Monday, April 13, 2009

Dante and Benedict XVI on Love in the Modern World

Fr. Stephen Rowan from the University of Portland will be speaking at the Chesterton Society Talk this week. Join us on Thursday, April 16th at 7:30pm in the Otto Miller Hall (Conference Room 109) at Seattle Pacific University (469 Third West ).

Recognizing that the word “love” has been “tarnished, spoiled, and abused” in our time, and yet that the human heart needs love to live, Benedict XVI has presented a fresh vision of love to the world in his letter God is Love. The pope draws implicitly on the vision of the poet Dante. As an exile from his city of Florence in the 14th century, Dante found in the love of God radical solace for his alienation and the answer to his quest for justice and peace. This talk will review Benedict XVI’s vision, especially concerning love as both erotic (ascending) and oblative (descending) and show how Dante’s Divine Comedy informs that vision. True Chestertonians will be gratified to see how wisely the medieval poet, translated by a 21st century pope, comments on the nature of love and the need for it in contemporary life.

No comments: