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| Fr. Antonio Gentili greeting the speakers and the public |
Under Christ's gaze towards the Jubilee 2025.
by Antonio Bini
photos by Francesca Bini
The important study conference took place on August 3, 2024 in the Conference Room of the Pilgrim Hotel in Manoppello, with the participation of scholars who have dedicated themselves for years to in-depth studies of the "veil of Veronica".
The day's activities were introduced by the Minister Provincial of the Capuchin Friars Minor for Abruzzo, Lazio and Umbria, Father Simone Calvarese, who praised the organization of the event, which has stimulated reflection and interest towards the Passion of Jesus Christ and the Shrine entrusted to the friars. Father Antonio Gentili – rector of the shrine – greeted and thanked the speakers and all present, encouraging them to work together to move forward in the best possible way to welcome the pilgrims of the upcoming Jubilee. Councilman Roberto Cavallo of the Municipality of Manoppello greeted the conference participants, recalling that Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer was an honorary citizen of Manoppello.
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| From the left Antonio Bini, Lorenzo Bianchi (archaeologist CNR), Professor Silvia Elena di Donato, Annalisa De Meis (Conference moderator) |
This writer, in his talk, recalled the extraordinary figure of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, whom he first met in 1998, as well as the idea to promote a press conference at the headquarters of the Foreign Press in Italy on May 31, 1999. This was hosted by the German scholar, by Fr. Germano Di Pietro, pro-tempore rector of the Shrine and by Prof. Donato Vittore, professor at the University of Bari, who had conducted scientific research on the veil using a very high resolution scanner.
The film "In memory of Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer", conceived by Antonio Bini and produced by Stefano Falco, was then screened, including a montage of some reports which appeared on television news broadcasts in 1999 in Italy and abroad, followed by a series of subsequent photos, including those concerning the meeting of the scholar with Pope Benedict XVI on his visit to Manoppello, which took place on September 1, 2006.
It aroused emotion among those present at the press conference to hear the courageous statements of Fr. Pfeiffer, also in response to questions posed by journalists, with which the scholar explained the unique characteristics of the Holy Face and its identification with Veronica, also making his own some previous research by Sister Blandina, on the overlapping of the Veil with the Shroud. Sister Blandina was present in the audience. The theses expressed by Fr. Pfeiffer caused a big commotion at that time, considering that knowledge of the Holy Face had until then been predominantly local.
In addition to the scheduled speakers Fr. Germano Di Pietro, rector in 1999, wished to give his impromptu testimony, admitting that everything regarding the press conference happened without him doing anything in particular. He recalled the great uproar caused by that press conference and the consequences that were immediately created, in the conflict between the hypotheses of the German scholar and the position of the Vatican, which had never admitted the disappearance of Veronica from Rome. In this regard, Fr. Germano recalled how, together with the many journalists, prelates and pilgrims, there were also Canons of St. Peter's Basilica who immediately began to flock to Manoppello, including the authoritative Cardinal Pio Laghi (1922-2009), who admonished him to deny Fr. Pfeiffer's hypotheses. Fr. Germano, with his usual frankness, recalled that he had replied that for him the Holy Face was an object of deep devotion, but that – not being a scholar – he was unable to disprove Fr. Pfeiffer. This testimony, made public for the first time after many years, makes us understand the human and professional difficulties experienced by the German scholar, professor of Christian art at the Gregorian University in Rome.
Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, Fr. Germano's successor, from 2004 to 2020, also recalled with emotion his long friendship with the German Jesuit, before moving on to read, at the writer's request, the report by the writer Paul Badde, entitled "Medium is the message. Reflections on the 25th anniversary of the identification of the Holy Face with the Roman Veronica by Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer". Badde emphasized the Vatican's wariness with respect to Heinrich Pfeiffer's studies, recalling that after the disappearance of the Veronica from St. Peter's Basilica there was a change to an even more precious reliquary, one no longer enclosed between two panes of glass.
Silvia Elena Di Donato, Greek and Latin teacher and poet, presented her speech: "The Roman Veronica: semantics of a face"; Father Piero Sirianni, Capuchin Friar Minor, doctor of dogmatic theology and journalist, developed the theme: "Eucharist: fons et culmen. Popular piety and evangelizing force”.
The conference concluded with the contribution of Lorenzo Bianchi, researcher of the CNR (National Research Council), who announced the result of studies conducted for 15 years on the state of conservation of the Holy Face, providing positive results both following periodic surveys of air pollution inside the church and on the tightness of some tension points of the cloth, examined only through optical investigations. In announcing the establishment of a scientific commission (whose names have not been disclosed), he reiterated the need to avoid the use of flash photos and the prolonged exposure of the Veil outside the church.
The conference was moderated by Annalisa De Meis.
Paticipants at the Conference including Fr. Germano di Pietro (fourth from the left) and Fr. Carmine Cucinelli (third from the right)
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