The Encyclical on Faith Has Already Been Painted, by Raphael

Instead of a new encyclical, Benedict XVI is writing the third volume of his trilogy on Jesus. With the Transfiguration on Tabor as its focal point. A liturgist and a theologian explain why

by Sandro Magister




ROME, August 10, 2010 – Four days ago, on the liturgical feast of the Transfiguration, "L'Osservatore Romano" again suggested that its readers look at the painting of the same name by Raphael, which it called "the most beautiful painting in the world."

The last work of the great painter, the "Transfiguration" was placed above the main altar of the Roman church of San Pietro in Montorio in 1520, and remained there until 1797, when it was taken to France by Napoleon.

It returned to Rome fifteen years later, and since then has been displayed in one of the halls of the Vatican Museum.

Monsignor Marco Agostini, an official in the second section of the secretariat of state, master of pontifical ceremonies, and a scholar of liturgy and sacred art, has rightly complained in "L'Osservatore Romano" that this improper placement deprives the painting of "three fourths of its capacity to speak."

Above the altar and during the Mass, in fact, the "Transfiguration" helped the priest and the faithful to "see" the mystery that was being celebrated, to identify in the consecrated white host the glorious Christ. This was why Raphael had conceived and painted it. While in a museum, this expressive power and liturgical function disappear.

In his commentary, Monsignor Agostino called attention to the figure at the center of the lower portion of Raphael's painting: the woman who, on her knees, is gesturing to the apostles to attend to the boy in the grip of an evil spirit and heal him with the power of faith.

Because the woman – who according to Raphael's initial plan was supposed to be the boy's mother – is precisely a personification of faith. A faith that overcomes the incredulity by which the apostles themselves are tempted. A faith luminous like the transfigured Christ, on whom everything is centered.

After the encyclicals on charity and hope, it is said that Benedict XVI is writing an encyclical on the other theological virtue, faith. In reality, that's not true. In Castel Gandolfo – where he went in early July, and will stay until October – the pope is instead writing the third part of his book "Jesus of Nazareth," dedicated to the infancy narratives in the Gospels.

The first of the three volumes was released in 2007. The second has already been brought to press, and will be released simultaneously in multiple languages during Lent of 2011.

It is important to emphasize that the Transfiguration of Jesus has a central place in the entire work. It is the endpoint for the first volume, and the starting point for the second, which is centered on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the Transfiguration, in fact – Benedict XVI wrote in the first volume – "Jesus' divinity belongs with the cross." Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah about the "necessity" of his passion. That mystery "which God predetermined before the ages" (1 Corinthians 2:7) is revealed in the crucified Christ.

It is no accident that in the famous mosaic in the apse of the fifth-century basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, in Ravenna, the transfigured Christ is represented by a large jeweled cross, against the background of a starry sky.

But also in the "Transfiguration" by Raphael, Jesus has his arms open as on the cross.

In addition to being the center of the evangelical narrative, therefore, the Transfiguration is also necessarily the focal point of any form of the theology that intends to explore the mystery of Christ.

And this is what was explained – a few days before the feast of the Transfiguration, and again in "L'Osservatore Romano" – by the theologian Inos Biffi in the masterful article reproduced below.

Monsignor Inos Biffi teaches in the theological faculties of Milan and Lugano. He is a specialist in medieval theology and has written the outlines for a few of Benedict XVI's Wednesday catecheses dedicated to the most representative figures of the Church of that period. His "opera omnia" is being published by Jaca Book.

In an era when new theologies are popping up to proclaim immodestly that they are refounding theological scholarship "ex novo" by bringing it into step with the times, the article by Inos Biffi shows how to recognize an authentic Christian theology.