Today was all about art.
And really, shouldn’t every trip to Italy have days like that?
We started back in Milan at the Pinacoteca di Brera, a lovely museum with over 30 rooms of paintings by the classical masters. Of course, I spent most of my time in the one room filled with modern art.
You can take the girl to Italy…
In the afternoon, we trained our way to Padua, or Padova as everyone calls it here. This will be our home base for the next three days, so we walked around to get the lay of the land.
We also attended a viewing of the Scrovegni Chapel.
It contains a fresco cycle by Giotto, completed about 1305, that is considered one of the most important masterpieces of Western art.
Now I have already admitted that I prefer modern art, but this church blew me away. To think that the entire thing — it’s enormous — was completed in three-and-a-half years! Every detail painted; all the trim and faux marble. Dimension was even added with paint to make elements look 3-D.
It was truly incredible.
Then we came outside, and it was raining really hard.
Back to earth.
Silent no more
Like everyone, I was surprised by the news of the Pope’s resignation.
But how did I miss the documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God?
What a revelation.
Gibney examines pedophilia in the Catholic Church, beginning with the first known clerical sexual abuse at a deaf school in Milwaukee in the late 1950′s, and traces it all the way to the Vatican.
Of particular interest, the documentary documents the role Benedict played in the sex-abuse scandals — both as a bishop in Germany and as Cardinal Ratzinger, where he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles such cases.
Under his leadership, the church shielded priests accused of child molestation and hid their behavior from the authorities, obstructing criminal prosecution.
It’s not an easy film to watch, but the bravery of these deaf students — now grown men — is inspiring.
Their voices have finally been heard.
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Posted in Commentary, Education, History, Life, Movies, News, Religion
Tagged Alex Gibney, bischop, Cardinal Ratzinger, Catholic Church, child molestation, commentary, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, deaf school, documentary, education, film, HBO, HBO OnDemand, history, life, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Milwaukee, movie, news, pedophilia, Pope, Pope Benedict, Pope's resignation, religion, Rome, sexual abuse, Vatican