Claudio Gugerotti Quotes

The Church discovers its unity in the name of Francis.

(About Syria) It is a destroyed country. Twelve years of war, and above all the results of certain aspects of the sanctions, have made the people miserable. I was in Syria 25 years ago, I don't recognise it, it's the third world. Salaries are almost non-existent, there is no work, there is huge emigration, cities are destroyed by bombing; I can't see the difference between bombing and the fall caused by the earthquake. People are worn out, they have no hope. A bit of Eastern fatalism helps, where they say, ‘It's okay, it happened, let's hope for God’: Muslims say it, Christians say it with the same phrase in Arabic. The current situation of war and sanctions makes it very difficult to help them: it takes a long time to get visas, sending money is impossible, and then there are areas that are under different controls. And there are some groups that don't let anything through, except to those they decide. And I must say that many European countries also go through dissident groups on the ground because they have a more similar political position, but they do not check where this money goes and to whom. If it were not for some Franciscans who, with mental gymnastics and an infinite imagination that only Easterners have, manage to find more or less legal alternative channels, people would have nothing. I went there first and foremost to bring the Holy Father's blessing, closeness and affection, but also to provide practical help and to tell the organisations what they should not do when sending aid.

Io ho l'impressione che molto spesso l’Occidente, con tutte le sue sofisticazioni, sia abituato a parlare come se fossimo un gruppo di vecchie signore che giocano a bridge su un’isola circondata dai caimani. Giornalista: Intende dire, da una posizione un po’ troppo "comoda"? Cardinale Gugerotti: Sì, siamo abituati a non avere guerre che ci coinvolgano direttamente, ma potremmo averle dopodomani e comunque stanno già dentro i nostri territori. Ci sono tutti i presupposti. Il Papa parla spesso di guerra a pezzi, e adesso i pezzi rischiano di comporsi molto facilmente.

The importance of proclaiming the kerygma of faith must never be subordinated to any political situation, whether it concerns the Church itself, the general situation or conflict with other Churches. This is obvious and everyone understands it, but it is difficult to put into practice. It is often difficult for Christians in a situation of war not to refer to circumstances, even those of a political nature. And perhaps it is not even right, but this is not what being Christian is all about. People are not saved by a news bulletin instead of a homily because they already see tragedies on television. People need hope, and the only hope is that Christ died and rose again. This is difficult to understand when priests are called to fight at the front, leaving parish communities vacant. Who can give these people widespread hope for survival if not the liturgy, the sacraments, prayer, the priest who comforts and helps: in short, the love of God? How can one think that it is more useful to fight than to manage the morale of the people? But to do so, one must believe in God. And when faith is a kind of veneer, then choices are made which, convinced that they are for the good of the people, call into question the very survival of the people themselves. Instrumentalisation always becomes a strong temptation for those in power to have the Church on their side and for the Church to take advantage. And when you ask to have the Church on your side, it means that you feel fragile.

Il mondo orientale vive la Quaresima in termini molto rigidi. Una delle cose che appassiona di più gli orientali è sapere quanto tu digiuni. Può essere una domanda ingenua ma, generalmente, sfocia o parte dalla percezione che il digiuno è il segno di quanto prendi sul serio Dio e di quanto capisci che Dio è l’unico essenziale. Per cui devi prendere le distanze da tutti i piccoli idoli che sistematicamente tendono a sostituirlo. Il digiuno è questo, in realtà: l’astinenza da quello che rischia di diventare il centro della giornata, prendendo il posto di Dio. La preghiera e il digiuno, che aumentano in epoca quaresimale, per gli orientali sono la riaffermazione che la vita è di Dio, lo spazio è di Dio.

Today, ecumenism in Ukraine is still a dream.

The Eastern world observes Lent very strictly. One of the things that Easterners are most passionate about is knowing how much you fast. It may be a naive question, but generally it stems from the perception that fasting is a sign of how seriously you take God and how much you understand that God is the only essential thing. Therefore, you must distance yourself from all the little idols that systematically tend to replace Him. This is what fasting is really about: abstaining from what risks becoming the centre of the day, taking the place of God. Prayer and fasting, which increase during Lent, are a reaffirmation for Easterners that life belongs to God, that space belongs to God.

Journalist: So, not enough is known about the artistic and cultural heritage of the Eastern Churches? Cardinal Gugerotti: No, it is not known. Decades ago, there was a document from the then Congregation for Catholic Education, which prescribed that every Latin seminary should include teaching on the Eastern Churches. It is probably one of the most disregarded documents among the many disregarded documents produced by the Holy See. Journalist: Why do you think that is? Cardinal Gugerotti: Because there was a period when the humanities were considered more important for the integration of the seminary curriculum than the historical or philological-artistic aspects. So it became a mammoth programme, covering everything, but these fundamental aspects for understanding Christianity were left out. This is very serious to me because it means a partial knowledge of one's own identity. It also potentially means a source of controversy between one person and another or, conversely, the premise of ecstatic adoration of the other: both attitudes that have no foundation and are not at all useful.

Giornalista: Quindi, non si conosce a sufficienza il patrimonio artistico e culturale delle Chiese orientali? Cardinale Gugerotti: Non si conosce. Ci fu, decenni or sono, un documento dell’allora Congregazione per l’Educazione cattolica, il quale prescrisse che in ogni seminario latino ci fosse un insegnamento sulle Chiese d’Oriente. Probabilmente è uno dei documenti più disattesi tra i tanti disattesi che sono stati prodotti dalla Santa Sede. Giornalista: Come mai, secondo lei? Cardinale Gugerotti: Perché c’è stato un periodo in cui le scienze umane hanno interessato di più come integrazione del curriculum di studi dei seminaristi di quanto potesse interessare la parte storica o filologico-artistica. Per cui è diventato un programma mastodontico, c’è di tutto, però questi aspetti fondamentali per capire il cristianesimo non sono rimasti. Ciò per me è molto grave perché significa una conoscenza parziale della propria identità. E significa anche, potenzialmente, la fonte di polemica dell’uno contro l’altro o, al contrario, il presupposto di un’adorazione estatica dell’altro da sé: entrambi atteggiamenti che non hanno nessun fondamento e non sono affatto utili.