Claudio Gugerotti

"Today, ecumenism in Ukraine is still a dream."

"The Church discovers its unity in the name of Francis."

"(About the Gaza war and Israelian raids) We have returned to the law of the jungle, well represented by very modern weapons, but it is still the law of the club. We hoped that, especially with Humanism, the Renaissance and the great cultures of antiquity, it had been overcome, but we realise that this is not the case for the moment. [...] The feeling is that hatred has grown exponentially in recent times. The delicate problem is that there is no international body capable of mediating. There are individual bodies that decide to be the masters of the world. This is another issue. This is not the spirit in which the United Nations or other organisations were created, nor, to tell the truth, the European Union. There is a strong institutional weakness in international organisations."

"What emerges from this brief but well-documented summary is that Rome has always been home to a significant number of Easterners and Eastern communities. This applies not only to the Empire but also to the Church. The Roman Church was heavily populated by Eastern communities that preserved their distinctiveness for a long time. Readers may be surprised to learn that eleven popes were Greek and almost ten were Syriac. This means that their presence was not marginal. Rome, caput mundi, was also a city in which Easterners identified themselves as integrated into its fabric, and not simply as small communities of emigrants."

"Cardinal Gugerotti: I get the impression that very often the West, with all its sophistication, is accustomed to talking as if we were a group of old ladies playing bridge on an island surrounded by caimans. Journalist: You mean, from a position that is a little too "comfortable"? Cardinal Gugerotti: Yes, we are used to not having wars that directly involve us, but we could have them the day after tomorrow, and in any case they are already within our borders. All the conditions are there. The Pope often speaks of a war in pieces, and now the pieces are in danger of coming together very easily."

"The Eastern world observes Lent very strictly. One of the things that Easterners are most passionate about is knowing how much you fast. It may be a naive question, but generally it stems from the perception that fasting is a sign of how seriously you take God and how much you understand that God is the only essential thing. Therefore, you must distance yourself from all the little idols that systematically tend to replace Him. This is what fasting is really about: abstaining from what risks becoming the centre of the day, taking the place of God. Prayer and fasting, which increase during Lent, are a reaffirmation for Easterners that life belongs to God, that space belongs to God."

"Journalist: So, not enough is known about the artistic and cultural heritage of the Eastern Churches? Cardinal Gugerotti: No, it is not known. Decades ago, there was a document from the then Congregation for Catholic Education, which prescribed that every Latin seminary should include teaching on the Eastern Churches. It is probably one of the most disregarded documents among the many disregarded documents produced by the Holy See. Journalist: Why do you think that is? Cardinal Gugerotti: Because there was a period when the humanities were considered more important for the integration of the seminary curriculum than the historical or philological-artistic aspects. So it became a mammoth programme, covering everything, but these fundamental aspects for understanding Christianity were left out. This is very serious to me because it means a partial knowledge of one's own identity. It also potentially means a source of controversy between one person and another or, conversely, the premise of ecstatic adoration of the other: both attitudes that have no foundation and are not at all useful."

"(About Syria) It is a destroyed country. Twelve years of war, and above all the results of certain aspects of the sanctions, have made the people miserable. I was in Syria 25 years ago, I don't recognise it, it's the third world. Salaries are almost non-existent, there is no work, there is huge emigration, cities are destroyed by bombing; I can't see the difference between bombing and the fall caused by the earthquake. People are worn out, they have no hope. A bit of Eastern fatalism helps, where they say, ‘It's okay, it happened, let's hope for God’: Muslims say it, Christians say it with the same phrase in Arabic. The current situation of war and sanctions makes it very difficult to help them: it takes a long time to get visas, sending money is impossible, and then there are areas that are under different controls. And there are some groups that don't let anything through, except to those they decide. And I must say that many European countries also go through dissident groups on the ground because they have a more similar political position, but they do not check where this money goes and to whom. If it were not for some Franciscans who, with mental gymnastics and an infinite imagination that only Easterners have, manage to find more or less legal alternative channels, people would have nothing. I went there first and foremost to bring the Holy Father's blessing, closeness and affection, but also to provide practical help and to tell the organisations what they should not do when sending aid."

"The importance of proclaiming the kerygma of faith must never be subordinated to any political situation, whether it concerns the Church itself, the general situation or conflict with other Churches. This is obvious and everyone understands it, but it is difficult to put into practice. It is often difficult for Christians in a situation of war not to refer to circumstances, even those of a political nature. And perhaps it is not even right, but this is not what being Christian is all about. People are not saved by a news bulletin instead of a homily because they already see tragedies on television. People need hope, and the only hope is that Christ died and rose again. This is difficult to understand when priests are called to fight at the front, leaving parish communities vacant. Who can give these people widespread hope for survival if not the liturgy, the sacraments, prayer, the priest who comforts and helps: in short, the love of God? How can one think that it is more useful to fight than to manage the morale of the people? But to do so, one must believe in God. And when faith is a kind of veneer, then choices are made which, convinced that they are for the good of the people, call into question the very survival of the people themselves. Instrumentalisation always becomes a strong temptation for those in power to have the Church on their side and for the Church to take advantage. And when you ask to have the Church on your side, it means that you feel fragile."