'The conversations are far from arcane theological discourse – the themes are at the heart of being human: forgiveness, mercy, loneliness, suffering.' Photo: Detail of book cover for The Glorious Journey, by Liam Kelly

Author: Liam Kelly. Review by Frank Regan

The Glorious Journey, by Liam Kelly

Author: Liam Kelly. Review by Frank Regan

by Frank Regan 12th March 2021

I did not have the good fortune to see the film on which this book is based. Its principal characters are Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, then pope, and Jorge Bergoglio, the current pope (then cardinal). It starred Anthony Hopkins as Ratzinger and Jonathan Pryce as Bergoglio.

The plot is simply a visit to Ratzinger by Bergoglio to discuss the latter’s retirement. The visit is fictitious. It gives the writer the possibility of blending artistic license, fact, fiction and imagination on the basis of actual events and concrete personalities.

The film is a rare piece of work. It is not often that theological discussion and spiritual experience find a place in popular entertainment. The conversations are far from arcane theological discourse – the themes are at the heart of being human: forgiveness, mercy, loneliness, suffering.

The film is pro-Bergoglio, but we are not viewing a verbal joust between good pope and bad pope. The opinions expressed are not outlandishly conservative or progressive. There is no theological sparring. It is a dialogue between two leaders from two different worlds, two different pastoral experiences, two different points of departure, being of the same generation and faith tradition.

The book is very practical, a manual for discussion alongside the film. Each chapter starts with a viewing of a short segment, followed by a quotation; then comes an exploration of the theme, ending with a prayer.

The first chapter is entitled ‘The Journey’. This is a favourite of mine, perhaps because I am near the end of mine and am in need of a few pointers. Our author refers to Jeremiah who heard God say to him, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’. God and I go back a long time. There is a bit of Abraham too: ‘Leave your country, your kindred and your father’s house for a country I shall show you’. On my journey I acted from time to time like the prodigal son, but God was prodigal of mercy and compassion. Bergoglio says ‘We have to keep journeying…Don’t spend your life sitting on a couch’. There is more than one way to journey nowadays, via memory and prayer. And the couch will serve as wheelless chariot.

Another favourite chapter is the one on loneliness. We are millions of people here in the UK who live on our own. We spend our days teetering between the sadness of loneliness and the joy of solitude. Are we alone or are we lonely? Life is cruel in taking away those we love. It leaves us wondering how it will be, waiting each day for the final consummation.

Loneliness is the inability to experience the presence of God. In his memoirs, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that there is a God-shaped hole in the heart of each one of us. Blaise Pascal said that within each one of us is a space only God can fill. Psalm 42 connects to our downcast soul and invites us within to plumb to where ‘Deep speaks unto deep’.

Other chapters talk about love, change, mercy and listening. This is not a book for our Vaticanologists. There is no curial gossip or prelates’ backstabbing. Two human beings meet in a mode of ‘I and Thou’. It is good to listen and then to ruminate and meditate.


Comments


Thank you Frank I will try to read this

By Grocott on 11th March 2021 - 11:14


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