The Courtyard of the Gentiles

Three conferences on the topic “Enlightenment, Religions and Common Reason” shall mark, on March 24 and 25, the official launching in Paris of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles”, the new initiative of “exchange, dialogue and joint activities among believers and non-believers”, promoted at the request of the Holy Father and entrusted to the Pontifical Council for Culture. On December 21, 2009, in fact, Benedict XVI had expressed the desire that “the Church should open a sort of ‘Court of the Gentiles’ in which people might in some way latch on to God, without knowing him and before gaining access to his mystery”. It is possible to acquire general information on this initiative on the Internet site www.atriumgentium.org, promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture, and for France on www.parvisdesgentils.fr. The catholic TV channel KTO (www.ktotv.com) will cover the event live, also via satellite, along with the national network of local broadcasters “Radio Chretiennes Francophone” (www.rcf.fr).The open questions. The name “Courtyard of the Gentiles” evokes “the image of the vast area near the temple of Jerusalem reserved for debates between Jews and non-Jews”. “It complements inter-religious dialogue – we read in a note of the Council – which has been going on for some decades and represents a long-term commitment of the Church which will interest many people in the world, believers and non believers alike”. The aim is “to help to ensure that the great questions about human existence, especially the spiritual questions, are borne in mind and discussed in our societies, using our common reason”. “Our societies, especially in the West – the note goes on -, are widely characterized by two phenomena which look contradictory”: on the one hand, “Exchange and dialogue have never been so valued” as to represent “the most precious characteristics of modern society”. On the other hand, “The essential questions about the meaning of life, those that all humans share, the values which underlie our behaviour, the issue of God – His absence for some, His presence for others – have never been so poorly shared and so much debated among believers and non believers”. To start off the project, Paris has been chosen, “the birthplace of Enlightenment”, but the launching of the initiative had its preview last February 12 at the University of Bologna, the Alma mater of all European Universities. On that occasion, the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, declared: “Within the ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles’, so far, and I would like to stress, so far, we thought of excluding some targets: basically, those who are too poorly atheist. We should, nonetheless, get even into that milieu, into the very horizon of superficiality, amorality, indifference, self-evidence, common-place, stereotype, trivial secularism and colourless and tasteless devotional religion”.Three conferences in three symbolic places. The three conferences of Paris, promoted by the Pontifical Council and by the Institut Catholique, will take place in the presence of Card. Ravasi in three lay symbolic places with the participation of outstanding representatives of the cultural world. The first event will be on the afternoon of March 24 in the headquarters of Unesco, in the presence of its Director General Irina Bokova, “because this dialogue is fundamentally a cultural issue and it is international”. The event will also be attended by: Giuliano Amato, former Italian Prime Minister; Jean Vanier, founder of “L’Arche” Community; Fr. Laurent Mazas, executive director of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles”, and François Bousquet, Vice-Rector of the Institut Catholique. On the morning of March 25 the Sorbonne University will host the next Conference, “because this dialogue must be enriched” by the “contributions of academic and scientific public debate”. Among the speakers, Prof. Patrick Gerard, Rector of the Academy and Chancellor of the University of Paris, the philosopher Jean-Luc Marion (Académie Française), and the psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva. On the afternoon of the same day, it twill be the turn of the Institut de France, “because this theme involves all areas of knowledge and all the subjects represented in the five Academies of our Institute”. The session will deal with three areas: economics, ethics and finance; law and multiplicity of cultural references; art, worship and culture. Other speakers include the Chancellor of the Institute, Gabriel de Broglie, and Rémi Brague, member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. In the evening, at the Collège des Bernardins a final round table will take place with the participation of representatives of the areas of politics, culture, media and business.The youth and the Pope. On the same evening, on the parvis of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, a big party will take place, especially dedicated to young people, with music, films, choreographies, theatre events, light shows. The participants will be welcomed by Card. André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris. With the help of a maxi-screen placed on the church square, the Pope will give a speech in videoconference on the meaning and the aims of the initiative and will launch a message to the young people who will be before him on the “courtyard” of Notre-Dame. The cathedral will remain open for those who would like to pray with the Community of Taizé. After Paris, other cities are scheduled to welcome events around the theme of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles”, including: Florence, Tirana, Stockholm, Prague, Berlin, Quebec, Moscow, Chicago and Washington, D.C.