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| Fr. Donato da Bomba, author of Relatione Historica, as portrayed by the Capuchin Brother Crispino Valeri |
The Rediscovered Face of Jesus, a
journey into the places, the legends and the history of the Holy Face of
Manoppello
Duration 67 minutes
Year of production 2017
Creation and direction by Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli
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from left Fr. Donato Martorella, director of the choir “Zimarino di Chieti”, Ida Di Renzo,Fr. Carmine Cucinelli,
Anna Cavasinni, Antonio Bini, Annamaria Di Vincenzo, Fabrizio Franceschelli (photo by Francesca Esposito Bini) |
DOCUFILM: THE FACE OF JESUS Of MANOPPELLO
Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli, creators of the docufilm
We made this documentary over a period of two years, from 2015 to 2017. As part of our work as documentary filmmakers, we have often dealt with aspects of human life: from history to economics, to traditions and to religious culture, with a special focus on Abruzzo, our land. The strong commitment to this new work arises from the suggestion of the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, S.E. Mgr. Bruno Forte, President of CEAM (Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo-Molise), who, on several occasions, expressed his appreciation for our initiatives.
We started this new work by addressing the topic with extreme caution and with a scientific and anthropological approach. With time, our interest and love have increased the more we were discovering. And the long productive path has been full of pleasant surprises. We met and interviewed people of great knowledge and authority and, along with them, laypeople and pilgrims full of faith and devotion.
This work The Rediscovered Face of Jesus describes the Shrine of the Holy Face, the town of Manoppello, its vast area and the foothills area. Abruzzo is described with a strong spiritual and religious imprint, a very rich place in its landscape and architecture. There is the Maiella with hermitages such as St. Spirito and St. Bartolomeo, with the deep valleys and the tholos-shaped houses of peasants and shepherds. There are places of worship such as St. Clement a Casauria, St. Liberatore and St. Maria Arabona and even more distant places, linked to a hypothetical journey of the "pilgrim" mentioned in the Relatione Historica of Father Donato da Bomba. This justifies the presence of the church of St. Francesco in Tagliacozzo, the ancient Alba Fucens, the castle of the Counts of Celano, the Basilica of St. Pelino in Corfinio, the hermitage of St. Donofrio sul Morrone ...
The story is enlivened by re-enactments with extras wearing traditional costumes referring to the Relatione Historica of Capuchin Father Donato da Bomba, possible thanks to the great collaboration of cultural associations of the provinces of Chieti and Pescara and the Manoppello district, as well as numerous local inhabitants. Being a self-financed work and rich in historical re-enactments, in conjunction with the Municipality of Manoppello, we have successfully involved the whole population. The response was in fact spontaneous with a large participation. In this regard it is a duty to thank the cultural association "Arabona", the "Voloentieri" non-profit organization of Casoli, the "Teate Nostra" cultural association of Chieti, the local tourist board "Pro Loco", the Theatrical Association and the choir of Manoppello, the Association "Guferia" and the Choreographic Center "Corpi in Movimento".
The rich collection of testimonies of laypeople, pilgrims and those who received miracles gives color, passion and deep spirituality to the plot of the docufilm. Plus, the interviews given by prominent religious authorities, such as the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto Mons. Bruno Forte, the Rector of the Shrine Father Carmine Cucinelli, the Canon of the Basilica of St. Peter, Mons. Americo Ciani, the Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, are of great theological value too.
Among the scholars and researchers, we met two witnesses of great authority: Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer and Father Heinrich Pfeiffer. We also interviewed the German journalist and writer Paul Badde, the master weaver of marine byssus Chiara Vigo and Antonio Bini, communication director of the Shrine.
In the docufilm there are also references to important historical facts, such as the coming to Abruzzo of Pope Paul VI, with the exhibition on the Holy Face set up in Pescara in 1977 by the Capuchin father Domenico da Cese; the pilgrimage visit to the Shrine of Manoppello in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, the re-enactment carried out in January 2016 in Rome of the procession with the Holy Face which had been inaugurated in 1208 by Pope Innocent III.
Thanks to the funding of the Presidency and the Department of Cultural Policies of the Abruzzo Region, in collaboration with the City of Manoppello, we have edited the work in six languages: Italian, French, English, Polish, Spanish and German.
Preface
By
Bruno Forte
Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto
The DVD
dedicated to the Holy Face present in the Sanctuary of Manoppello, visited on
September 1, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, who came to pay homage to the brothers
of the faith, is a valuable documentary full of precious information. In addition
to highlighting the truly international fame of the Veil, venerated by both
Catholics and Orthodox (as evidenced by the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the
Basilica of Manoppello in September 2016 by the Orthodox Members of the
International Mixed Commission between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox
Churches together, in the presence of Catholic Members), it emphasizes both the
local devotion of the inhabitants of Abruzzo, as well as the one that is
developing in the most diverse places on the planet.
A devotion rooted in
history, as shown by the stages of the carefully evoked story.starting with
the journey of the Holy Veil from Jerusalem to Rome to the Relatione Historica
of Father Donato da Bomba. From the entrusting of the precious Relic to the
Capuchin Friars of Manoppello, to the visit of Pope Paul VI in Pescara in 1977
for the National Eucharistic Congress and at the exhibition organized - on that
same occasion - by Father Domenico da Cese. Even including the spreading of the
news over the Alps thanks to the studies of Sister Blandina Schlömer and Father
Heinrich Pfeiffer S.J. as well as the pilgrimage of Pope Benedict XVI, broadcast by over seventy television networks from around the world and about three
hundred newspapers. The "Omnis Terra" rite, celebrated in Rome in
January 2016 presided over by Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Prefect of the
Pontifical Household, and that of January 2017 in Manoppello presided over by
Msgr. Americo Ciani, the significant participation of the Cardinal Archbishop of
Manila Luis Antonio Tagle at the procession on May 21, 2017, are the many signs
of how the veneration of the Holy Face is spreading from Manoppello throughout
the world.
It is a
devotion with a strong biblical inspiration, expressed in the verse of Psalm
27: "Your face, Lord, I seek. Do not hide your face from me"(vv 8ff).
David, the beloved, seeks the revealed and hidden face of his God: revealed
face, because it could not be looked for if it had not already reached and charmed our
heart; and yet, hidden face, because the desire for a luminous and full vision
remains alive. The face of the Lord, in short, always wants to be sought: that
is also suggested by the Hebrew word "panim", "face", plural
word, which tells how the face is continually new and different, never equal to
itself and yet always the same, as is the love of God, faithful forever and
therefore new in every season of the heart; a single face with many faces, as
many as there are hours and forms of His mercy. In the "fullness of
time" the desired and hidden Face offered itself to us in Jesus Christ
(see Hebrews 1: 1-3). In him we contemplate the longed-for Face (see Jn 12: 45ff).
Yet even the encounter with Him, lived in faith, refers to the fullness of
vision, when the Son of Man will come in glory and His beloved Face will be together
a gaze of truth and a judgment of infinite compassion.
The pilgrimage
of those who believe aims at the fully-accomplished meeting: even for the
disciple of Jesus, the contemplated Face ignites the desire, referring to a new
and hidden depth, ultimate and definitive, promised and given as a deposit, yet
not fully manifested. Therefore, over the centuries the Christian faith has
always sought that Face to rest its thirst, from which they could draw peace,
an anticipation of eternal beauty: the Face of Christ has been represented,
evoked, pursued. The East has established a "canonical" form, which
respects an archetype that is transmitted by the faithful memory and by the
custody of the heart. Of this archetype perhaps the most original example -
according to careful research especially in recent years - could be the Holy
Face itself, kept in the Sanctuary of Manoppello: for five centuries the image,
that was not painted or woven but impressed by a sort of explosion of light, very
similar to that of the Shroud, continues to attract pilgrims, who come to draw
from it the grace of the sacrament of forgiveness, of the Word that illuminates,
of the Bread of eternal life. That is how the Face is welcomed in the hearts of
those who have come all the way here to let themselves be reconciled with God,
pacified in His forgiveness, touched by His mercy that frees and saves.
A heartfelt
thank you goes to the producers of this DVD and all those who will promote it in
Italy and in the world, for evocatively showing all this with a rigorous
documentation, accompanied by the necessary discretion as well as for having
made available to many a first, possible access to the meeting with the
venerated Face at Manoppello.
DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
IN MANOPPELLO
Father Carmine Cucinelli Rector of the Basilica of the
Holy Face
I greet with joy the birth of the
documentary film: "Il Volto Ritrovato di Gesù" (The Holy Face of Jesus in
Manoppello), by Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli.
When the authors asked me to collaborate
in the realization of their project, I immediately joined and gave all the
possible contribution. There are already several films on the Holy Face, also
of fine workmanship, starting with the first documentary, directed by Giancarlo
Pecenko, which was realized precisely on the impulse of the Capuchins in the
now distant 1956. But, to be honest, we did lack a documentary like this,
analyzing the devotion of the Holy Face of Manoppello nowadays, in the life of
the shrine, where it is kept. In fact, in the documentary, while the story
is told in filigree - through the "Relatione Historica" of the Capuchin
father Donato da Bomba - it is brought to life again through events,
recurrences and testimonies. The authors have put a lot of passion, expertise
and patience, managing to involve a large number of people, from scientists,
historians and laypeople for testimonies, interviews or simple extras. Seeing
this film, the viewer can clarify the ideas about the meaning of the Holy Face
and the extraordinary importance of this "relic" today and the fame
it has had in past centuries as well as to be able to learn to distinguish the
Sudarium from the Shroud and the Veronica.
I am glad that the authors have
highlighted the Capuchin work carried out for about five centuries, as well as
in the present, always discreet and with a constant and tireless commitment to the preservation of the relic and to the growing diffusion of its devotion, in
Italy and in many nations of the world and, at the same time, in the daily welcoming
of pilgrims.
This documentary is
"alive", dynamic, made not to impress with sophisticated tricks, but
made with simplicity and naturalness to promote knowledge and devotion. Despite
this, the viewer will also find beautiful fictional scenes set in the
Manoppello of the past, with period costumes that will brighten their eyes and
their heart. Furthermore, many flashbacks are placed in the right places to connect
together past history and today's reality. The title: "The Rediscovered
Face of Jesus" is both a program of life and a wish for those who will
watch the film: rediscover the true Face of Jesus to be attracted by Him and to
become one with Him. This important goal can be achieved only by strongly
impressing the Face in our heart, through our involvement in his life, passion,
death and resurrection.
THE FACE OF
CHRIST RETURNS IN HISTORY
Antonio Bini, communication director
at the Sanctuary of the Holy Face
When at the end of the Great Jubilee
of the year 2000 John Paul II - in his apostolic letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte" - analyzed
the intense Jubilee that had just passed, with an eye to the third millennium,
he invited Christians to resume the ordinary journey, bringing into the soul the richness of
lived experiences, with "the gaze
that remains more fixed than ever on the Face of the Lord" (see
paragraph II, "Un volto da
contemplare").
All this just a few years before
the Holy Face was re-emerging after centuries of oblivion. Responding to the call of the
pope himself, Card. Fiorenzo Angelini (1916-2014), at the beginning of 1997,
decided to set up the International Research Institute on the Face of Christ, inviting to collaborate Prof. Heinrich Pfeiffer S.J., professor of Christian art
at the Gregorian University of Rome, who, during the first congress held in
Rome in the autumn of the same year, said that according to his studies the
Veronica, which was believed to be lost, was in reality the Veil kept in
Manoppello.
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in the photo at left-center Cardinal Angelini, at right-center Fr. Germano di Pietro,
at right Sr. M. Maurizia Biancucci, Mother General Congregation of Benedictine Sisters Consolers of the Holy Face |
We know that the cardinal informed
the Pope on several occasions by discussing with him the theses that emerged
during the congress. John Paul II himself opened with his preface the acts of
the second congress of the following autumn, expressing the hope "that the veneration and the study of the
Holy Face could prepare the minds for the special reflection on the Person of
the Father ... in preparation for the great Jubilee of the Year 2000
".
We therefore believe we can say,
also in the light of what happened in the following years, that the Polish Pope
had clear in mind the themes and hypotheses that emerged during the first
international congresses. It should also be noted that in the apostolic letter
"Tertio Millennio Adveniente", which triggered preparations for the
Jubilee since 10 November 1994, the consideration on the centrality of Christ, also historical, frequently recurred, while there was no reference to his
Face.
Cardinal Angelini himself had
meanwhile become a devoted visitor to the Holy Face in Manoppello, so much as
to put under its protection "the present and the future of the dear Congregation of Benedictine Sisters Consolers of the Holy Face", of
which he was a spiritual guide and had been involved it in the organization of the
Institute's activities (see Register of Shrine guests, Nov. 6, 1997).
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| From left Fr. Germano di Pietro, Antonio Bini, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, S.J. |
In spring 1999 the theses on the
discovery of Veronica (vera-ikon) advanced by Professor Pfeiffer left the
scientific context to be exhibited in a crowded press conference at the
headquarters of the Foreign Press in Italy, together with the results of some
scientific research edited by Professor Donato Vittore of the University of
Bari on the peculiarity of the veil and of the same image impressed on it. In
the same conference -attended also by Professor Germano Di Pietro, the then
rector of the Sanctuary - Professor Pfeiffer documented how the Holy
Face-Veronica ought to be considered the prototype of Christ's image spread
throughout the centuries, highlighting also the outcome of the studies of the
German iconographer Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schlömer, which demonstrated the
superposition of the Holy Face with that of the Shroud. The interest aroused by
the conference was significant and various sources of information broadcast the
news in Italy and abroad, when the Jubilee was imminent. But it was a
complete random coincidence, about which I still wonder, and certainly not the
kind of thinking aimed at the imminent Jubilee event.
In the year 2000 the plenary
indulgence for the Jubilee was granted for the first time in the history of the
Shrine.
But let's try to describe this
extraordinary image. It is a very thin veil - likely to be marine byssus fabric -
visible on both sides - measuring 24 x 17.5 cm. It shows the suffering face of
a man, traditionally believed to be the Face of Christ. Entering the church,
the image of the veil crossed by light appears completely transparent,
practically invisible. Approaching the altar,by either from the left or right side, you
gradually perceive the appearance of a face. The same image - on the other side
of the reliquary - can be closely observed by climbing the steps behind the
altar. Once there, you simply can’t help looking at his eyes, his living gaze,
intense and deep, which is difficult to forget.
The veil is kept between two panes
of glass enclosed by an ancient wooden frame created by the Capuchin Fra Remigio da
Rapino in 1618, in the same year in which the sacred image was obtained by Dr. De
Fabritiis, who kept it devoutly in his home in Manoppello.
In August 1714, when the glass was
replaced, the image on the byssus somehow disappeared; it just could not be
seen. The then guardian, the Swiss Fr. Antonio da Poschiavo hurried to put the
original glasse panes back and the Face was again visible, as documented by a
written testimony kept in the Shrine, signed by the guardian himself. Since then,
the frames have not been opened again.
Thanks to new technologies,
studying the image without opening the glass is no longer a problem. Until a
few years ago it was somehow difficult to take pictures or reproduce the Holy
Face, but thanks to these technologies it is currently possible.
A mysterious
pilgrim brought the Holy Face to Manoppello at the beginning of the sixteenth
century. But his story was documented only during the following century, when
Dr. Donatantonio De Fabritiis, who had previously purchased it, decided in the
year 1638 to donate it to the Capuchins. The father provincial of the Capuchins then
commissioned the preacher and theologian Father Donato da Bomba to draft a
report explaining and documenting the object of the donation and therefore its
known history. The results of this research led Father Donato to draft the
Relatione Historica (1640-1646), which is an object of very recent studies that confirm its
historical reliability (see E. Colombo, M. Colombo, Relatione Historica d’una miracolosa imagine del
volto di Cristo, ed. Marietti, Milan, 2016).
Returning to
the description of the veil, Father Donato da Bomba in person specified that it
was not a painting but a "divine
thing" and that "the brush
cannot portray it ... being it
painted out of the material". Father Donato, in support of what he
says, also bears witness to the failed attempt by "one of the best painters in the province" to paint the image
by reproducing it in the same way it appears.
Of course, many other attempts
were made in vain until the present day. The Holy Face was not initially
exposed to the public and the same Relatione Historica was poorly disclosed,
despite having been reproduced into several copies and held in some friaries in
Abruzzo for obvious security reasons. The Capuchins have always been fully
aware of the extraordinary importance of that prodigious Face, which they had
to protect and take special care of. Only in 1703 was it carried for the first
time in a procession, as a result of pressure from the local population worried
because of earthquakes. For centuries the Holy Face, while remaining hidden
from the world in a peripheral area of Italy, was at the center of the local heartfelt
and widespread popular devotion, with many people who, without waiting for the
results of studies and research, have always looked with hope and faith to
this extraordinary image. Even today, pilgrim companies from neighboring towns arrive annually in Manoppello with their banners flying above their heads,
no longer on foot as they once used to do, to attend the annual celebration on
the third Sunday of May.
Until the early 1960s they walked,
days and days of a hard journey over mountains and hills. The communities
coming from the nearest villages, led by their parish priests, reached the
Shrine carrying their patron saint in procession. This is rather unusual in
traditional popular devotion yet, at the same time, emblematic of how deeply
felt was the centrality attributed also in the past to the Holy Face, whose
veneration had to involve other saints. There are many testimonies of miracles
and many people have wanted to leave a remembrance of them in the Shrine over
time. A significant turning point came only in September 1977, when the Servant
of God Father Domenico da Cese (1905-1978) wanted to set up an exhibition on
the Holy Face on the occasion of the National Eucharistic Congress in Pescara
that would have seen the presence of Pope Paul VI. A bold decision if we think
that the organizers of the Congress had ignored the Holy Face, despite the long phase of
preparation of the event.
On September 17, 1977, there were
two hundred thousand people waiting for the Pope, and still others had been in
town during the week of the event (September 11-18). The news about the
existence of the Holy Face ended up also reaching the well-known biographer of
Padre Pio, Renzo Allegri, who wanted to write an article on the sacred image
during the exposition of the Shroud in Turin in September 1978. In those days
Father Domenico had gone to Turin to see the Shroud, which he had long claimed
to be in the tomb of Christ together with the Holy Face (the Sudarium mentioned
in the Gospel of John - Jn 20, 6-7). Father Domenico did not return to
Manoppello alive, dying in Turin on September 17, 1978, due to a traffic
accident, exactly one year after Paul VI's visit to Pescara. But the article
published by Allegri in the weekly magazine Gente of September 30, 1978 began
to take the Holy Face far beyond the local borders, all the way to a Swiss
Catholic magazine. A copy ended up in the hands of sister Blandina in her
convent in Dahlem, in Germany, with the extraordinary consequences we all know
it had in the following years.
Other scholars approached the Holy Face. Among
these we cannot forget Saverio Gaeta and Paul Badde. The latter, in particular,
has dedicated years of passionate commitment to further broaden the themes of
research and relationships with other scholars. From his first essay, published
in Germany in 2004, he personally informed the then Cardinal Ratzinger, who
only a few months later would become Pope with the name of Benedict XVI.
On September 1, 2006 something as hoped for as unexpected occurred: the pilgrimage of Pope
Benedict XVI to Manoppello following the invitation of Msgr. Bruno Forte,
archbishop of the diocese of Chieti-Vasto. A memorable visit that seems to have been opposed by the Vatican hierarchy, so much that it was made public only just a few days
before. It was the first time that a pope visited the Shrine, meeting, among
others. scholars whose thesis on the identification of the Holy Face with the Veronica Pope Benedict knew very well and as well, the disappearance of the legendary
image that occurred at the time of the Sack of Rome in 1527.
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Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Forte (partially hidden), Fr. Andreas Resch, Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer,
Paul Badde, Sr. Blandina Schloemer |
We still remember
the palpable emotion of Benedict XVI in prayer before the Holy Face. In the
same month of September the Pope elevated the Shrine to the status of a Basilica and,
exactly one year after his visit to Manoppello, he sent the Capuchins the prayer
to the Holy Face which he himself had compsed. After the pilgrimage of Benedict XVI, the number of pilgrims
who came from all over the world has grown sharply, including believers of
other religions. Yet, the Shrine on the slopes of the Maiella mountain
continues to be an oasis of simplicity and spirituality.
A few years later, the director of
the Vatican Museums during an interview granted to the newspaper Il Resto del
Carlino of August 18, 2011 on the exhibition "The Man, the Face, the Mystery.
Masterpieces of the Vatican Museums ", set up in San Marino, incidentally
admitted - breaking a centuries-old silence - that the Veronica had disappeared at the time of the Sack of Rome in 1527.
It seems useful to remember how
Father Andreas Resch - authoritative scholar of paranormal phenomena - in an
interview given to the Rivista del Volto Santo in 2001 had already expressed
his conviction that the Holy Face (Veronica) had been brought to Manoppello,
outside the borders of the Papal States, to be hidden and kept safe on the
slopes of the Maiella, a mountain symbol of sacredness and spirituality, that
Petrarch, in his work "De Vita Solitaria" prophetically described as
"Domus Christi" (the house of Christ).
The years following the Pope’s
visit were very intense and full of important events. Among these, worthy of mention is the International Workshop on the Scientific Approach Acheiropoietos
Images promoted by ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy
and Sustainable Economic Development) in the Frascati Research Center from May 4 to 6, 2010, with a scientific comparison on the three acheropite images (not
made by human hands): The Holy Face, the Shroud and the Tilma of Guadalupe,
with the participation of various scholars from all over the world. Exhibition
events were organized in many cities in Italy and abroad. Among these
exhibitions, the one held in Rimini in the summer of 2013, then replicated in
New York, entitled "Il Volto Ritrovato: the unmistakable features of
Christ" along with the one set up in the Shrine of Our Lady at Lourdes
at the request of the bishop of the diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes, Philippe Perrier,
already a pilgrim to Manoppello - are considered to be outstanding.
Beginning in 2014, the
phenomenon of the enthronement of the Holy Face began spreading in churches in
various countries, triggered by an American devotee, Daisy Neves and her
friends scattered across the United States, the Philippines, Canada, Poland and
Lebanon. In 2015, the Immaculate Conception church in Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija,
was transformed by the local bishop into a Shrine dedicated to the Holy
Face, the object of pilgrimages from all the Philippines. A confirmation of the
spread of the veneration of the Holy Face in the Philippines was expressed by
the same Cardinal of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle, on the occasion of the May
festival of 2017, also participating in the procession from the Shrine to
the town, up to the parish church of St. Nicholas. Many were the cardinals
who, in recent years, have met the Holy Face even before the papal pilgrimage,
but Cardinal Tagle more than others did not hide his emotions, publicly
manifesting his enthusiasm, claiming to feel welcomed by the Holy Face, who
defined it "the living face of
Christ. The face of truth".
In the course of the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (Misericordiae
Vultus), announced by Pope Francis for the year 2016, an event of
particular historical and religious importance took place, with the
re-enactment of the ancient rite of Omnis Terra, which Pope Innocent III had
established in 1208, on the second Sunday after Epiphany, bringing the Veronica
in a procession, accompanied by sanons of St. Peter's, from the Basilica to
the nearby church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, located in the center of the
ancient hospital of Santo Spirit, built for the pilgrims who went to Rome. These canons, a limited number of prelates designated directly by the pope, had among
their tasks the custody of the relics present in St. Peter, including the
Veronica, which in the past was also described by Dante and Petrarch. Among other things,
one of the most interesting illustrations of Veronica –dating back to even
before 1527 –is contained in the precious Liber
regulae Sancti Spiritus in Saxia, in which it is represented in the hands
of Pope Innocent III. The image shows a clear resemblance to the Holy Face.
For the occasion many citizens of
Manoppello went on pilgrimage to Rome led by the rector of the Shrine Father
Carmine Cucinelli, together with the choir of the Basilica of the Holy Face,
along with other laypeople and pilgrims coming from abroad.
On 16 January 2016, the copy of the
Holy Face was carried in procession from St. Peter to S. Spirito in Sassia,
welcomed by the rector, mons. Josef Bart. During the solemn Mass presided over
by Msgr. Georg Gänswein, together with two canons of St. Peter, the Lebanese
archbishop Edmond Farhat and Mons. Americo Ciani as well as a number of prelates including Father Pfeiffer, the Prefect of the Pontifical House affirmed in his
homily "that in an almost miraculous
way the copy of that ancient original that Pope Innocent III showed to
pilgrims, whose original has been kept in Abruzzo for four hundred years, in a
peripheral area of Italy, from where today it has been brought back for the
first time to the place where its public veneration began."
A year later, during the homily of
the first edition of the Omnis Terra ritual held in Manoppello, Msgr. Americo
Ciani, in line with the considerations of Msgr. Gänswein, addressed these words
to those bystanders: "Here we are
gathered to contemplate the Face of God, who became flesh in His Son, Jesus.
This precious relic, ‘the human Face of God’, jealously guarded here in
Manoppello, was venerated by Pope Benedict XVI on September 1, 2006. After 479
years, he knelt before what had been the most precious treasure of the Popes."
After centuries of silence,
ambiguity and reticence, the face of Christ is back in history.
I visited the Shrine for the
first time, in 1998, on the occasion of a conference on the Holy Face promoted by the local tourist board to which I had been invited. I then met Prof. Pfeiffer and was
deeply fascinated by his research and above all by his theses, back then
completely isolated and harshly opposed. Since then I began to
collaborate with the Shrine, becoming myself a witness of extraordinary
events that I have tried to document and tell, as in this summary, working so that the Holy Face might become known to all, in order that the aspiration of all mankind could
become a reality for good: knowing and contemplating the true Face of Christ.
For further information – visit the websites
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| first screening of the docufilm at the Teatro Marrucino of Chieti with Archbishop Forte and Father Cucinelli in the front row (photo by Francesca Esposito Bini) |
Creation and direction by Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli
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Fabrizio Fransceschelli and Anna Cavasinni being interviewed about their new Holy Face docufilm
(photo by Francesca Esposito Bini) |
Anna Cavasinni and Fabrizio Franceschelli are two directors and anthropologists who have worked with the Italian national television network RAI for forty years now, ever since their directorial debut. Between the 1970s and the early 1990s they individually produced a large number of short films for cinema - short monographs of less than 15 minutes - many of them shot in Abruzzo. Together they wrote screenplays for TV originals and worked together on them as directors.
During the 1990s they worked as directors for the three different RAI networks. Anna Cavasinni then collaborated with RAI Cultura and RAI Storia and Fabrizio Franceschelli for Chi l'ha Visto?, a program dedicated to missing people and unsolved crimes, to which the author is still delegated after 25 years.
Together they have been carrying out anthropological research on transhumance (nomadic shepherding) for 40 years, a theme that has led them to make several series of documentaries, going as far as Finnmark in northern Norway. Individually they held courses and seminars for several years at the University "G. D'Annunzio. " In fact, Cavasinni graduated in Arts and specialized in Social Research and Franceschelli graduated in History and Philosophy with a focus on human sciences.
The two authors have been working on another important and original topic since 2005: La Guerra in casa (The war at home), on the Second World War in Abruzzo, of which so far 10 episodes have been made. Among the best-known titles worth to mention are Chieti città aperta (NdT: Chieti open city), La Brigata Maiella (NdT: The Maiella Brigade), L’eccidio dei Limmari (NdT: The massacre of the Limmari) (on the massacre of Pietransieri), La fuga del re, 1942: Natale in Russia (The escape of the king, 1942: Christmas in Russia) (on the alpine troopers of the Brigade of L'Aquila).
The particular interest of Anna Cavasinni for the sea has also led to the realization of some important documentaries: La tonnara di Bertino (on tuna fishing in the Adriatic Sea), La pescatrice (on an old and very bright fisherwoman from Casalbordino), La costa dei trabocchi. Among their religious documentaries, we mention La Basilica di S. Maria dei Miracoli (on the Shrine of Casalbordino) and Il Volto ritrovato di Gesù (on the Shrine of Manoppello).
