Pope Francis Suggests Divine Comedy as Vital Reading for Year of Mercy

The Catholic Herald (UK) ^ | 5/5/15 | Catholic News Service

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Dante is 'a prophet of hope' and 'herald of the possibility of redemption', says Pontiff

Dante’s Divine Comedy is more than a literary masterpiece, it is an invitation “to rediscover the lost or obscured meaning of our human path and to hope to see again the glowing horizon on which the dignity of the human person shines in its fullness,” Pope Francis has said.

As the Italian government formally celebrated the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth on May 4, Pope Francis sent a message saying that while the centuries have passed Dante “still has much to say and to offer through his immortal works to those who wish to follow the route of true knowledge and authentic discovery of the self, the world and the profound and transcendent meaning of existence.”

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, read the Pope’s message at the celebration in the Italian Senate where Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni read from Dante’s Paradise.