On 30 January this year, a series of meetings began at St Joseph’s parish in Via Nomentana, in Rome, on the theme: “John Paul II and the conflicts of the 20th century: the actuality of the papal message”. The organizer of the meetings, in addition to St Joseph’s parish, is the “Alexandra” Association. At the outset, the lawyer Emanuele Giudice stressed that the aim of the initiative is to recall that a true and lasting peace between peoples is the fruit of justice and respect for the rights of nations and their culture. The meeting was addressed by two Italian theologians: Prof. Alidino Cazzago, a Carmelite, lecturer at the Catholic University “Sacro Cuore” in Milan and Brescia, expert in Orthodox Theology and author of many valuable publications on the pontificate of John Paul II, and Fr. Prof. Stafano Caprio, priest and lecturer at the Pontifical Eastern Institute in Rome, specialist in the history and culture of Christianity in Russia. The meeting was moderated by Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Kudryk.
Professor Cazzago spoke on the theme of “nation and homeland in the thought of John Paul II”. He noted that the clarification of the meaning of these two concepts in this context is linked to the history and culture of Poland and the biography of Karol Wojtyla. His personal experiences play a key role in understanding what the nation and the homeland are. They explain the decisive role of culture in the formation of the political sovereignty of a particular nation. The speaker recalled the speeches Saint John Paul II made at the United Nations headquarters in New York (1979 and 1995), at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris (1980) and the Apostolic Letters written on the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War (1989) and the subsequent publication of an Apostolic Letter on the same anniversary of its end (1995). His teaching on the role of the nation and the homeland had universal significance. On many occasions during his pontificate, the Pope drew attention to the need to develop a charter of the rights of nations and to be guided by it in relations between states. He warned against the danger of a falsely understood nationalism, emphasizing the creative role of patriotism, and warned against the dangers of cosmopolitanism or globalism, which tend to belittle the rights of nations, their subjectivity, their identity, or even to violate them in the name of cultural, political or economic neo-colonialism.
Professor Caprio spoke on the “spiritual roots of Europe according to John Paul II”. He showed how the concept of “homeland” is linked to the concept of “Europe”. The Europe of culture is historically linked to the Europe of economic development, but John Paul II saw the danger of disconnecting them. The speaker referred to the encyclical “Slavorum Apostoli” (1985), in which the Pope pointed to Europe’s spiritual heritage, identifying it mainly with Eastern and Western Christianity, bringing with them currents of Greek and Roman culture. This heritage, not without obstacles and difficulties, became the foundation for the unity of Europe as a single cultural, political, and religious entity. Caprio recalled his experience of several years in Russia, starting in 1985, and the difficulties in rebuilding relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. One was the identification of the Christian confession with national politics, such as Poland or Russia. Another difficulty was too narrow an understanding of culture and national identity or religious identity. The understanding of the concept of ‘sovereignty’ of a particular nation and state depends primarily on how these difficulties are approached and resolved. Still another difficulty is the understanding of fundamental ethical values, on which also depends the understanding of what sovereignty is. The spread of individualism, relativism or the current “cancel culture” also hinder a proper understanding of what the spiritual roots of European unity are. The speaker pointed out that the current situation is also very complicated by conflicts within the Orthodox Church. Nevertheless, it is always worth maintaining the possibility of dialogue for the sake of unity and peace in Europe.
The second meeting of the series will take place on 6 March at 7.30 pm in the premises of St Joseph’s parish in Via Nomentana, in Rome. Professor Massimiliano Signifredi will speak on John Paul II’s attitude towards communism and the Vatican’s Ostpolitik, while Fr Andrzej Dobrzyński will speak on John Paul II’s teaching on the totalitarian political ideologies and systems in the 20th century.
Andrzej Dobrzyński