The Betrothed (1827) is Alessandro Manzoni’s nineteenth-century Italian classic about star-crossed lovers and a cowardly priest. It was re-translated into English in 2022, resulting in new appreciation in the Anglosphere. Part of that interest comes because Pope Francis has repeatedly read it and cited it in multiple interviews, papal audiences, and homilies.
Why should a nineteenth-century historical novel about seventeenth-century war, famine, and plague be of interest to a twenty-first-century reader? Because it treats timeless themes of cultural encounter: rich and poor, sacred and profane, outsiders and insiders, and last but not least, saints and sinners. This talk by Rev. Joseph Simmons, S.J., analyzed themes of cultural encounter in light of Pope Francis’ own theological vision and conveyed why The Betrothed is worthy of a new generation of readers' attention.
This event was sponsored by the Future of the Humanities Project and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative at Georgetown University with Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. It is part of the year-long series, Cultural Encounters: Books that Have Made a Difference.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Catholic Church England and Wales
