“Where are you? There is no pilgrimage without the opening of a question about the place of our existence. A question that asks about our path and the direction of our life.”
The Jubilee, writes father Enzo Fortunato In the book Living the Jubilee. A spiritual itinerary in St. Peter’s Basilica (San Paolo) is “a privileged time for this type of introspection and research”.
The holy places, in fact, as well as being precious from a historical and architectural point of view, they are important stages of each person’s spiritual pilgrimage.
In the “geography of the Jubilee” St. Peter, in the Vatican, certainly stands out, and it is precisely starting from the basilica, the heart of Catholicism, that Father Fortunato guides the faithful on the path of spiritual renewal. St. Peter’s Square, explains the religious man, a well-known face on TV and social media as well director of communications of the basilica and coordinator of World Children’s Day (Gmb)is “a powerful symbol of Christian welcome and love”.
You get there for via della Conciliazione, which already in its name contains the essence of believing, the ability to welcome and bring together: walking through this path allows you to live an experience of meditationallowing itself to be questioned also by the many poor people who live there. At the end of the street Bernini’s colonnade opens up, which with its 140 statues of saints, martyrs and angels represents the celestial community that welcomes the faithful. «So the question isdo I want to enter God’s embrace? Do I want to accept your welcome?”, asks Father Fortunato again.
Then there it is Holy Door: «Crossing it means choosing an alternative path to that of evil». Entering the basilica, one cannot help but stop in front of Michelangelo’s Pietà, which says so much about accepted suffering and Grace, the statue of Peter – next to the confessional area, which recalls how priests are channels of God’s mercy – and to his tomb, place of fidelity to martyrdom: «Despite weaknesses and failures, Peter tried to follow Christ with all his heart. His path teaches us that we too can be instruments in his hands.”
(Photo above: Father Enzo Fortunato, source: ANSA)
