Arkiv, Samtaler
Samtale med Alessandro Sortino
Don Luigi Giussani, a priest of Milan, was one of the twentieth century’s great teachers and preachers of the Catholic faith, ever clear in his allegiance to the Church, ever committed to making her doctrine comprehensible, applying it with originality and passion to the predicaments, hopes, and anxieties of our times. He was at once an idealist and an affirmed realist. As the then Cardinal Ratzinger said in his funeral homily for Giussani:
This love affair with Christ, this love story that was the whole of Giussani’s life, was at the same time quite far removed from any superficial enthusiasm or vague romanticism. Seeing Christ, Giussani truly knew that to encounter Christ means to follow him. This encounter is a road, a journey, a journey that also passes — as we heard in the Psalm — through the “valley of darkness.” In the Gospel we heard of the final darkness of Christ’s suffering, of the seeming absence of God, of the eclipse of the Sun of the world. Giussani knew that to follow means to pass through a “valley of darkness,” to take the Way of the Cross, and all the while to live in true joy.
Don Giussani wrote a number of books; others have been compiled on the basis of talks he gave. Everyone seems to agree, though, that his charism was principally oral. Therefore it is great to be able to hear Giussani’s voice in a series of podcasts launched under the title, ‘And you, who do you say that I am?’
Last week, I was privileged to participate in a public conversation with the writer Alessandro Sortino about Giussani’s work. The event was held at the National Library in Rome, and you can listen to the conversation (in Italian) here.
