with the presence of an altar element and an ambo element for a worship that, as the curator pointed out, should be completely open, since "total freedom is the representation of any spirituality".

This set of interventions, beyond the suggestive nature of the spaces built, reveals a series of problems that question the ultimate meaning of the purpose of the pavilion, which, ultimately, should represent the concerns of the Holy See and, therefore, of the Catholic world. In most cases, a sort of abstract crosses and empty assembly spaces are reminiscent, as if it were a ruin, of a liturgical space.

Iconography is conspicuous by its absence, as if the figurative overlay had accidentally disappeared, leaving in the hands of architecture the responsibility of maintaining the vestige of something that was (or wanted to be) but is no longer.

2023, new participation

In 2023, the Holy See will once again be a guest of honor to incorporate his proposal to the founding concept of the XVIII Biennial, curated by Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko, whose motto is "The laboratory of the future" and whose themes connect with the urgencies that afflict the planet, highlighting among others decarbonization and decolonization.

The Dicastery for Culture and Education, under the guidance of Cardinall José Tolentino de Mendonçawas the sponsor of the Vatican pavilion. Roberto Cremascoli was the curator who conceived the exhibition complex in the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore. Alvaro Siza and Studio Albori participated in the exhibition.

The proposal, a priori, seems suggestive. All the words used to describe the intentions in the inaugural speeches, interviews and descriptions of the project are charged with a compelling illusion to manifest the importance of the common home.

Cardinal Tolentino speaks of the garden as a cultural act, of the practicality of the integral ecology enunciated in Laudato Siand of universal welcome and fraternity - Fratelli Tutti - as the driving force of the project. An impeccable political and poetic manifesto.

The pavilion of the Holy See

The visit to the intervention developed in the garden of the abbey complex is somewhat disappointing. Although the model made by Studio Albori slightly suggests an arrangement of the meadow as if it tried to represent a cultivated territory, the reality is a rather bland, wild and uninteresting vegetal space.

The ordering of nature according to a higher purpose could be a leitmotiv to show the inevitable intervention of man in the world, while respecting the natural environment, which is nothing more than being grateful for a gift that, since ancient times, has been given to us.

The pieces that accompany the garden layout do not arouse interest either. Various stalls built precariously with wood and reeds disconnect the visitor with the pavilion's promoter and his message, or perhaps confuse him in a sort of resting space.

The culmination is a chicken coop that, although it could be a Petrine reference, encloses with fences and nets a group of birds, which are the only reference to animal life, besides the visitor himself.

The opportunity to use the garden as a trigger for a sublime project for the Holy See might have been seemingly obvious.

Understanding the world as a second Eden in order to become aware of the importance of Creation, just as medieval Christians understood the Hortus Coclusus, which was nothing more than the representation of an enclosed garden that referred to Mary's virginity and the representation of the intimacy of the Virgin and her son.

It seems that these topics can no longer be discussed because they are no longer a problem of the Church. It also seems that connecting the foundational aspects of Christianity with the daily problems of man is of no interest at this time.

The lack of a clear and univocal message through art is compensated by the intervention of the master architect Alvaro Siza. Inside the abbey complex, a set of wooden bodies designed by the Portuguese architect represents, as if it were a choreography, the event of the meeting and the embrace.

We don't know what the Holy See's next intervention at the Venice Architecture Biennale will be like. What we do know is that we live in a world in which architecture has much to say. Perhaps it is appropriate to recall the words of Leon Battista Alberti: architecture perfects the created world when it is capable of making people better.

RelatedThe Holy See participates at the Venice Biennale