CIVILIZATION of LOVE
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Pope JOHN PAUL II and The Romanian patriarch Teoctist | |||||
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The Bishop of Toscany, Cardinal Silvanno Piovanelli reunites both the spirit of the Church and that of Culture in his proteic personality. This fact is a consequence of the support that the Catholic Church - whose representative the Cardinal is - has always given to Culture, especially during the Renaissance period, but also a consequence of the Cardinal's intellectual structure as he is a creator and admirer of art and beauty. The Cardinal's words - which have been written down, almost entirely, during a meeting with the students of the Foundation for International Research and Studies in Firenze - have a sound of extraordinary resonance: " We live in times when statues are falling apart, when idols are being destroyed and people want to find theire own ways. The discovery we are now making is almost similar to the one made 500 years ago, that of a new world ( the new world discovered by Columbus), of a new civilization in which people can live for their own good. The complete man with no exceptions. Because any exception becams servitude. All people, no matter what their culture, religion or race is, should be in the Center of this World. Jesus said that such world exists and we have to find it. But in order to do this we need to Discover a new way of thinking. It was not an accident that Pope John Paul II called this work "the Civilization of Love". Deep thoughts, to which I shall add another paragraph from the speech that the Cardinal addressed at the opening of a Conference dedicated to the Dome's Plaza in Florence: " In the Theology of Beauty, Evdochinov says - Did you know that the human kind can do less than the English, less than Germans, can easily do less than the Russians; in order for people to live they do not need science, nor bread, but it absolutely needs Beauty, because without beauty nothing can be done in this world. It is here where the entire secret lies, it is here where we can find all the history! The writer repeats Dostoievski's famous words: "Beauty shall save the World".
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As I was listening to these words, the turmoiled history of the Romanians from the half of Millennium that was brought to our attention came to my mind. While Cristofor Columbus was setting foot on America's land, in a pitoresque Romanian town, Brasov, from the mercy of God and the care of Church - goers, the walls of a church and of a school were being built: two beautiful buildings,created with tears and sacrifice, which were the powerful foundation of the Cultural and Social development of the Romanian people."St.Nicholas" Church, in Schei, built with the support of Princes from Walachia and Moldavia, of Transylvanian merchants, strengthened, through Faith, the unity ans solidarity of a people, that had been forced to live in separarate provinces by bad times and foreign conquerors. In this Church, that is also a Museum, which is decorated with frescoes of inestimable beauty and with extremely beautiful orthodox objects of cult, an icon of Virgin Mary can be found, icon that was created by unknown painter. The icon is an image of the Virgin, surrounded by tens of eyes. It is a strange and fascinating image, because the painter was trying to express the idea that God has thousands of eyes, thus having the possibility of seeing good and evil, the greatness and pettiness of man, independent of time,space, circumstances and hypostasis. I was especially impressed by the message of this masterpiece, the eyes in tears suggesting the idea that the divine power is suffering for the forgiving and making up for our sins. Always faithful to its Cultural destiny, the Church has organized and administrated, during several hundreds of years, the first Romanian school ever known in history. For hundreds of years, patriot, wise teachers have taught at this school in Schei many generations, helping them to discover the secrets of the written and spoken words. They especially taught the values of living in peace and harmony with the neighbours, of tolerating other people's mistakes, of loving the native country and of defending this country even by paying the supreme price: our own lives. Teachers such as Anton Pann and Petrache Poenaru are examples of honesty, love for people and wisdom. A sign of these qualities is represented by the school books they printed, together with other great Romanian teachers. Many generations of pupils have learnt at this school the Geography of the World; the New Continent discovered by Columbus, was being presented in several distinct chapters that are still, even nowadays, interesting for the readers. It is beyond doubt that Columbus' spirit of sacrifice was an example and a support in their work and lives, the discovery of a new world being a source of Hope and an encouragement to search for the success of good and prosperity in this world. The new world was and still is a source of hope for Romanians. Perhaps this explains the great number of Romanians who emigrated in America during the XIXth Centuries, looking for the possibility of accomplishing their ideals of freedom and prosperity, which were impossible to attach on the Old Continent. Just like the gold -diggers, who spread throughout the prairies, the Romanians were looking for their own piece of the Paradise when they were crossing the big sea, the Atlantic.
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500 years can means a moment of eternity for peoples. For individuals, 500 years can be a book of wisdom and history. Over the efforts of the Church, which was trying to create a new civilization, there came bloody regional conflicts, in which brothers were killing each other, and also sophisticated wars, broadcasted live on TV; violence and dictatorship of the strongest one is becoming more and more influencial. Still, people are gotting tired, the old European continent, the entire civilized world needs another Columbus, needs new worlds and new horizons. The geographic borders, however, are keeping for secrets who have to be discovered, the moral borders are left. The New World can be found in our souls this time. As the famous Cardinal said, now, at an hour of a new system of thought, for exploring new territories along with the present civilization, and that of the XXIst Century - they are certainly marked by the cult for the real values of religion,shared by all human beings and are also marked by the unmeasureable power of the intelligence and of greatness of science and technique,which can be seen everywhere and are oriented towards all places. Perhaps a Civilization of Love, as the one preached by Pope John Paul II. Who will have the courage of first destroying the old limits and then creating new aspirations? Does the human kind has enough resources to create a new Columbus? Will this world manage to save itself? Columbus' example- the light that saves all the shipwrecked persons of this end of Century….
Valeriu Iordan Popescu
From "Workshop in Florence - The Art of Creating Images" (1992)
