Introduction of Archbishop Bruno Forte

Remarks by John J. DeGioia
Introduction of Archbishop Bruno Forte
Dahlgren Chapel
Georgetown University
November 10, 2008

Thank you John—and thank you for your innumerable contributions to the Georgetown community…and for your invaluable insights into the history of the Church and the Jesuits.

It is certainly a privilege to have with us today His Excellency, the Most Rev. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, and I especially want to thank John Borelli, my Special Assistant for Interreligious Affairs, for all of his efforts to make today’s event possible.

I also think it’s extremely fitting that we hold today’s lecture, here, in Dahlgren Chapel. This is the spiritual heart of our community. It also seems appropriate that we are holding a discussion on beauty in such an extraordinary space. And finally, in To Follow You, Light of Life—a collection of the spiritual exercises, based on those of St. Ignatius Loyola, which Archbishop Forte preached before John Paul II—he notes that St. Thomas Aquinas believed that beauty has three features: integrity, form, and splendor. These three features are certainly inherent in the structure that surrounds us…and also in the Eucharist that is always present here. For as Archbishop Forte noted in those exercises, “In the Son—Jesus—all these three expressions [of beauty] meet.”

As many of you are aware, Archbishop Forte has been called “The most famous Italian theologian in Italy.” Born in Naples—which also happens to be where the DeGioia family comes from—he was ordained to the priesthood in 1973, attained his doctorate of theology a year later, and his doctorate in philosophy in 1977.

He has served as professor of systematic theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty in Naples; has been a Visiting Professor in many European, North and South American Universities; and is a member of both the Pontifical Council for Culture and the International Theological Commission of the Holy See.

Firmly committed to the ecumenical movement, Archbishop Forte also sits on the Joint International Commission for the Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Church; and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In June of 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed him to be the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto. A little more than a year before his death, the late Pope had gathered his closest aids for an extended retreat at the Vatican for which Archbishop Forte offered a series of meditations around Jesus’ words that, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Archbishop Forte is also widely published, and his most relevant works include the “Simbolica Eccesiale” and the “Dialogica.” His newest book, The Portal of Beauty: Towards a Theological Aesthetic, has just become available. His Excellency has written on subjects ranging from the Eucharist, to the need for Confession, to the Trinity.

I think it could be argued that much of his thought rests on the foundation of a beautiful line…a line taken from his 2006 JH Walgrave Lecture at the American College at the Catholic University of Louvain that noted, “faith can become a homecoming of beauty and peace.”

Archbishop Forte’s lecture today on beauty and faith reminds me of the words of John Paul II. When speaking of cultural activities—of those efforts specifically devoted to the creation and celebration of beauty—he once noted that they, “make perceptible…the world of the spirit; of the invisible—of God.” I have no doubt that His Excellency’s presentation today on “Theology of Beauty: A Way to Unity,” will also help to do this.

We are grateful to Archbishop Forte for sharing with us his thoughtful—and I have no doubt—thought-provoking ideas and insights…and it is now my pleasure to introduce to the Georgetown community His Excellency, the Most Reverend Bruno Forte…