In January 2008, Pope Benedict XVI was invited by one of Italy’s (if not the world’s) leading universities, La Sapienza Università di Roma, to give the keynote address – the lectio magistralis – at the ceremony for the inauguration of the academic year. Such a ceremony in continental universities is on a par with graduation ceremonies in importance, steeped in tradition, and a reminder of the great gift that is the pursuit of knowledge bequeathed to us by the Western world’s Christian heritage. Graduates of La Sapienza (which means ‘wisdom’), as it is commonly called, include Italian Prime Ministers and Nobel laureates. The university, one of the world’s oldest, was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII. In the 15th century, Pope Eugene IV expanded the university to include the faculties of Law, Medicine, Philosophy, and Theology, and in the early 18th century its campus was expanded by Pope Clement XI to include, among other things, the famous Gianicolo Botanical Gardens, believed to be the world’s first.
With the creation of the Italian state in 1861 and the subsequent taking of Rome in 1870 (prior to then Italy had two capital cities, Turin and Florence), the new government confiscated Church property, and thus La Sapienza became a state university. The invitation to Pope Benedict, therefore, was seen as an historical moment of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Italian state, almost as significant as Pope St John Paul II’s address to the Italian Parliament in 2002. Of course, the invitation was not extended to Papa Ratzinger simply because he was Pope, although it may have been a recognition of the fact that it was the Church that established the institution and gave it its name and reputation, but above all because he had a distinguished career as an academic at the University of Regensburg and was, is and ever shall be, an intellectual giant, and one of the greatest philosopher-theologians who ever lived.
As it turned out, Pope Benedict was forced to decline the invitation to give his address, which was to have been ‘The Truth Makes Us Good and Goodness is Truth’, since 67 academics signed a letter of protest to the then Rettore (Vice-Chancellor) Renato Guarini, and the student body threatened hostile demonstrations. Some of the insults levelled at the Pope at that time were not only vicious, but infantile and ignorant, ranging from accusations his presence would infringe on the separation of Church and State to him endorsing the actions of the Church against Galileo. Not even an appeal to the Italian government, then headed by the left’s Romano Prodi, the driving force behind Italy’s disastrous entry into the euro, on the grounds that the Pope deserved protection as a head of state, was enough. Thus, thanks to a loud, ideological fringe, Joseph Ratzinger became the first victim of cancel culture.
The day following his death, the University posted a condolence message on its social media from the current Rettore, Antonella Polimeni, in which she ‘expressed profound sorrow upon the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was a man of faith and of science, a scholar who guided the Church with wisdom’.
This post prompted a reaction from many, who cannot forget the shameful events of January 2008, not just given the University’s illustrious history, but because it is meant to be a place of culture and free exchange of ideas.
‘You hypocrites,’ wrote one in response to the post. ‘You pretend to commemorate him on his death but when he was alive you wouldn’t even let him speak. However, these are your low levels.’ Another added: ‘I was expecting a more dignified silence, as a counterweight to the silence that a giant of thought had to endure.’
‘The fact of not allowing Pope Benedict XVI to give his lectio magistralis will remain an indelible stain on the University,’ wrote another. Yet further still: ‘The University refused to let him speak, defenestrating him for reasons that had nothing to do with culture, given Ratzinger’s highest levels of intellect and scholarship are without question.’
Another comment took aim at one of the signatories of the letter of protest, Professor Giorgio Parisi, a Nobel prize winner: ‘One could have, for example, apologised for the obscurantism of certain professors (one of whom has the “title” of Nobel laureate) who caused all kinds of hell, showing that they understood nothing of the name that this university carries.’
What this episode at La Sapienza demonstrates is that Pope Benedict XVI was emblematic of the Church’s true mission – as Christ told His disciples at the Last Supper: ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you…’ – to be counter-cultural. He challenged in his intellectual way the ideological currents of our time. The name he selected, Benedict, the patron saint of Europe, was a challenge to those in the EU establishment that want to deny the continent’s Christian origins. While calling for compassion for genuine refugees, he reminded us at the same time that there is a ‘right not to emigrate’. This correspondent thus concurs with veteran Italian journalist Augusto Minzolini, who wrote in il Giornale that Pope Benedict was uncomfortable for many in this era of cancel culture when preserving links with the past and having a faith that does not accept compromises are unforgivable sins. Requiescat in pace.
Dr Rocco Loiacono is a legal academic, writer and translator
