THE BEAUTY AND THE TRUTH OF CHRIST

Cardinal Ratzinger to CL Meeting in Rimini: 24-30 August 2002

In August, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent a message to the Communion and Liberation (CL) Meeting at Rimini 24-30 August on the theme, 'The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty'. Cardinal Ratzinger commented on the need for the Church to restore the beautiful to a central place. "I have often affirmed my conviction that the true apology of Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against every denial, are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated. Today, for faith to grow, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to enter into contact with the Beautiful. Now however, we still have to respond to an objection. We have already rejected the assumption which claims that what has just been said is a flight into the irrational, into mere aestheticism. Rather, it is the opposite that is true: this is the very way in which reason is freed from dullness and made ready to act". Here is a translation of his message.