Cardinal Ravasi meets Stefano Lazzari
The diocesan theological training school “mons. Cesare Pagani” proposed the public meeting with Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, Tuesday 2 April at 6.30 pm in the cathedral of Città di Castello. The cardinal presented a reflection on "Faith between silence, Word and history".
Gianfranco Ravasi was born in 1942 in Merate (Lecco), an expert biblical and Hebraist scholar, he was Prefect of the Ambrosiana Library-Pinacoteca in Milan and professor of Old Testament Exegesis at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy. Archbishop since 2007, he was created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2010. He is President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology. His vast bibliography amounts to approximately one hundred and fifty volumes, mainly concerning biblical, literary and dialogue topics with the sciences: edited and commented editions of the Psalms (3 volumes), the Book of Job, the Song of Songs, the Book of Wisdom and Qoheleth. Among the latest publications: «Adam, where are you?» (Life&Thought 2017); Breviary of our days (Mondadori 2018); Restless hearts. Young people in the Bible (San Paolo 2018); The seven words of Jesus on the cross (Queriniana 2019). Cardinal Ravasi collaborates with newspapers, including L'Osservatore Romano, Avvenire, in which he had the "Mattutino" column for over fifteen years, and Il Sole 24 Ore. He hosted the Sunday column Le frontiere dello Spirito on the television station "Canale 5" for more than twenty-five years. Cardinal Ravasi is a member of around twenty Italian and international academies (including the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, the Parnassos Literary Academy of Athens), as well as having been awarded various literary and civil prizes and various honors of States and about twenty honorary degrees awarded to him by universities in various parts of the world. At the end of the conference, he met the city authorities and received two works from the Bottega Tifernate as a gift.
The donated works are very important for the city's history, art and religious tradition. The fresco in the photo represents the Madonna delle Grazie, which Giovanni di Piamonte created in 1456 for the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie. She is considered the protector of the city. The second work, also made in fresco, represents a detail of the painting of the dome of the Cathedral with San Florido, created by Tommaso Maria Conca in the 18th century. The cardinal greatly appreciated the pictography and showed interest in learning more about its characteristics and application possibilities.