419. Cardinal Ravasi: Re-visited

Not often do Cardinals come on a visit to one’s own town, and when they do, they do not get the influx of people as if they were a big movie star or the latest singer in the hit parade. But this is also true for writers, artists, politicians, philosophers, etc etc ...

Culture, politics and hence religion just do not have what it takes to attract the crowds- think of the hordes that filled the squares in the times of Mussolini or, so as to be politically correct, Togliatti. Those piazzas were packed with people, so does that mean the Duce or Togliatti were the saviours of the people? Of course not, but they had a mode of expression to suggest they were.

And this brings me to a point, among many others, on which Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi discussed-“communication”- appropriate, given that he came for the centennial anniversary of the founding in 1914  of L’Azione, (a renown Catholic newspaper)– which, despite the difficulties has not closed its doors. Surprising, because not only is it the squares which are empting, but even the newspapers hardly have the same popularity as in the past.

Cardinal Ravasi with the Bishop of  Vittorio Veneto

This is understandable given that our society, in little more than half a century has completely revolutionized itself with regards to the media. A letter took days if not weeks to arrive which was the fastest way available to communicate among us mere mortals. And if our Uncle from America wrote we would get on our bike and cycle to tell our relatives about it. Nowadays you just click with a finger and the "letter" is forwarded to the other part of the world in the bat of an eyelid, better still- even if you are in the at the beach or in the pool, you can still click and send off an SMS or any other communication to anywhere in the world you want.

Today there are many ways to communicate or get news and all super fast- there's no need to go to the square for a rally or a newsstand to pick up a newspaper- everything is there at the touch of your fingertips, immediate, present, from anywhere and to anywhere. So how can the squares, the newspapers, the people in general compete for our attention which is divided between television, email, computer, U-Tube, tablets, i-phone i-pad and heaven knows whatever else? Over to you as I have no answer.

The Cardinal with other speakers- the director of "L'Azione"
and the Mayor of Vittorio Veneto

However, one thing is certain- the value is in the message and sometimes you do not want it to be just words lost in the air, you do not want the message to be only ephemeral- but you want a message you can get a hold of, write it down, look at it, touch it, re-read and revisit.

In Jesus’ times there was no dissemination of the printed word let alone the pc and mobile phones but he nevertheless attracted the people, described as crowds, why? I could give the usual answers but they would be just the usual repeated phrases of circumstance, words full of cobwebs and therefore would give offense to the part of Christians who love the safety of the familiar.

Instead I would like to propose the explanation given by Pope Francis a few days ago in one of his homily in Santa Marta, which perhaps says the same things that have always been said in the past, but only now seem to take on a more crystal reflection. Pope Francis says:

“And this is why the people followed Jesus, because He was the Good Shepherd. He wasn’t a moralistic, quibbling Pharisee, or a Sadducee who made political deals with the powerful, or a guerrilla who sought the political liberation of his people, or a contemplative in a monastery. He was a Shepherd! A pastor who spoke the language of His people, Who understood, Who spoke the truth, the things of God: He never trafficked in the things of God! But He spoke in such a way that the people loved the things of God. That’s why they followed Him.”

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/06/26/pope_francis_whom_do_i_like_to_follow/1102207

The only person nowadays, it seems, who does not have problems to compete for our attention and drag it away from the media, is Pope Francis, who on the other hand, fills the empty squares ... And why? Because everything is in his mode of expression, which like that of Jesus goes straight to the heart of us creatures made of clay and of little else.

Photo-Reportage

Certainly, one only has to look at the expression and you can perceive what the Cardinal was saying, but this intuition does not come from any electronic media-there has to be physical contact- eye to eye.