Franco patruno: writing art, living art

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 05:52:10 +0000
Num. 34

The Foundation publishes an anthology of his writings for «L'Osservatore Romano»

Four years after the death of the author, Equivalenze, o dello scrivere l'arte. Scritti per «L'Osservatore Romano» (Equivalences, or writing on art. Articles for «L'Osservatore Romano») a collection of work by Father Franco Patruno has been published.

Edited by Massimo Marchetti, the anthology – which covers ten years of his contributions to «L'Osservatore»

– contains interviews, commentaries, reviews of exhibitions and films, and is presented by Andrea Emiliani with an afterword by Carlo Bassi. The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara supported the idea of commemorating both the figure and work of this priest, an expert in fine art, philosophy, theology, unconfined literature and cinema. Writing for the «Osservatore», was an object of satisfaction for Father Franco, an important culmination of thirty years of activity in journalism. We find the validation and fulfilment of his priesthood, in a field – that of culture – which provided a testing ground that looked more like a battlefield than a quiet vineyard. Through the homily pronounced by Pope Paul VI, in 1964, we can retrieve the atmos- phere that reigned in the Church in those years. «We need you – said the Pope – Our Ministry needs your cooperation. Because, as you are aware, our Ministry is to preach and to make accessible and comprehensible, even moving, the world of the spirit, the invisible, the ineffable, the world of God (...) and your art is precisely that of seizing the treasures of the spirit of heaven, clothing them in words, colours, forms and acces- sibility». Father Franco had this sensitivity, this ability to feel what is almost impossible to grasp through thought, abundant with intelligence 'contaminated' by the tenderness of perception and vision, enriched with readings that substantiated an inner life. Fur- thermore, Pope Montini continued, «there is a profound understanding between priest and artist and an amazing ability to share insight» but «to scale the heights of the lyrical expression of intuitive beauty we must make priesthood and art coincide». This is the secret of Father Franco's special vocation.

«I believe, – remarked Father Franco thirty years later – that today we can talk of a discussion (between artists and the Church) – that failed to work as a result of a sort of mutual estrangement. If artists once felt "at home" in the Church, they now look at it from a distance, as though it were a world apart», but Father Franco, strong with a faith that is capable of looking beyond appearances, observed: «From a religious point of view, we are now aware that God doesn't always write on straight and narrow lines and that travelling on routes that differ from those of the Church does not necessarily represent a radical distance from religion». Patruno both anticipated and suffered this toil, stating that «even expressions that are apparently "less ecclesiastical" do not face the Church as an abstract synopsis without correlation». When, in 1999, John Paul II wrote his Letter to artists, Father Franco, commenting in the «Osservatore», could not conceal his excitement in finding such venerable confirmation of his own insights: the «joyful effort of dialogue» through which many roads have been opened. «The artist, above all, – John Paul II reminds us – senses the precarious nature of things, often with the an- guished tones of the gap between nature and grace, becoming a sign of reality that infinitely transcends».

Today the treasure of his thoughts is entrusted to the pages of this anthology, ideally conveyed to a culture without bounda- ries. Just like the unconfined horizon of Father Franco.