Italy
On the day that Italians are celebrating their national unity, Benedict XVI is reminding the nation of their Catholic roots.
The Pope reflected on the Catholic identity of the people of Italy in a letter addressed to the president of nation, Giorgio Napolitano, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italy’s political unity, which is celebrated Thursday.
In commenting on “Il Risorgimento” (The Resurgence), which brought various independent states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy, the Holy Father noted that “Christianity contributed in a fundamental way to the construction of the Italian identity.”
He said that the character of the nation was forged “through the work of the Church, of her educational and charitable institutions, fixing models of behavior, institutional configurations, social relationships, but also through a very rich artistic activity in literature, painting, sculpture, architecture and music.”
The Pontiff named some of the great Christian artists who “have made a fundamental contribution to the formation of the Italian identity,” including Dante, Giotto, Petrarch, Michelangelo, Raphael, Pierluigi of Palestrina, Caravaggio, Scarlatti, Bernini and Borromini… Read more »
