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Le beatitudini / Prediche
to by the **Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia **in collaboration with Spoleto58 Festival dei 2Mondi and under the patronage of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization
"An 'authentic, adequate and total' happiness," writes Z. Bauman in his The Art of Life - seems to remain constantly to some distance from us: like a horizon that, like all horizons, recedes whenever we try to approach it."
Man continuously lives in an almost spasmodic search for happiness, chasing it in a thousand ways and on a thousand paths. At the risk even of hurting himself with his own hands.... And when he thinks he has found happiness, he finds that his thirst is not fully quenched and sees the goal receding further and further away.
With the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus of Nazareth suggests a path to reach a fullness of knowledge, a fullness of life, a fullness of happiness, and claims to give an answer to man's quest. The Gospel says that the beatitudes constitute the shortest and easiest path and at the same time the most difficult and demanding, because "narrow is the way that leads to life" (Mt 7:14).
But does all this still have meaning for those living in the third millennium? Really - today - can those who are poor in spirit, weep, hunger and thirst for justice, are meek, build peace, are merciful, be happy? And, if so, what should be done to achieve such a goal?
After the deadly sins, the works of mercy, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the themes of the "sermons" of the last editions, this year the Festival dei 2Mondi proposes to listen again from different voices to this particular "itinerary," which presents itself almost as a challenge to modern man.
+ Renato Boccardo
Program
FRIDAY JUNE 27 AT 5:00 P.M.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Br. Enzo Bianchi, Prior of Bose
SATURDAY, JUNE 28 AT 5 P.M.
Blessed are those who are weeping, for they will be comforted
Dr. Salvatore Martinez, national president of Renewal in the Holy Spirit
FRIDAY JULY 03, AT 5:00 P.M.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied
Msgr. Nunzio Galantino, Bishop Secretary General of the CEI Italian Bishops' Conference
SATURDAY, JULY 4 AT 5 P.M.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture
SUNDAY, JULY 5 AT 5 P.M.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God
P. Mauro Gambetti, Custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi
FRIDAY JULY 10 AT 5:00 P.M.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
Sister Cristina Cruciani, Disciples of the Divine Master
SATURDAY, JULY 11 AT 5 P.M.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy
Msgr. Renato Boccardo, Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia
Born to Castel Boglione in 1943, he is prior of the monastic community of Bose. "Expert" appointed from Pope Benedict XVI to the Synods of Bishops on the Word of God (2008) and on the New Evangelization (2012), in 2014 Pope Francis appointed him Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. A columnist and reviewer for the daily newspapers La Stampa, La Repubblica and Avvenire, he is the author of numerous texts, translated into many languages, biblical, on Christian spirituality and on the great tradition of the Church, written always with today's vast and multifaceted world in mind.
A graduate in Musicology, he has been president of Renewal in the Holy Spirit since 1997. He is a Consultor of three Vatican Dicasteries (Laity, Family and Promotion New Evangelization). He is president of the Vatican Foundation "International Center Family of Nazareth" for the development of the Magisterium of the Family in the world. He took part as auditor in the Synod on the "New Evangelization." He is president of four foundations engaged in the field of social distress. He has published 26 books. He collaborates with Italian and foreign journals and has reported in 35 countries on spiritual issues.
Born to Cerignola in 1948, after attending the diocesan seminary of Ascoli Satriano, he completed his institutional cycle studies at the Regional Seminary of Benevento, earning his Baccalaureate in Theology there in 1972. He continued his studies at the University of Bari, earning there a degree in Philosophy and, in 1974, a teaching license in state schools. In 1981 he obtained a Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, St. Louis Section in Naples. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 23, 1972, for the diocese of Cerignola - Ascoli Satriano. Among the most significant pastoral assignments from he has held: lecturer at the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Benevento(1974-1977); Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Care; Episcopal Vicar for Culture and Ongoing Formation; since 1977, lecturer of History and Philosophy in state public schools and professor of anthropology at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy where he also taught courses at the two-year specialization in Fundamental Theology and Dogmatic Theology. To research and teaching he combines from always pastoral service as a parish priest (1977-2012) in Cerignola. He participated, as an anthropologist, in the international research group for the study of ethical-anthropological and scientific aspects of xenotransplantation. He followed, at the Italian Bishops' Conference, the implementation of the "Project for the reorganization of theological formation in Italy." He has been in charge of the National Service for Higher Studies in Theology and Religious Sciences of the CEI since 2004. He was elected Bishop of Cassano all'Jonio on December 9, 2011. He was ordained bishop on February 25, 2012. On Dec. 28, 2013, he was appointed acting secretary general of the Italian Bishops' Conference. On March 25, 2014, the Holy Father appointed him Secretary General ad quinquennium. He is the author of numerous volumes and essays of a mainly anthropological nature.