CASTEL GANDOLFO, SEPT. 3, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is thanking the producers of a television mini-series on the life of St. Augustine, and is expressing the hope that through it, many may discover truth and charity.
According to a note issued today by the Vatican press office, the Pope was shown a condensed version of the show on Wednesday afternoon in the Swiss Hall of Castel Gandolfo.
The series is a joint Italian, German and Polish production, directed by Canadian Christian Duguay, and soon to be broadcast on television.
The Pope expressed “great joy” over the project, given that, according to the producers, it arose out of a “rather casual” observation of his three years ago, during a radio interview.
On that occasion, the Holy Father had said: “I can imagine very beautiful films. I, of course, only know well the Fathers of the Church.”
He mentioned the possibility of a “film on Augustine, also one on Gregory of Nazianzen and his particular figure, his constant escape from ever greater responsibilities assigned to him.”
The Pontiff noted that many films deal with “disagreeable situations,” and yet “there are marvelous figures of history, which are not at all boring, and that are of great current importance.”
He affirmed, “An attempt must be made not to burden people too much,” but rather to portray those figures that “inspire us.”
On Wednesday, at the end of the show, Benedict XVI described it as “a great spiritual journey” and “a grandiose representation.”
He continued: “From outside, St. Augustine’s life seems to end in a tragic way: the world in which he lived ended, was destroyed. However, as was stated here, his message has remained and, even in the world’s changes, it endures, because it springs from truth and guides charity, which is our common destiny.”
The Pope added, “In fact, it seems to me that the film is a spiritual journey in a spiritual continent very far from us, and yet, very close, because the human drama is always the same.”
“We see how, in a context that is very distant from us, the whole reality of human life is represented, with all its problems, sorrows, failures, but also the fact that, in the end, truth is greater than any obstacle, and it finds man,” he affirmed.
This “is the great hope that remains at the end,” the Pontiff concluded. “We cannot find truth on our own, but Truth, which is a Person, finds us.”
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On the Net:
To see the trailer: www.luxvide.it/en/augustine-49.html
