A Pasolini at the Pope’s court. It is not Pier Paolo, obviously, but Roberto, a 53-year-old Capuchin friar appointed as the new preacher of the Papal Household. He takes the cardinal’s place Raniero Cantalamessa who leaves the role after 44 years. A heavy legacy considering the world fame of the 90-year-old Franciscan “awarded” by Bergoglio in 2020 with the cardinal’s hat. Father Pasolini is aware of this and commented on the nomination he received with words of humility and gratitude: “when I was a young student friar – he told L’Osservatore Romano – I listened to his catecheses and his sermons in the tavern with other students, eating chestnuts and drinking wine, and we were so happy that one of us was there, in the heart of the Church, announcing the Gospel and I never would have imagined that one day this honor, this burden, could touch my life.”
Who is the new preacher
Born in Milan, biblical scholar, il new preacher he has already been the author of meditations published in the Vatican media. In his books he addressed themes such as the relationship between man’s freedom and God and liberation from feelings of guilt. Pasolini was in the past a student in the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, a university visited by the Pope last November 5. In his pastoral activity, the new preacher does not disdain the use of social media with the publication of reels containing his catecheses and the appeal toartificial intelligence in support of his comments on the Gospel of the day. Pasolini is also known for his courses on the Ten Commandments.
The criticisms
The nomination was celebrated by the former university and by the Capuchin Friars Minor who, by tradition, have the role of preacher of the Papal Household. Pasolini’s name, however, was not liked by everyone. Luisella Scrosati on The New Daily Compass he commented on a series of meetings held by the Capuchin and entitled “Homosexuality and Christian life”. The journalist wrote that Pasolini in these “lessons” proposed a rereading of some biblical passages for “prove at all costs that thehomosexual love would have illustrious precedents in some characters of sacred history”. The friar also seems to have distinguished himself for his defense of the declaration Confidence supplicans on the blessing of same-sex couples. The blog Messainlatino.it proposed the transcription of a speech by Pasolini on the theme of homosexuality, commenting on a passage in which the friar “he considers it not inappropriate to think that there was a homosexual relationship between the centurion and his servant and in which he comes to hypothesize homosexual relationships between Jesus and his disciples”. An example also cited by Dagospia according to which, with the appointment of the Franciscan, “there LGBT flag flies in the Vatican.”
The role of the preacher
It will be Father Pasolini’s turn to deliver Advent sermons in the presence of the Pope and the Roman Curia. This will be his debut in place of the 90-year-old Cantalamessa, now preacher emeritus and resident in the Hermitage of Merciful Love in Cittaducale, already known to the general public for his television appearances on Rai and the Gospel comments. Pasolini’s predecessor maintained this role for a record duration, working with three Popes: John Paul II who called him in 1980, Benedict XVI And Francis.
Jokingly, the former preacher claimed that his longevity in office was due to the fact that “the popes probably realized that that is the place where Father Cantalamessa can do the least damage to the Church”. The preacher is entitled to about eight sermons a year, in the Lent and in theAdvent.