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THE DIGNITY OF MARGINALITY NOT WON IN THE PASSAGE OF ONE YEAR

Christian hope does not arise from the fact that things “will get better”, nor by the consensus gathered or the results obtained. It comes from knowing that truth is not measured immediately, but it will be judged in the last time. It is in this fidelity exposed to time and judgment - and not in the success of a season - that one decides whether a life was simply lived or truly treasured as a gift from God; if the talents received have been put to good use, or buried underground.

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At the end of the year the world loves to take stock by measuring results, successes and failures. It's a reassuring exercise, because it allows us to judge life according to visible and immediately verifiable criteria, at least in appearance.

From a Christian perspective, But, not everything that is measurable is true, and what really decides the quality of an existence often does not coincide with what appears successful in the eyes of the world. On the path of faith, not rarely, true fulfillment takes the form of what the world judges to be failure and failure. It is the logic of the cross, which the Apostle Paul neither attenuates nor makes acceptable:

«We instead preach Christ crucified, scandal for the Jews and foolishness for the pagans" (1Color 1,23).

This size it is experienced by those who find themselves progressively pushed to the margins for not having betrayed their conscience or renounced the truth. Not for an ideological choice, nor due to personal incapacity, but due to a growing incompatibility with practice, languages ​​and operating criteria of the ecclesiastical contexts in which they live and operate: systems that reward adaptation, they require appropriate silences and marginalize those who are not functional. In some respects, we could define them like this: the scandalous fools of the cross.

The fools of the cross they generate scandal by refusing to bend language to make an objectively unjust decision acceptable. They refuse to define as "pastoral" what in reality is simple opportunistic management of problems; they reject the anti-evangelical clerical logic of those who confuse fidelity to the Gospel with obedience to apparatus dynamics. They do not lend themselves to covering up protracted omissions over time with ambiguous formulas, nor do they accept that the softness of the clergy is justified by the lack of clergy, with organizational urgency or with the reference to presumed balances not to be disturbed. They do not adapt to irregular situations presented as inevitable, they don't accept being silenced to "not create problems", nor do they become accomplices of consortiums, mutual protections and reassuring narratives constructed to hide the truth.

In these cases, the reduction to marginality it is not the result of personal error, but the side effect of a non-negotiable consistency, almost always read as a defeat, as evidence of inadequacy or relational inability. However, this is not always the case: sometimes it is simply the price you pay for not adapting to a system that does not tolerate what it cannot control or use. This mechanism is neither new nor exclusive to the ecclesial sphere. It is typical of any closed power structure, including mafia organizations, who do not strike first those who break the law, but those who don't make themselves functional: who doesn't bend, who does not enter the circuit of mutual dependencies, those who do not accept the language, the silences and complicities required. In these systems, isolation and marginalization are not accidents, but deliberate instruments of control.

Accepting an unconquered marginality it falls within the wisdom of the foolishness of the cross and is not equivalent to taking refuge in a resentful niche or cultivating a spirituality of failure. Very concretely it means recognizing that not everything that is true finds space in official channels and that not every form of invisibility coincides with a loss. That's what happens, eg, to those who give up roles, positions or visibility in order not to sign official documents in which an unjust decision is presented as a "shared pastoral choice". It happens to those who refuse to hide real responsibilities behind false diplomatic formulas, presented as "holy prudence" but in reality functional to an opportunistic management of problems. It is the condition of those who continue to work seriously without being promoted because they do not belong to influential groups; of those who think and write without being invited because they are not aligned with the dominant narratives; of those who exercise real - training responsibilities, cultural, educational — without official positions or protective memberships, because he does not accept trading freedom of judgment for protection or recognition.

In these cases, invisibility is not the sign of personal failure, but a form of protection: preserves from the logic of appearance, it escapes the blackmail of consensus, prevents them from being used as tools. At times, over time, it even turns out to be a grace, not because it makes life easier, but because it allows us to remain free, intact and non-blackmailable. It is the condition of figures who appear relegated to the margins but not destroyed, believed to be silenced but instead surrendered, for this, more prolific. Scripture knows this dynamic well. Moses is removed from the public scene and taken to the desert of Midian before being called to free the people (cf.. Is 2,15; 3,1); Elijah flees into the desert, desires death, and right there he learns to listen that takes him away from the violence of power and the din of action (cf.. 1Re 19,1-18); John the Baptist was neither born nor operated in the center, but in the desert, away from official religious circuits, and from there prepare the way of the Lord (cf.. Mt 3,1-3; MC 1,2-4; LC 3,1-4). Jesus himself, before every public word and every sign, he is driven by the Spirit into the desert, where he explicitly rejects success, immediate effectiveness and the consensus of the crowds (cf.. Mt 4,1-11; MC 1,12-13; LC 4,1-13).

The desert, in the biblical and evangelical tradition, it is not the place of uselessness, but of purification: it does not produce visibility, but freedom; does not guarantee success, but truth. It is in this space that seemingly irrelevant figures mature, de facto, not blackmailable, generated by a fruitfulness that does not depend on immediate recognition, but from fidelity to the truth, by inner freedom and the ability to stand the test of time without being corrupted by it.

If you look at the Gospel without anxious pietism or devotional filters, it strikes an elementary fact: Jesus shows no anxiety about being at the center. On the contrary, when the center gets crowded, he withdraws from it naturally. Preach to the crowds (cf.. Mt 5–7; MC 6,34), but then he retreats (cf.. MC 1,35; GV 6,15); performs signs (cf.. MC 1,40-45; MC 7,31-37), but recommends silence (cf.. MC 1,44; MC 8,26); attracts disciples, but it does not hold back those who leave (cf.. GV 6,66-67). In current terms, we could say that he doesn't care about his own "positioning". Yet no one, more than him, has made an impact on history.

If you take on this evangelical gaze, even the Beatitudes cease to be an edifying repertoire to be proclaimed on solemn occasions and return to being what they are in their Christological reality: a criterion of radical discernment. They do not promise success, nor visibility, nor approval; on the contrary, they describe a form of paradoxical happiness, incompatible with the logic of consensus. And beats, in the Gospel, they are not the ones who “made it”, but those who have not traded the truth for applause (cf.. Mt 5,1-12).

Next to the Beatitudes, however, the Gospel also preserves the other side of the coin with equal clarity: the “trouble”. Rough words, little cited and rarely commented on, perhaps because they disturb an accommodating spirituality. «Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you» (LC 6,26): a warning that does not seem addressed to scandalous sinners, but to respectable people, appreciate, perfectly integrated. It is as if Jesus was warning against a subtle form of failure: that of those who obtain consensus at the price of their own internal freedom.

In the Gospel, consensus is never a value in itself. On the contrary, when it becomes unanimous, often takes on the features of a collective misunderstanding. The crowds cheer, only to then disappear (cf.. GV 6,14-15.66); the disciples applaud, only to then argue about who is the greatest (cf.. MC 9,33-34; LC 22,24); the notables recognize, only to then distance themselves out of fear or convenience (cf.. GV 12,42-43). Jesus goes through all this without ever being imprisoned by it. He does not seek opposition, but he doesn't fear it either; does not despise recognition, but he doesn't chase him. We could say, with a faint smile, who never confuses the approval rating with the measure of truth, because the approval rating is in man, the truth is in God.

It is in this sense that the Gospel exercises irony as discreet as it is implacable. Precisely those who preside over the center - the guarantors of order, correctness specialists, “It's always been done this way” professionals — are often the least equipped to recognize what really happens. While discussing procedures, documents are drawn up and balances not to be disturbed are invoked, faith takes shape elsewhere; while ensuring that nothing leaves the established perimeter, understanding matures offstage; while everything is measured in terms of consensus and opportunity, the truth passes through secondary roads, without asking permission. Not because I love margins as such, but because - as the Gospel shows with a certain obstinacy - the truth cannot be administered. And even fewer allow themselves to be certified by the number of consensuses obtained or by the tranquility of conscience that they manage to preserve.

Accepting an unconquered marginality, At that time, it does not mean cultivating a taste for opposition or taking refuge in a polemical attitude on principle. Means, more simply, stop measuring the value of a life — or a ministry — based on the approval received, to the tasks obtained or the consensus obtained, according to that logic that the century calls, shameless, hypertrophic narcissism. In concrete terms, it means not taking the number of invitations as a decisive criterion, of recognition or certificates of esteem, but the rectitude of the choices made. The Gospel, the rest, he doesn't ask to be applauded, but to be faithful. And this loyalty, not rarely, it is practiced far from the center, where you are less exposed to pressure, freer to look at reality for what it is and less forced to say what is appropriate.

The end of the year is often filled with disproportionate expectations. Final balance sheets are expected, conclusive judgments, words capable of fixing everything once and for all. In reality, for those who live with a minimum of inner honesty, this time is not used to close the accounts, but to stop cheating: not to tell each other comforting stories, not to confuse what was successful with what was right. This is not the time to proclaim goals, but to distinguish what is essential from what is superfluous, what deserves to be cherished from what can be let go without regrets.

There is a particular freedom which was born right here: when you accept that not everything needs to be solved, clarified or recognized. Some events remain open, some unanswered questions, some grave wrongs unredressed. But not everything that remains unfinished is sterile. Sometimes it is simply entrusted to a time that does not coincide with ours. This awareness, far from being a surrender, it is a high form of spiritual realism.

The “sober truth” it is not an internal disposition nor an abstract principle: it is recognized by the price that a person is willing to pay in order not to deny what he has understood as true. It manifests itself when you accept missing opportunities, assignments or protections so as not to resort to linguistic justifications, to accommodating formulas or moral alibis that make what cannot be presentable under any circumstances: pretend that evil is good and use this lie as a shield against those who try to call evil by its name.

In an ecclesial context in an objectively advanced state of decline, which measures people based on visibility, to adaptability and immediate usefulness, this choice has precise consequences, sometimes even devastating. It means continuing to carry out one's ministry or ecclesial service without being the recipient of appointments, of honorific positions or those sops with which power flatters and, together, subjects; without being involved in the decision-making bodies of the diocese or ecclesial institutions; without making ourselves available to government logics that require silence, adaptations or compromises deemed inadmissible, because they were paid at a price that no Christian conscience can accept: the sacrifice of the freedom of the children of God, inscribed from the beginning in the very mystery of the creation of man. Means, at last, accept that one's contribution remains unrewarded and relegated to the margins, not because it is useless, but because it cannot be spent in the circuits that count; and yet destined, in the silence of the desert, to be a seed that bears fruit.

Persevere, in this sense, it is not a form of obstinacy nor an identity attitude built to stand out. It is the decision to remain faithful to what has been recognized as true even when this faithfulness involves silence, loss of role and lack of recognition.

In the transition from one year to the next you are not asked to make consolatory assessments, but to look at what remains when time has worn away illusions, roles and justifications. The choices made remain, the words spoken or unsaid, responsibilities assumed or avoided. And this, and nothing else, the material that passes through time.

The Christian hope It doesn't arise from the fact that things "will get better", nor by the consensus gathered or the results obtained. It comes from knowing that truth is not measured immediately, but it will be judged in the last time. It is in this fidelity exposed to time and judgment - and not in the success of a season - that one decides whether a life was simply lived or truly treasured as a gift from God; if the talents received have been put to good use, or buried underground.

From the island of Patmos, 31 December 2025

.

THE DIGNITY OF UNCONQUERED MARGINALITY IN THE PASSAGE FROM ONE YEAR TO ANOTHER

Christian hope does not arise from the fact that things “will get better”, nor from the consensus gathered or the results obtained. It arises from knowing that truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the ultimate time. It is in this fidelity exposed to time and to judgement — and not in the success of a season — that it is decided whether a life has been merely lived or truly safeguarded as a gift of God; whether the talents received have been made fruitful, or buried in the ground.

— Ecclesial actuality—

.

At the end of the year the world likes to take stock by measuring results, successes and failures. It is a reassuring exercise, because it allows life to be judged according to visible and immediately verifiable criteria — at least in appearance.

From a Christian perspective, however, not everything that can be measured is true, and what truly decides the quality of an existence often does not coincide with what appears successful in the eyes of the world. In the journey of faith, more often than not, genuine fulfilment takes the form of what the world judges to be failure and defeat. This is the logic of the cross, which the Apostle Paul neither softens nor renders acceptable:

“We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Color 1:23).

This dimension is lived by those who find themselves progressively pushed to the margins because they have not betrayed their conscience nor renounced the truth. Not out of ideological choice, nor because of personal inadequacy, but because of a growing incompatibility with the practices, language and operational criteria of the ecclesial contexts in which they live and work: systems that reward adaptation, demand convenient silences, and marginalise anyone who does not make himself functional. In some respects, we might define them thus: the scandalous fools of the cross.

The fools of the cross generate scandal by refusing to bend language so as to render acceptable a decision that is objectively unjust. They refuse to define as “pastoral” what is in reality nothing more than opportunistic management of problems; they reject anti-evangelical clerical logics that confuse fidelity to the Gospel with obedience to apparatus dynamics. They do not lend themselves to covering up omissions prolonged over time with ambiguous formulas, nor do they accept that clerical flaccidity be justified by a shortage of clergy, by organisational urgency, or by appeals to alleged balances that must not be disturbed. They do not adapt to irregular situations presented as inevitable; they do not accept being silenced “so as not to create problems”; nor do they make themselves accomplices of factions, mutual protections and reassuring narratives constructed to conceal the truth.

In such cases, reduction to marginality is not the result of personal error, but the collateral effect of a non-negotiable coherence, almost always read as defeat, as a sign of inadequacy or relational incapacity. Yet this is not always so: at times it is simply the price to be paid for not having adapted to a system that does not tolerate what it cannot control or exploit. This mechanism is neither new nor exclusive to the ecclesial sphere. It is typical of every closed power structure, including criminal organisations, which do not strike first those who break the law, but those who do not make themselves functional: those who do not bend, who do not enter the circuit of mutual dependencies, who do not accept the required language, silences and complicities. In such systems, isolation and marginalisation are not accidents, but deliberate instruments of control.

Accepting an unconquered marginality belongs to the wisdom of the foolishness of the cross and does not amount to retreating into a resentful niche or cultivating a spirituality of failure. Very concretely, it means recognising that not everything that is true finds space within official channels, and that not every form of invisibility coincides with loss. This is what happens, for example, to those who renounce roles, appointments or visibility rather than sign official documents in which an unjust decision is presented as a “shared pastoral choice”. It happens to those who refuse to mask real responsibilities behind false diplomatic formulas, presented as “holy prudence” but in fact functional to opportunistic management of problems. It is the condition of those who continue to work seriously without being promoted because they do not belong to influential factions; of those who think and write without being invited because they are not aligned with dominant narratives; of those who exercise real responsibilities — formative, cultural, educational — without official appointments or protective affiliations, because they refuse to barter freedom of judgement for protection or recognition.

In these cases, invisibility is not the sign of personal failure, but a form of protection: it preserves one from the logic of appearances, removes one from the blackmail of consensus, prevents one from being used as a tool. At times, over the long term, it even proves to be a grace—not because it makes life easier, but because it allows one to remain free, intact and not subject to blackmail. It is the condition of figures who appear relegated to the margins yet not destroyed, believed to be silenced and instead rendered, precisely for this reason, more prolific. Scripture knows this dynamic well. Moses is removed from the public stage and led into the desert of Midian before being called to liberate the people (cf. Exod 2:15; 3:1); Elijah flees into the desert, desires death, and precisely there learns a listening that removes him from the violence of power and the din of action (cf. 1 Kgs 19:1–18); John the Baptist is neither born nor operates at the centre, but in the desert, far from official religious circuits, and from there prepares the way of the Lord (cf. Matt 3:1–3; Mark 1:2–4; Luke 3:1–4). Jesus himself, before any public word or sign, is driven by the Spirit into the desert, where he explicitly rejects success, immediate effectiveness and the consensus of the crowds (cf. Matt 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13).

The desert, in biblical and evangelical tradition, is not the place of uselessness, but of purification: it does not produce visibility, but freedom; it does not guarantee success, but truth. It is in this space that figures mature who are apparently irrelevant yet in fact not subject to blackmail, generated by a fruitfulness that does not depend on immediate recognition, but on fidelity to the truth, interior freedom and the capacity to endure time without being corrupted by it.

If one looks at the Gospel without anxious pieties or devotional filters, one elementary fact stands out: Jesus shows no anxiety about being at the centre. On the contrary, when the centre becomes crowded, he withdraws from it with ease. He preaches to the crowds (cf. Matt 5–7; Mark 6:34), but then he withdraws (cf. Mark 1:35; John 6:15); he performs signs (cf. Mark 1:40–45; Mark 7:31–37), but recommends silence (cf. Mark 1:44; Mark 8:26); he attracts disciples, but does not hold back those who leave (cf. John 6:66–67). In contemporary terms, one might say that he does not tend to his own “positioning”. And yet no one more than he has left a mark on history.

If one adopts this evangelical gaze, even the Beatitudes cease to be an edifying repertory to be proclaimed on solemn occasions and return to being what they are in their Christological reality: a radical criterion of discernment. They promise neither success, nor visibility, nor approval; on the contrary, they describe a paradoxical form of happiness, incompatible with the logic of consensus. In the Gospel, the blessed are not those who “have made it”, but those who have not bartered the truth for applause (cf. Matt 5:1–12).

Alongside the Beatitudes, however, the Gospel preserves with equal clarity the other side of the coin: the “woes”. Harsh words, little cited and rarely commented upon, perhaps because they disturb an accommodating spirituality. “Woe to you when all speak well of you” (Luke 6:26): a warning that does not seem addressed to scandalous sinners, but to respectable, appreciated, perfectly integrated people. It is as if Jesus were warning against a subtle form of failure: that of those who obtain consensus at the price of their own interior freedom.

In the Gospel, consensus is never a value in itself. Indeed, when it becomes unanimous, it often takes on the traits of a collective misunderstanding. The crowds acclaim, only to disappear (cf. John 6:14–15, 66); the disciples applaud, only to argue about who is the greatest (cf. Mark 9:33–34; Luke 22:24); the notables acknowledge, only to distance themselves out of fear or convenience (cf. John 12:42–43). Jesus passes through all of this without ever allowing himself to be imprisoned by it. He does not seek opposition, but neither does he fear it; he does not despise recognition, but he does not pursue it. One might say, with a faintly sketched smile, that he never confuses approval ratings with the measure of truth, because approval ratings are in human beings, whereas truth is in God.

It is in this sense that the Gospel exercises an irony that is as discreet as it is relentless. Precisely those who guard the centre — the guarantors of order, the specialists in correctness, the professionals of “this is how it has always been done” — often prove the least equipped to recognise what is actually taking place. While procedures are discussed, documents drafted and balances invoked that must not be disturbed, faith takes shape elsewhere; while vigilance ensures that nothing escapes the established perimeter, understanding matures offstage; while everything is measured in terms of consensus and opportunity, truth passes along secondary paths, without asking permission. Not because it loves the margins as such, but because — as the Gospel shows with a certain obstinacy — truth does not allow itself to be administered. Still less does it allow itself to be certified by the number of consents obtained or by the tranquillity of consciences it manages to preserve.

To accept an unconquered marginality, then, does not mean cultivating a taste for opposition or retreating into a polemical stance by principle. It means, more simply, ceasing to measure the value of a life — or of a ministry — by the approval received, the appointments obtained or the consensus gathered, according to that logic which the age, without embarrassment, calls hypertrophic narcissism. In concrete terms, it means not adopting as a decisive criterion the number of invitations, recognitions or attestations of esteem, but the rectitude of the choices made. The Gospel, after all, does not ask to be applauded, but to be faithful. And this fidelity is often exercised far from the centre, where one is less exposed to pressure, freer to look at reality for what it is, and less compelled to say what is convenient.

The end of the year is often burdened with disproportionate expectations. Definitive balances are demanded, conclusive judgements, words capable of putting everything in order once and for all. In reality, for anyone who lives with a minimum of interior honesty, this time serves not to close accounts, but to stop cheating: to cease telling oneself consoling stories, to stop confusing what has been successful with what has been just. It is not the moment to proclaim milestones, but to distinguish what is essential from what is superfluous, what deserves to be safeguarded from what can be let go without regret.

There is a particular freedom that is born precisely here: when one accepts that not everything must be resolved, clarified or recognised. Some events remain open, some questions unanswered, some grave wrongs unrepaired. Yet not everything that remains unfinished is sterile. At times it is simply entrusted to a time that does not coincide with our own. This awareness, far from being a surrender, is a high form of spiritual realism.

“Sober truth” is not an interior disposition nor an abstract principle: it is recognised by the price a person is willing to pay in order not to contradict what he has understood to be true. It manifests itself when one accepts the loss of opportunities, appointments or protections rather than resort to linguistic justifications, accommodating formulas or moral alibis that make presentable what can never be so in any case: pretending that evil is good and using this lie as a shield against those who attempt to call evil by its name.

In an ecclesial context in an objectively advanced state of decay, which measures people according to visibility, adaptability and immediate utility, this choice has precise, at times even devastating, consequences. It means continuing to exercise one’s ministry or ecclesial service without being the recipient of appointments, honorary offices or those petty concessions with which power both flatters and subjugates; without being involved in the decision-making bodies of the diocese or ecclesial institutions; without making oneself available to forms of governance that demand silences, adaptations or compromises deemed inadmissible because they are paid for at a price that no Christian conscience can accept: the sacrifice of the freedom of the children of God, inscribed from the beginning in the very mystery of the creation of the human being. It means, finally, accepting that one’s contribution remains without gratification and relegated to the margins, not because it is useless, but because it is not expendable in the circuits that count; and yet destined, in the silence of the desert, to be seed that bears fruit.

Persevering, in this sense, is not a form of obstinacy nor an identity posture constructed to distinguish oneself. It is the decision to remain faithful to what has been recognised as true even when this fidelity entails silence, loss of role and absence of recognition.

In the passage from one year to another, one is not asked to draw consoling balances, but to look at what remains when time has consumed illusions, roles and justifications. What remain are the choices made, the words spoken or left unsaid, the responsibilities assumed or avoided. This, and nothing else, is the material that passes through time.

Christian hope does not arise from the fact that things “will get better”, nor from the consensus gathered or the results obtained. It arises from knowing that truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the ultimate time. It is in this fidelity exposed to time and to judgement — and not in the success of a season — that it is decided whether a life has been merely lived or truly safeguarded as a gift of God; whether the talents received have been made fruitful, or buried in the ground.

From the Island of Patmos, 31 December 2025

.

THE DIGNITY OF UNEXCITED MARGINALITY IN THE PASSAGE FROM ONE YEAR TO ANOTHER

Christian hope is not born from the fact that things will “get better”, nor of the consensus reached or the results obtained. It is born from knowing that the truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the end time. It is in this faithfulness exposed to time and judgment — and not to the success of a season — that it is decided whether a life has been simply lived or truly appreciated as a gift from God.; if the talents received have been made to bear fruit, or buried underground.

- Ecclesial news -

.

At the end of the year the world loves to take stock by measuring results, successes and failures. It is a calming exercise, because it allows life to be judged according to visible and immediately verifiable criteria, at least in appearance.

From a Christian perspective, however, not everything that is measurable is true, and what really decides the quality of an existence often does not coincide with what seems successful in the eyes of the world.. On the path of faith, Not infrequently, true fulfillment takes the form of what the world judges as a failure or failure.. It is the logic of the cross, which the apostle Paul does not mitigate or make acceptable:

"US, instead, we preach Christ crucified, scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles." (1 Color 1,23).

This dimension is experienced who are progressively pushed to the margins for not having betrayed their own conscience, nor having renounced the truth. Not by ideological choice, nor due to personal incapacity, but due to a growing incompatibility with practices, the languages ​​and operating criteria of the ecclesial contexts in which they live and operate: systems that reward adaptation, They demand appropriate silences and make those who do not become functional marginal.. Under certain aspects, we could define them like this: the scandalous fools of the cross.

The fools of the cross generate scandal by refusing to twist language to make an objectively unjust decision acceptable. They refuse to define as “pastoral” what is in reality a simple opportunistic management of problems; They reject the anti-evangelical clerical logic of those who confuse fidelity to the Gospel with obedience to the dynamics of the apparatus.. They do not lend themselves to covering long-term omissions with ambiguous formulas, nor do they accept that the softness of the clerics is justified by the shortage of clergy, with organizational urgency or with the appeal to supposed balances that should not be disturbed. They do not adapt to irregular situations presented as inevitable. They do not accept being silenced “so as not to create problems”, nor do they become accomplices of consortiums, mutual protections and reassuring narratives constructed to hide the truth.

In these cases, the reduction to marginality is not the result of a personal error, but the collateral effect of a non-negotiable coherence, almost always read as defeat, as proof of inadequacy or relational incapacity. However, It's not always like that: Sometimes it is simply the price you pay for not having adapted to a system that does not tolerate what you cannot control or use.. This mechanism is neither new nor exclusive to the ecclesiastical sphere.. It is typical of every closed power structure, including mafia organizations, who do not hit those who break the law first, but to those who do not become functional: who does not bend, to those who do not enter the circuit of reciprocal dependencies, who does not accept the language, the silences and complicities required. In these systems, Isolation and marginalization are not accidents, but deliberate instruments of control.

Accept a marginality undefeated is part of the wisdom of the foolishness of the cross and is not equivalent to taking refuge in a resentful niche or cultivating a spirituality of failure.. Very specifically, It means recognizing that not everything that is true finds space in official channels and that not every form of invisibility coincides with a loss.. It's what happens, For example, to those who resign from positions, assignments or visibility as long as they do not sign official documents in which an unjust decision is presented as a “shared pastoral option”. It happens to those who refuse to mask real responsibilities behind false diplomatic formulas, presented as “holy prudence” but in reality functional to opportunistic management of problems. It is the condition of those who continue to work seriously without being promoted because they do not belong to influential cliques.; of those who think and write without being invited because they are not aligned with the dominant narratives; of those who exercise real responsibilities—training, cultural, educational—without official positions or protective memberships, because it does not accept to exchange freedom of judgment for protections or recognitions.

In these cases, invisibility is not the sign of personal failure, but a form of protection: preserves the logic of appearance, escapes the blackmail of consensus, prevents them from being used as instruments. Sometimes, with the passage of time, it is even revealed as a grace, not because it makes life easier, but because it allows us to remain free, integrity and not blackmailable. It is the condition of figures that seem relegated to the margins but not destroyed., considered silenced and yet, precisely for this reason, made more fertile. Scripture knows this dynamic well.. Moses is removed from the public scene and taken to the desert of Midian before being called to free the people (cf. Ex 2,15; 3,1); Elijah flees to the desert, wishes death, and precisely there he learns listening that distances him from the violence of power and the noise of action (cf. 1 Re 19,1-18); John the Baptist is not born nor does he act in the center, but in the desert, far from the official religious circuits, and from there prepare the way of the Lord (cf. Mt 3,1-3; MC 1,2-4; LC 3,1-4). Jesus himself, before every public word and every sign, is driven by the Spirit into the desert, where he explicitly rejects success, immediate effectiveness and crowd consensus (cf. Mt 4,1-11; MC 1,12-13; LC 4,1-13).

The desert, in the biblical and evangelical tradition, It is not the place of uselessness, but of purification: does not produce visibility, but freedom; does not guarantee success, but truth. It is in this space where apparently irrelevant but, who are not really blackmailable, engendered by a fertility that does not depend on immediate recognition, but of fidelity to the truth, of inner freedom and the ability to sustain time without allowing oneself to be corrupted by it.

If you look at the Gospel without anxious pietisms or devotional filters, an elementary fact draws attention: Jesus shows no anxiety to be in the center. On the contrary, when the center is full of people, it escapes from him naturally. Preach to the crowds (cf. Mt 5–7; MC 6,34), but then he leaves (cf. MC 1,35; Jn 6,15); make signs (cf. MC 1,40-45; MC 7,31-37), but recommends silence (cf. MC 1,44; MC 8,26); attracts disciples, but it does not retain those who leave (cf. Jn 6,66-67). In current terms, We could say that he does not care about his own “positioning”. However, no one but him has had an impact on history.

If this evangelical view is assumed, The Beatitudes also cease to be an edifying repertoire that is proclaimed on solemn occasions and return to being what they are in their Christological reality.: a criterion of radical discernment. They do not promise success, no visibility, no approval; on the contrary, describe a form of paradoxical happiness, incompatible with the logic of consensus. The blessed, in the Gospel, They are not the ones who “have made it”, but those who have not changed the truth with applause (cf. Mt 5,1-12).

But along with the Beatitudes, the Gospel preserves with equal clarity the other side of the coin: los “ayes”. harsh words, little cited and rarely commented, perhaps because they disturb an accommodative spirituality. «Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you!» (LC 6,26): a warning that does not seem aimed at scandalous sinners, but to respectable people, appreciated, perfectly integrated. It's as if Jesus was warning against a subtle form of failure.: that of those who obtain consensus at the price of their own inner freedom.

In the Gospel consensus is never a value in itself. Even more, when it becomes unanimous, usually assumes the features of a collective misunderstanding. The crowds cheer, and then disappear (cf. Jn 6,14-15.66); the disciples applaud, and then argue about who is the greatest (cf. MC 9,33-34; LC 22,24); notables recognize, and then distance yourself out of fear or convenience (cf. Jn 12,42-43). Jesus goes through all this without ever letting himself be imprisoned by it.. Does not seek opposition, but he doesn't fear her either; does not despise recognition, but it doesn't chase him. we could say, with a barely visible smile, who never confuses the approval rating with the measure of truth, because the approval rating is in the man, the truth is in God.

It is in this sense how the Gospel exercises an irony as discreet as it is implacable. Precisely those who guard the center — the guarantors of order, correction specialists, “It's always been done this way” professionals—are often the least qualified to recognize what is really happening.. While procedures are discussed, documents are drawn up and balances are invoked that must not be disturbed, faith takes shape elsewhere; while ensuring that nothing leaves the established perimeter, understanding matures off stage; while everything is measured in terms of consensus and opportunity, the truth passes through secondary roads, without asking permission. Not because I love the margins as such, but because — as the Gospel shows with a certain obstinacy — the truth does not allow itself to be administered. And even less can it be certified by the number of consensuses obtained or by the peace of mind that it manages to preserve..

Accept an unconquered marginality, then it does not mean cultivating a taste for the opposition, nor take refuge in a polemical attitude on principle. Means, more simply, stop measuring the value of a life — or a ministry — according to the approval received, the positions obtained or the consensus gathered, according to that logic that the century calls, without shame, hypertrophied narcissism. In concrete terms, means not assuming the number of invitations as a decisive criterion, of recognition or signs of esteem, but the rightness of the decisions made. The Gospel, otherwise, does not ask to be applauded, but be faithful. And this fidelity, not infrequently, is exercised far from the center, where you are less exposed to pressure, freer to look at reality as it is and less obliged to say what is appropriate.

The end of the year often burdened with disproportionate expectations. Final balance sheets are required, conclusive judgments, words capable of fixing everything once and for all. Actually, for those who live with a minimum of inner honesty, this time is not useful to close accounts, but to stop deceiving yourself: not to tell comforting stories, so as not to confuse what has been successful with what has been fair. This is not the time to proclaim goals achieved, but to distinguish the essential from the superfluous, what deserves to be guarded from what can be let go without regrets.

There is a particular freedom that is born precisely here: when it is accepted that not everything must be resolved, clarified or recognized. Some vicissitudes remain open, some unanswered questions, some serious injustices without reparation. But not everything that remains unfinished is sterile.. Sometimes it is simply entrusted to a time that does not coincide with ours. This awareness, far from being a surrender, It is a high form of spiritual realism.

The “sober truth” It is not an internal disposition nor an abstract principle: It is recognized by the price that a person is willing to pay in order not to deny what they have understood to be true.. It manifests itself when you accept losing opportunities, charges or protections as long as they do not resort to linguistic justifications, to accommodating formulas or moral alibis that make presentable what in no case can be presentable: pretend that evil is good and use this lie as a shield against those who try to call evil by its name.

In an ecclesial context in an objectively advanced state of decay, that measures people based on visibility, adaptability and immediate usefulness, This choice has precise consequences, sometimes even devastating. It means continuing to exercise one's own ministry or ecclesial service without being the recipient of appointments., honorary positions or those small concessions with which power flatters and, at the same time, only; without being involved in the decision-making bodies of the diocese or ecclesial institutions; without making oneself available to government logic that requires silence, adaptations or compromises considered inadmissible, because they are paid at a price that no Christian conscience can accept: the sacrifice of the freedom of the children of God, inscribed from the beginning in the same mystery of the creation of man. Means, Finally, accept that one's own contribution remains unrewarded and relegated to the margins, not because it's useless, but because it is not usable in the circuits that have; and, however, intended, in the silence of the desert, to be a seed that bears fruit.

Persevere, in this sense, It is not a form of obstinacy nor an identity posture built to distinguish oneself.. It is the decision to remain faithful to what has been recognized as true even when this fidelity entails silence., loss of role and lack of recognition.

in the step from one year to the next it is not asked to make consoling balances, but to look at what remains when time has consumed illusions, roles and justifications. The decisions remain, the words said or silent, responsibilities assumed or avoided. This, and nothing more, It is the material that passes through time.

Christian hope It is not born from the fact that things “will get better.”, nor of the consensus reached or the results obtained. It is born from knowing that the truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the end time. It is in this faithfulness exposed to time and judgment — and not in the success of a season — that it is decided whether a life has been simply lived or truly appreciated as a gift from God.; if the talents received have been made to bear fruit, or buried underground.

From the Island of Patmos, 31 December 2025

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THE DIGNITY OF UNOVERCOME MARGINALITY IN THE TRANSITION FROM ONE YEAR TO ANOTHER

Christian hope does not come from expectation, that things will “get better”, nor the consensus gathered or the results achieved. It comes from knowledge, that truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the final judgment. It is in this loyalty exposed to the passage of time and the court - and not in the success of a season - that the decision is made, whether a life was merely lived or truly preserved as a gift from God; whether the talents received were made fruitful or buried in the earth.

— Church topicality —

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At the end of the year the world tends to, to take stock, by getting results, Measures successes and failures. It's a calming exercise, because it allows, to judge life according to visible and seemingly immediately verifiable criteria.

From a Christian perspective However, not everything is, what is measurable, true, and that, what actually determines the quality of an existence, often does not coincide with this, what appears to be successful in the eyes of the world. On the path of faith, true fulfillment often takes the form of this, what the world judges as failure and failure. This is the logic of the cross, which the apostle Paul neither weakens nor makes acceptable:

“We, on the other hand, proclaim Christ crucified, a nuisance for Jews, foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Kor 1,23).

This dimension is lived by those, who are gradually finding themselves marginalized, because they have not betrayed their conscience and have not renounced the truth. Not because of an ideological decision, not because of personal incompetence, but due to an increasing incompatibility with practices, Language forms and functional criteria of church contexts, in which they live and work: systems, reward adaptation, demand opportune silence and marginalize those, that cannot be functionalized. From a certain point of view you could call them that: the scandalous gates of the cross.

The gates of the cross cause offense, by refusing, to bend the language, to make an objectively unfair decision appear acceptable. They refuse it, to be described as “pastoral”., which in reality is nothing other than opportunistic problem management; they reject anti-evangelical clerical logics, who confuse fidelity to the gospel with obedience to apparatus dynamics. They don't get involved, to cover up long-standing failures with ambiguous formulas, nor accept them, that the laxity of clergy with a shortage of priests, organizational urgency or with reference to alleged balances, which should not be disturbed. They do not adapt to irregular situations that are presented as inevitable, they cannot be silenced “so as not to cause problems”, nor do they make themselves accomplices of cliques, mutual protection mechanisms and reassuring stories, that serve this purpose, to hide the truth.

In such cases the reduction to marginality is not the result of a personal mistake, but the side effect of non-negotiable coherence, which is almost always a defeat, is read as a sign of inadequacy or relational incompetence. But that's not always the case: Sometimes it's simply the price, not having adapted to a system, that is not tolerated, what it can neither control nor utilize. This mechanism is neither new nor limited to the church sector. It is typical of any closed power structure, including criminal organizations, who don't meet those first, who break the law, but those, that cannot be made functional: those, who do not bow, that do not enter into the cycle of mutual dependencies, the language, Do not accept silence and required complicity. In such systems, isolation and marginalization are not accidents, but conscious instruments of control.

A marginality that has not been overcome to accept belongs to the wisdom of the folly of the cross and means neither, to retreat into a resentful niche, nor to cultivate a spirituality of failure. In concrete terms, this means recognizing, that not everything that is true finds a place in the official channels and that not every form of invisibility can be equated with loss. This is evident, for example, with those, the ones on wheels, To forego office or visibility, not to sign any official documents, in which an unjust decision is presented as a “shared pastoral option”.. It shows with them, who refuse, to hide real responsibilities behind false diplomatic formulas, which are passed off as “holy wisdom”., In reality, however, they serve to manage problems opportunistically. It is the situation of those, who continue to work seriously, without being promoted, because they do not belong to any influential clique; that one, who think and write, without being invited, because they do not conform to the dominant narratives; that one, bear real responsibility — in education, Culture and education — without official positions or protective affiliations, because they are not ready, to exchange freedom of judgment for protection or recognition.

In these cases Invisibility is not a sign of personal failure, but a form of protection: It protects us from the logic of appearances, removes the blackmail pressure of consensus and prevents it, to be instrumentalized. Sometimes over time it even turns out to be a mercy - not because it makes life easier, but because it allows, frei, to remain with integrity and not subject to blackmail. It is the situation of figures, who appear marginalized, without being destroyed, are considered to be silenced and become more fruitful as a result. Scripture knows this dynamic well. Moses is removed from the public stage and led into the desert of Midian, before he is called, to liberate the people (cf. Ex 2,15; 3,1); Elijah flees into the desert, wishes death, and it is precisely there that he learns to listen, that removes him from the violence of power and the noise of action (cf. 1 Gender 19,1–18); John the Baptist is neither born nor active in the center, but in the desert, far from official religious circles, and from there he prepares the way of the Lord (cf. Mt 3,1–3; Mk 1,2–4; Lk 3,1–4). Jesus himself will, even before every public word and every sign, driven into the desert by the spirit, where he expressly succeeds, immediate effectiveness and the applause of the crowd (cf. Mt 4,1–11; Mk 1,12–13; Lk 4,1–13).

The desert is not the place of uselessness in the biblical and evangelical tradition, but of cleaning: It does not create visibility, but freedom; it does not guarantee success, but truth. In this space, figures mature, that appear irrelevant on the outside, actually cannot be blackmailed, produced by a fertility, which does not depend on immediate recognition, but from loyalty to the truth, of inner freedom and ability, to stand the test of time, without being corrupted by it.

Looking at the gospel without anxious pietism and without a devotional filter, an elementary finding stands out: Jesus shows no fear, to be in the center. On the contrary: When the center fills up, he withdraws from it as a matter of course. He preaches to the crowds (cf. Mt 5–7; Mk 6,34), but then withdraws (cf. Mk 1,35; Joh 6,15); he works signs (cf. Mk 1,40–45; Mk 7,31–37), however, recommends silence (cf. Mk 1,44; Mk 8,26); he attracts disciples, but doesn't hold on to it, who go away (cf. Joh 6,66–67). In today's language you could say, he doesn’t care about his own “positioning”. And yet no one has shaped history more than him.

If you take this evangelical one Take a look, the beatitudes also stop, to be an uplifting repertoire for celebratory occasions, and will do that again, what they are in their Christological reality: a radical criterion of distinction. They promise neither success, visibility nor approval; rather, they describe a paradoxical form of happiness, which is incompatible with the logic of consensus. The blessed in the Gospel are not those, who “made it”, but those, who have not exchanged the truth for applause (cf. Mt 5,1–12).

In addition to the Beatitudes However, the Gospel also preserves the other side of the coin with the same clarity: the “woeful cries”. Harsh words, little quoted and rarely commented on, perhaps because they disrupt a comfortable spirituality. “Woe to you, when all people praise you.” (Page 6,26): a reminder, which does not seem to be aimed at scandalous sinners, but to respectable ones, estimated, fully integrated people. It is, as if Jesus was warning about a subtle form of failure: that one, in which consensus is bought at the price of one's own inner freedom.

In the gospel Consensus is never a value in itself. More than that: When he becomes unanimous, it often takes on the characteristics of a collective misunderstanding. The crowds cheer, and then disappear (cf. Joh 6,14–15.66); the disciples applaud, and then argue about it, who is the greatest (cf. Mk 9,33–34; Page 22,24); the notables recognize, only to distance themselves out of fear or expediency (cf. Joh 12,42–43). Jesus goes through all of this, without ever letting yourself be captured by it. He doesn't seek opposition, But don't be afraid of them either; he does not despise recognition, but don't chase after her. You could say with barely a hint of a smile, that he never confuses approval ratings with the measure of truth, because approval values ​​lie in people, the truth lies in God.

The gospel practices in this sense an irony that is as discreet as it is relentless. Just those, who occupy the center - the guarantors of order, the specialists of correctness, the “we’ve always done it this way” pros — often turn out to be the least capable, to recognize what is actually happening. While discussing procedures, Writes documents and conjures balances, which must not be disturbed, faith takes shape elsewhere; while paying attention, that nothing leaves the established framework, understanding matures outside the stage; while everything is measured in categories of consensus and opportunity, the truth takes byways, without asking permission. Not because she loves the edges as such, but because - as the Gospel shows with a certain persistence - the truth cannot be managed. And even less can it be certified by the number of approvals achieved or by the peace of conscience, that can be preserved.

A marginality that has not been overcome So accepting doesn't mean, to cultivate a preference for opposition or to take refuge in a polemical stance out of principle. Rather, it means, to stop, the value of a life — or a service — after the consent received, the positions achieved or the consensus gathered, according to that logic, which the age unashamedly calls hypertrophic narcissism. That means specifically, not the number of invitations, to make recognition or appreciation the decisive criterion, but the honesty of the decisions made. After all, the gospel doesn’t require it, to be cheered, but to be faithful. And this loyalty is often lived far from the center, where you are exposed to less pressure, can see reality more freely than that, what she is, and is less forced, to say that, whatever seems appropriate.

The turn of the year often comes with disproportionate ones Expectations charged. Definitive balance sheets are required, final judgments, words, who are supposed to sort everything out once and for all. In reality, this time is for the, who lives with a minimum of inner honesty, not to that, to close invoices, but to stop cheating: to no longer tell each other comforting stories, not to be confused, which was successful, with the, which was fair. It's not the moment, to declare stage victories, but to distinguish the essential from the superfluous, what is to be preserved from that, what can be let go without regret.

A special freedom arises here: if you accept, that not everything is solved, needs to be clarified or acknowledged. Some processes remain open, some questions unanswered, some serious acts of injustice without reparation. But not everything unfinished is sterile. Sometimes it is simply entrusted to a time, which does not coincide with ours. This awareness is far from it, to be a surrender; it is a high form of spiritual realism.

The “sober truth” is neither an internal disposition nor an abstract principle: You can recognize them by the price, that a person is willing to pay, not to contradict that, what he knew to be true. She shows herself, when you are ready, Opportunities, Losing offices or protection, instead of linguistic justifications, to resort to appeasing formulas or moral alibis, that make something presentable, which it cannot be under any circumstances: to do so, as if evil were good, and to use this lie as a shield against them, who try, to call evil by its name.

In a church context, which is objectively in an advanced state of decay and people are craving visibility, adaptability and immediate usefulness, has this decision concrete, sometimes even devastating consequences. She means, to continue carrying out one’s own church ministry or mission, without recipients of appointments, Honorary positions or those small concessions, with which power flatters and subdues at the same time; without being involved in the decision-making bodies of the diocese or church institutions; without making themselves available to government logic, the silence, Require adjustment or compromise, that are deemed inadmissible, because they are bought at a price, which no Christian conscience can accept: the sacrifice of the freedom of God's children, which is inscribed from the beginning in the mystery of man's creation. She means after all, to accept, that one's own contribution remains without rewards and is pushed to the margins, not because it is useless, but because it cannot be used in the relevant cycles; and yet destined to do so, to be a seed in the silence of the desert, who bears fruit.

In that sense Staying put is neither a form of stubbornness nor an identity pose, which was constructed for demarcation. It's the decision, to stay true to that, what you know to be true, even if this loyalty is silent, Loss of role and lack of recognition.

In transition from one year to the next is not required, to draw comforting conclusions, but to look at it, what remains, when time illusions, Roles and justifications have been consumed. The decisions made remain, the words spoken or left silent, the responsibilities assumed or avoided. This is - and nothing else - the material, that traverses time.

Christian hope does not come from expectation, that things will “get better”, nor the consensus gathered or the results achieved. It comes from knowledge, that truth is not measured by the immediate, but will be judged in the final judgment. It is in this loyalty exposed to the passage of time and the court - and not in the success of a season - that the decision is made, whether a life was merely lived or truly preserved as a gift from God; whether the talents received were made fruitful or buried in the earth.

From the island of Patmos, 31. December 2025

 

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(Italian, English, Español)

 

THE INCARNATION OF JESUS ​​AS A WARNING TO DIVINE AESTHETICS AND HARMONY BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL

It is precisely the Holy Pontiff Leo the Great who, on the occasion of a homily on Christmas Day, calls Christians to recognize their own dignity which without fear of contradiction also passes through that corporeality and physicality which is a visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and which we must defend and cherish within ourselves.

- Church news -

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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PDF print format article – PDF article print format – PDF article in printed format

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When I was studying at the university of Cagliari, in the first years of the Pharmacy degree course, the anatomy exam was one of the most difficult to take together with those of general and inorganic chemistry and then organic chemistry.

On a leaden afternoon in room F of the university complex of the citadel of Monserrato, I remember the Anatomy teacher was about to present the central nervous system. Even though we weren't medical students, anatomy was a particularly well done and in-depth discipline, also because the same teacher often made specific references to Histology and Cytology (in short everything that concerns the study of animal and plant tissues and cells) which we had to know as the Hail Mary and that any inaccuracy would have aroused the teacher's wrath, far more fearsome than Achilles' wrath in the Iliad.

In explaining the central nervous system learned from the teacher about the existence of the Motor and Sensory Homunculus, which is nothing more than a visual map of how the different parts of the body are represented at the cortical level. The areas are so much larger, of larger size, the greater their importance for the purposes of sensory or motor perception. The graphic representation is therefore that of a man, but of a shapeless and unharmonious man. This type of disharmony is necessary and functional as long as we refer to our nervous system, indeed we can say that it is precisely thanks to it that we are able to do most of the things we do in daily life.

But what would happen if man were really like this in reality, anatomically speaking? This would be quite problematic, however, it is precisely in proximity to the solemnity of Christmas that we realize how man was created by God not as a homunculus but as a harmonious whole and it is precisely the incarnation of the Word that constitutes proof of that harmony of body and spirit that the Christian, as a believing man, can't afford to leave it out, it's worth becoming a little man, that is, a caricature.

Our director Father Ariel has recently published a very interesting article with a provocative title: As Christmas approaches, it's fair to say: Jesus was never born in which he states that:

«the Son does not begin to be in Bethlehem. He is “before all ages”, Why “I from God, Light from Light, True God from true God”. Christmas is not the birth of God, but the Incarnation of the eternal Son “generated, not created, of the same substance as the Father”» (cf.. Who).

What does this mean? We will have the opportunity to understand this better during the Holy Mass on Christmas Day, in which the Blessed apostle and evangelist John will teach us with his wonderful Prologue, but to make a long story short we can summarize by saying that Christmas is the salvific act of the Father in which the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit, it truly takes mortal form in the womb of a Virgin Mother and takes on our humanity, coming to light as a true man. The Word of God, he through whom the Father did all things, takes on a body and a soul. This truth echoes in the Psalms in which the reading of Christological faith makes us say that "He is the most beautiful among the sons of man" (cf. Shall 44), and this beauty is not only spiritual but also physical in nature, touches that body that He assumed and which truly transmits the order and harmony of God. Jesus Christ as a true man is the model of that divine aesthetic which is at the same time creative and ordering harmony, we must draw inspiration from him to grow as men and as believers. Only in the tragic mystery of the Passion do we realize how the beauty of the Redeemer's body will be disfigured due to his taking upon himself the sin of men, a sin which not only constitutes a disorder on the spiritual level of relationship with God but which is also an attack on that physical beauty which makes the Lord disfigured and rejected, man of sorrows before whom one covers one's face to make the vision of such a heartbreaking punishment more bearable which will culminate in the crucifixion on Golgotha.

Why this reflection? Because I consider it more necessary than ever to make known how the mystery of Christmas is not only an event for emotional hearts that touches the spirit but also and essentially human corporeality. We often witness it, also in the people of God, to a disharmonious way of understanding the body, in a way much more similar to ancient philosophies where the body was seen as a prison of the immortal soul. But it is truly true that the more one neglects the body compared to the soul, the more pleasing one is to God? The heresy is evident and leads to an altered way of understanding the faith, combined with a certain unhealthy spirituality that predisposes to forging non-men, nor even Christians, ma omuncoli.

It is precisely the Holy Pontiff Leo the Great who on the occasion of a homily on Christmas Day calls Christians to recognize their own dignity which without fear of contradiction also includes that corporeality and physicality which is a visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and which we must defend and cherish within ourselves.

A Christian balanced in faith, so, he cannot think of caring for the soul alone if he then neglects or lets waste that body that God gave him and which the Savior assumed and glorified with the resurrection. For the beautiful souls who will be scandalized by such a speech I remember the Seraphic Father Saint Francis, second to none for the mortification and austerity of life, «he studied to hold the body with respect and sanctity, through the complete purity of his entire self, flesh and spirit" (Franciscan sources, 1349)» and who at the end of his life had recognized how he had been a little too severe with «brother body» burdened by too many penances and infirmities. This reflection could be the beginning of a path of greater reconciliation and self-acceptance that passes through the necessary respect and care of one's body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit but also a real instrument for giving glory to God in immanence.. Let us remember - between the pleasant and the provocative - that after the election as Supreme Pontiff of the Cardinal Provost, the news became known that the new Pope frequented the Omega Fitness Club gym in Rome as a cardinal, where he trained incognito with cardio and machines, demonstrating excellent physical shape and maintaining balance between mind and body, which surprised his personal trainer, who recognized him only after his election to the papacy.

Some practical considerations, before concluding: ppreparing well for Christmas allows us to follow the advice of John the Baptist and be well prepared to meet Jesus, to implement real and concrete gestures of justice to lower the necks of personal pride in which to seek the roots of those sins that we commit every day. A good and meticulous confession is the starting point for celebrating the birth of the Redeemer well, then united with the real encounter with Christ in the Holy Mass and the Eucharist. Unfortunately, still many Christians do not participate in the Eucharist on Christmas Day because they are busy with a thousand other problems and forgetful of the One who is celebrating in order to give greater prominence to everything that is secondary, and then come on Boxing Day and attend Mass with this excuse: «I couldn't come yesterday but I'll come today, it's all the same».

The whole Christmas period it is a celebration of light in which I have the opportunity to immerse myself in Jesus, light in the darkness, and this enlightenment of life can only happen with prayer. Finding moments, moments, moments to remain before the Lord Jesus in intimate prayer and let his light illuminate my darkness and guide me to the encounter with Him as it was for the Holy Magi.

But this preparation is only spiritual it is not enough if we leave out the body, if the holiday doesn't allow me to take care of my body and the body of those I love, knowing that that is also a theological place in which to find Christ. Taking care of your physical appearance on religious holidays is not at all narcissism or vanity. Just like churches are decorated, the altars and houses for the solemnities of the Lord, even my appearance and body deserve to be worthily prepared to meet the Lord, reflection of that beauty that the liturgy also sings in the living people of the baptized.

And so we arrive at the canteen, at lunches and dinners, opportune moments to ensure that you are not used by food but the opposite of use food as an instrument of praise, of fraternal union and not of alienation. Food that can also be used to help the body and restore the soul of those who find themselves in poverty and marginalization and who often wait, like poor Lazarus, a few crumbs that fell from the tables of the many rich Epuloni of our times, of which the first is me.

But it's not just about food, Even the Christmas season can be an opportunity to experience wholesome and healthy activities together with the family or in solitude that reinvigorate the body and allow us to remain efficient for the Kingdom of God. The thought goes to us priests that the sedentary lifestyle and disorder of the holidays often risk making us gain several extra kilos, when instead our choice of vocational life should demonstrate a healthy and dynamic corporeity because it is combined with a healthy and dynamic spirituality. Throughout the history of the Church, the lifestyle of consecrated people - I am thinking of the many monastic and mendicant orders but not only - has always unfolded between the refectory and physical activity with extreme balance and wisdom, avoiding the risk of immoderate opulence and idleness. Some modern Congregations have included physical or sporting activity in their daily lifestyle which is a beautiful metaphor of Christian asceticism and strengthens the spirit in the fight against sin because it teaches that results are obtained with the sweat of constant sacrifice.

So may it be a merry Christmas for everyone: a merry Christmas for our soul renewed from the mortal torpor of sin and may it also be a merry Christmas for our body made strong by physical exercise and works of charity as true and authentic workers in the Lord's vineyard. Juvenal wrote «We must pray for a sound mind in a sound body» (Sat. X, 356), "we must ask the gods that the mind be healthy in the body healthy", may the Lord grant us this gift so that we too shine, like Him, of the beauty of the most beautiful among the sons of men.

Sanluri, 24 December 2025

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THE INCARNATION OF JESUS AS A WARNING AGAINST A DISTORTED DIVINE AESTHETIC AND AS THE HARMONY BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL

It is precisely Saint Leo the Great who, in a homily for Christmas Day, exhorts Christians to recognise their own dignity — a dignity that unquestionably passes also through corporeality and physicality, which are the visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and which we must defend and safeguard within ourselves.

— Ecclesial actuality —

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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When I was studying at the University of Cagliari, during the first years of the degree course in Pharmacy, the exam in Anatomy was among the most difficult to face, together with General and Inorganic Chemistry and later Organic Chemistry.

On a gloomy afternoon in Lecture Hall F of the university complex in the Monserrato campus, I recall the Anatomy professor preparing to introduce the central nervous system. Although we were not medical students, anatomy was taught in a particularly thorough and rigorous way, also because the same lecturer frequently made precise references to Histology and Cytology (in short, everything concerning the study of animal and plant tissues and cells), subjects we were expected to know as well as the Hail Mary. Any inaccuracy would have provoked the professor’s wrath, far more fearsome than Achilles’ anger in the Iliad.

While explaining the central nervous system, I learned from the lecturer about the existence of the Motor and Sensory Homunculus, which is nothing other than a visual map of how different parts of the body are represented at the cortical level. The areas are larger in proportion to their importance for sensory perception or motor function. The graphic representation is therefore that of a human being — but a distorted and disharmonious one. This type of disharmony is necessary and functional as long as we are referring to the nervous system; indeed, it is precisely thanks to this arrangement that we are able to perform most of the actions of daily life.

But what would happen if man were truly like this in reality, anatomically speaking? The situation would be highly problematic. And yet it is precisely as the solemnity of Christmas approaches that we realise how man has been created by God not as a homunculus, but as a harmonious whole. It is precisely the Incarnation of the Word that constitutes the proof of that harmony between body and spirit which the Christian, as a believing man, cannot afford to neglect — on pain of becoming a homunculus, that is, a caricature.

Our Director, Father Ariel, has recently published a most interesting article with the provocative title At the Threshold of Christmas It Must Be Said: Jesus Was Never Born (cf. Here), in which he affirms:

“The Son does not begin to exist in Bethlehem. He is ‘before all ages’, because He is ‘God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God’. Christmas is not the birth of God, but the Incarnation of the eternal Son, ‘begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father’.”

What does this mean? We shall understand it more fully during the Holy Mass on Christmas Day, when the Blessed Apostle and Evangelist John will instruct us through his marvellous Prologue. But briefly, we may say that Christmas is the salvific act of the Father in which the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit, truly takes mortal form in the womb of a Virgin Mother and clothes Himself in our humanity, coming into the world as true man.

The Word of God, through whom the Father made all things, assumes a body and a soul. This truth resounds in the Psalms, where a Christological reading of faith leads us to proclaim: “You are the most handsome of the sons of men” (cf. Ps 44). This beauty is not merely spiritual but also physical; it touches the body He has assumed, which truly transmits the order and harmony of God. Jesus Christ, as true man, is the model of that divine aesthetic which is at once creative and ordering harmony. He is the one to whom we must look in order to grow as human beings and as believers.

Only in the tragic mystery of the Passion do we grasp how the beauty of the Redeemer’s body will be disfigured by His taking upon Himself the sin of mankind — a sin that is not merely a disorder on the spiritual plane of relationship with God, but also an assault upon that physical beauty which renders the Lord disfigured and rejected, a man of sorrows before whom one covers one’s face to make the sight of such suffering bearable, suffering that will culminate in the crucifixion on Golgotha.

Why this reflection? Because I consider it more necessary than ever to show that the mystery of Christmas is not merely an event for emotional hearts that touches the spirit alone, but one that also — and essentially — concerns human corporeality. Not infrequently, even among the people of God, we encounter a disharmonious way of understanding the body, one that closely resembles ancient philosophies in which the body was seen as a prison for the immortal soul.

But is it really true that the more one neglects the body in favour of the soul, the more pleasing one is to God? The heresy is evident and leads to a distorted way of understanding the faith, united to an unhealthy spirituality that predisposes one to form neither men nor Christians, but homunculi.

It is precisely Saint Leo the Great who, in a homily for Christmas Day, exhorts Christians to recognise their own dignity — a dignity that unquestionably passes also through corporeality and physicality, which are the visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and which we must defend and safeguard within ourselves.

A Christian who is balanced in faith, therefore, cannot think of caring for the soul alone while neglecting or allowing to deteriorate the body that God has given him and that the Saviour has assumed and glorified through the Resurrection.

For those “beautiful souls” who may be scandalised by such discourse, I recall how even the Seraphic Father Saint Francis, second to none in mortification and austerity of life, “strove to treat the body with respect and holiness, through the most perfect purity of his whole self, flesh and spirit” (Franciscan Sources, 1349), and how at the end of his life he acknowledged that he had perhaps been too severe with “Brother Body”, burdened by excessive penances and infirmities.

This reflection could mark the beginning of a path of greater reconciliation with and acceptance of oneself, passing through the necessary respect for and care of one’s own body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit but also a real instrument for giving glory to God in immanence.

Let us recall — somewhere between the amusing and the provocative — that after the election of Cardinal Prevost as Supreme Pontiff, it became known that the new Pope, while still a cardinal, frequented the Omega Fitness Club in Rome, where he trained incognito using cardio equipment and machines, demonstrating excellent physical condition and caring for the balance between mind and body. This surprised even his personal trainer, who recognised him only after his election to the papacy.

Some practical considerations, before concluding. Preparing well for Christmas allows us to follow the counsel of John the Baptist and to be well disposed to the encounter with Jesus, putting into practice real and concrete acts of justice in order to lower the hills of personal pride and to seek out the roots of those sins we commit daily. A good and meticulous confession is the starting point for celebrating the birth of the Redeemer well, together with the real encounter with Christ in the Holy Mass and in the Eucharist.

Unfortunately, many Christians still do not participate in the Eucharist on Christmas Day because they are caught up in a thousand other commitments, forgetting the One who is being celebrated, in order to give greater prominence to what is secondary — only to attend Mass on the following day with the excuse: “I couldn’t come yesterday, but I’ll come today, it’s the same thing anyway.”

The entire Christmas season is a feast of light, in which I have the opportunity to immerse myself in Jesus, light in the darkness. Such illumination of life can only take place through prayer: finding moments, instants, occasions to remain before the Lord Jesus in intimate prayer and allowing His light to illuminate my darkness and guide me toward the encounter with Him, as it was for the Holy Magi.

Yet this purely spiritual preparation is not sufficient if we neglect the body — if the feast day does not allow me to care for my body and for the bodies of those I love, knowing that this too is a theological place in which Christ may be encountered. Caring for one’s physical appearance on religious feast days is by no means narcissism or vanity. Just as churches, altars and homes are adorned for the solemnities of the Lord, so too my body and appearance deserve to be prepared worthily to meet the Lord, as a reflection of that beauty which the liturgy itself sings in the living people of the baptised.

Sanluri, 24 December 2025

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THE INCARNATION OF JESUS ​​AS A WARNING AGAINST A DISTORTED DIVINE AESTHETIC AND AS HARMONY BETWEEN BODY AND SOUL

It is precisely the holy pontiff Leo the Great who, in a Christmas Day homily, urges Christians to recognize their own dignity, that without fear of mistake also passes through that corporeality and physicality that are a visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and that we must defend and guard in ourselves.

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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When I was studying at the University of Cagliari, during the first years of the degree in Pharmacy, The Anatomy exam was one of the most difficult to take, along with those of General and Inorganic Chemistry and, later, Organic Chemistry.

On a leaden afternoon, in classroom F of the university complex of the citadel of Monserrato, I remember that the Anatomy teacher was preparing to present the central nervous system. Although we were not medical students, Anatomy was a particularly well-structured and deep subject, also because the same teacher made frequent and precise references to Histology and Cytology (in summary, everything that concerns the study of animal and plant tissues and cells), subjects that we should know like the Ave Maria and in which any inaccuracy would have raised the teacher's wrath, much more fearsome than the wrath of Achilles in the Iliad.

Explaining the central nervous system, I learned from the teacher the existence of the Motor and Sensory Homunculus, which is nothing more than a visual map of how the different parts of the body are represented at the cortical level. The areas are larger the greater their importance for sensory perception or motor function.. The graphical representation is, therefore, that of a man, but from a deformed and non-harmonious man. This type of disharmony is necessary and functional when we refer to the nervous system.; it's more, We can say that precisely thanks to it we are able to carry out most of the actions we carry out in daily life..

But what would happen if man were really like that in reality, from an anatomical point of view? The situation would be quite problematic. However, It is precisely as we approach the solemnity of Christmas that we realize that man has been created by God, not as a homunculus., but as a harmonious whole, and it is precisely the Incarnation of the Word that constitutes the proof of that harmony between body and spirit that the Christian, as a believing man, can't afford to neglect, under penalty of becoming a homunculus, that is to say, in a cartoon.

Our Director, Father Ariel, has recently published a very interesting article with the provocative title At the gates of Christmas it is fair to say: Jesus was never born, in which he states:

«The Son does not begin to exist in Bethlehem. He is “before all ages”, because he is “God of God”, Light of Light, “True God of true God”. Christmas is not the birth of God, but the Incarnation of the eternal Son, “begotten, not created, of the same nature of the Father” (cf. Here).

What does this mean? We will have the opportunity to understand it better during the Holy Mass on Christmas Day, when the Blessed Apostle and Evangelist John will instruct us with his admirable Prologue. But, in summary, We can say that Christmas is the saving act of the Father in which the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit, It truly takes mortal form in the womb of a Virgin Mother and is clothed in our humanity., coming to the light as a true man.

The Word of God, through whom the Father made all things, assumes a body and a soul. This truth resonates in the Psalms, where a reading of Christological faith leads us to proclaim: "You are the most beautiful of the sons of men" (cf. Shall 44). And this beauty is not only spiritual in nature, but also physical; touches the body that He has assumed and that truly transmits the order and harmony of God. Christ, like a real man, It is the model of that divine aesthetic that is at the same time creative and ordering harmony.; We must be inspired by Him to grow as men and as believers..

Alone in the tragic mystery of the Passion we realize how the beauty of the Redeemer's body will be disfigured because of having taken upon himself the sin of men, sin that does not only constitute a disorder on the spiritual level of the relationship with God, but it is also an attack against that physical beauty that makes the Lord a disfigured and rejected being., man of pain before whom he covers his face to make the sight of such heartbreaking suffering more bearable, which will culminate in the crucifixion on Golgotha.

Why this reflection? Because I consider it more than necessary to make known that the mystery of Christmas is not only an event for emotional hearts that touches the spirit., but it also concerns — and essentially — human corporeality. Not infrequently we attend, even in God's people, to a disharmonious way of understanding the body, very similar to ancient philosophies in which the body was seen as a prison for the immortal soul.

But is it really true that the more the body is neglected in favor of the soul, the more God is pleased? The heresy is evident and leads to an altered way of understanding faith, united with an unhealthy spirituality that predisposes us to forge non-men, much less Christians, but homunculi.

It is precisely the holy pontiff Leo the Great who, in a Christmas Day homily, urges Christians to recognize their own dignity, that without fear of mistake also passes through that corporeality and physicality that are a visible manifestation of the beauty of the incarnate Son and that we must defend and guard in ourselves.

A Christian balanced in faith, therefore, He cannot think of caring only for the soul if he then neglects or allows the body that God has given him and that the Savior has assumed and glorified with the Resurrection to deteriorate..

For the “beautiful souls” Let them be scandalized by a speech of this type, I remember how even the Seraphic Father Saint Francis, unsurpassed in mortification and austerity of life, "He tried to treat the body with respect and sanctity, through the purest integrity of his entire being, flesh and spirit (Franciscan Sources, 1349), and how at the end of his life he recognized that he had perhaps been too harsh with his “brother body.”, loaded with excessive penances and illnesses.

This reflection It could be the beginning of a path of greater reconciliation and self-acceptance, which involves the necessary respect and care of one's own body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit, but also a real instrument to give glory to God in immanence.

Let's remember — between the nice and the provocative — that after the election of Cardinal Prevost as Supreme Pontiff, The news broke that the new Pope, when he was still a cardinal, He frequented the Omega Fitness Club gym in Rome, where he trained incognito with cardiovascular exercises and machines, demonstrating excellent physical fitness and taking care of the balance between mind and body, something that surprised even his personal trainer, who recognized it only after the election to the pontificate.

Some practical considerations, before completing. Preparing well for Christmas allows us to follow the advice of John the Baptist and prepare ourselves adequately for the encounter with Jesus., putting into practice real and concrete gestures of justice to bring down the mountains of personal pride and search for the roots of those sins that we commit daily. A good and meticulous confession is the starting point to celebrate the birth of the Redeemer with dignity., later united to the real encounter with Christ in the Holy Mass and in the Eucharist.

Unfortunately, Many Christians still do not participate in the Eucharist on Christmas Day because they are busy with a thousand other tasks and forget the One who is truly celebrated., giving greater prominence to everything that is secondary, and then go to Mass on St. Stephen's Day with this excuse: «I couldn't come yesterday, but I come today, total is the same".

All Christmas time is a festival of light, in which I have the opportunity to immerse myself in Jesus, light in the darkness. And this clarification of life cannot occur except through prayer.: find moments, moments, spaces to remain before the Lord Jesus in intimate prayer and let his light illuminate my darkness and guide me to meet Him, as happened with the Holy Magi.

But this preparation is only spiritual It is not enough if we neglect the body, If the holiday doesn't allow me to take care of my body and the body of those I love, knowing that this is also a theological place in which to find Christ. Taking care of one's physical appearance on religious holidays is not narcissism or vanity at all.. Just as churches are decorated, the altars and the houses for the solemnities of the Lord, My appearance and my body also deserve to be prepared with dignity for the encounter with the Lord., reflection of that beauty that the liturgy itself sings in the living people of the baptized.

Sanluri, 24 December 2025

 

 

 

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MARCO PERFETTI, ALIAS I CAN'T BE SILENT: THE CULTURED CRICKET AND THE MOSQUITO THAT THINKS IT IS A GOLDEN EAGLE

I publish a necessary defensive statement against a digital buzz that would claim to strike one to scare a hundred.

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In the diverse digital zoo a singular creature lives: Marco Perfetti, known as Mr. I can not remain silent. A character who proclaims himself an expert on Vatican matters and a champion of the truth, while he spends his days insulting the members of the Communications Department, accused of every worst atrocity; to publish confidential documents illicitly stolen from who knows which desks of the Vicariate of Rome, without being able to make use of either the right to report or the protection of sources; to insult seasoned professional journalists, to the point of publicly mocking their physical form; to target the President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, publishing on social a photograph manipulated into appearing like a domestic servant; to confer the title of "hags" on bishops and cardinals and so on...

He recently took it out on the theologian Andrea Grillo (see video WHO), with which one might even completely disagree, with respect to some of his positions taken, for example in the matter of sacred orders to be conferred on women, but who deserves the respect due to a prepared person of undoubted culture, as well as being a truly gifted teacher for teaching.

Perfetti likes to boast that "no one has ever sued him", therefore what I say is right. Of course: it is difficult to waste time and money on legal expenses with those who first of all have nothing to lose in terms of assets and who, for intellectual depth and emotional maturity, remembers a child playing with matches in the kindergarten playroom. It's best to keep an eye on it for safety, undoubtedly, but certainly not to seriously argue with him.

A few months ago Mr. Silere had the brilliant idea of ​​asking the Rome Police Headquarters for my warning for having responded to his usual aggressions disguised as digital moralism. I was summoned and informed of the request made, to which I responded by filing a defense statement which precisely reconstructs the facts, character's circumstances and method.

Now, whereas Mr. To be silent he did not hesitate to publish confidential documents illegally removed from the curia offices by some of his associates, I find it legitimate to publish my memoir, which contains no stolen documents, but only verifiable facts, together with a public document available online: the ruling of the Court of Cassation that in 2022 rejected for the third time an appeal by Perfetti himself against his parents, sued by him and dragged to the courts, dove Mr. Silere lost in all three levels of judgment.

This is the profile of the digital moralizer which claims free license to insult while claiming to warn anyone who dares deny it.

If after reading someone would ask themselves why a priest and a theologian should waste time responding to such a character, the answer is simple: for the same reason why you put a mosquito net in the summer. Not because the mosquito is important, but because its buzz becomes annoying.

the Island of Patmos, 10 December 2025

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REFERENCE

AT THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS IN ROME

PREMISE

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The day 17 September 2025 the Judicial Police of the Rome Police Headquarters notified the undersigned Stefano Ariel Levi from Gualdo, Catholic priest, resident in Rome in via XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, a request for a warning at the request of Mr. Marco Perfetti, to which we reply hereby:

DEFENSIVE MEMORY

Mr. Perfect, through his blog I can not remain silent, he repeatedly insulted high prelates, prefects of dicasteries of the Holy See, lay people serving in the Roman Curia, diocesan bishops and various priests who, like myself, they have repeatedly publicly denied or rebuked him. My responses have always been formulated without resorting to personal insults, but exercising the legitimate right of criticism, sometimes with strong replies, other times ironic, but always within the limits of what is permitted and respect for the person or opponent.

Mr. Perfect, also in light of the request for a warning made towards me, instead he seems convinced that he possesses a sort of license to insult - sometimes even violent and repeated - perhaps feeling immune from any criticism and going so far as to present himself as a victim every time someone dares to contradict him.

ON ALLEGATIONS OF VERBAL OFFENSES

Mr. Perfetti complains that I called him a "poisonous slimeball", "annoying subject", "poisonous speck".

Let's clarify: single words or phrases cannot be extrapolated from articulated polemical contexts, born following his attacks on people and institutions of the Church and certainly not due to my provocation. In fact, it is within these contexts that some of my replies have been made with an understandably critical tone.

THE EXTRAPOLATION OF WORDS

Extrapolate words from their contexts can lead to major problems and, wanting, in certain cases, also great intellectual dishonesty.

Exhaustive example: in the Old Testament Psalm n. 52 recital: «The fool thinks: “God does not exist”». It is a short phrase but full of meaning that is articulated within a precise and complex historical-narrative text. However, if we proceed with a "wild" extrapolation we could say that the Bible is a text that promotes atheism, given that it is stated in it: «God does not exist».

The total alteration of the text, distorted and distorted, it is therefore evident. This is an example with which we intended to clarify that what Mr. Perfetti complains is the result of obvious extrapolations.

THE CONTINUOUS ATTACKS ON CARDINAL MAURO GAMBETTI

the Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, he is one of several eminent figures publicly pilloried by the articles of I can not remain silent. The articles published against him over the last two years amount to 67, all gathered under his name, as per the reference below:

In these 67 articles the Cardinal is labeled a "liar", "incompetent and incompetent", guilty - according to him - of having hired "friends without art or role" in the Papal Basilica, of having transformed it "into a money-making machine" for the benefit of his coteries. The entire collection of articles can be found at this link:

👉 https://www.silerenonpossum.com/it/tag/mauro-gambetti/

The articles that can be viewed which constitute clear evidence of Mr.'s way of expressing himself. There are dozens of perfect ones, for this reason I limit myself to citing one as a sample, where the Cardinal is publicly accused of being "a liar" who "commits spiritual and conscience abuses":

👉HTTPS://www.silerenonpossum.com/it/lebugiedimaurogambetti-odcastefalsenarrazioni/

Clarification needed: those who are not familiar with our ecclesiastical circles may be unaware that abusing consciences is one of the worst accusations that can be made against an ecclesiastic, because among the sERIOUS oFFENSES (the serious crimes contained in the Code of Canon Law) worse than abuse of conscience are only public apostasy from the faith and the terrible crime of pedophilia.

THE CONTINUOUS AND VIOLENT ATTACKS ON THE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS

Another Holy See institution targeted by Mr. Perfect is the Dicastery for Communications, directed by Dr. Paolo Ruffini (Prefect), by Dr. Andrea Tornielli (Director of Vatican Media), by Dr. Matteo Bruni (Director of the Vatican Press Office and official spokesperson of the Supreme Pontiff), all indicated, two years now, by Mr. Perfect, as "illiterate", "Incapaci", «ignorant», «incompetent», «highly paid to do damage». In a separate folder I attach a collection of 25 articles, particularly aggressive, published on I can not remain silent in order to clarify and provide evidence to the competent authority in charge of the objective levels of verbal violence with which Mr. Perfetti attacked, insulted and publicly mocked these people responsible for running the Communications Department, to the point of combining their names with references to mafia associations, corruption and illicit favouritism.

THE VILLAGED DOMICILIATION IN THE VATICAN

On his social channels, Mr. Perfetti indicates lo as domiciliation Vatican City State.

Consider the excellent institutional relations between the Italian law enforcement forces and those of the Vatican City State, I suppose that a simple phone call to this Police Headquarters would be enough Command of the Vatican Gendarmerie to ascertain that Mr. Perfect, far from being domiciled in the Vatican with his own blog and social media, he cannot even enter within his territory, because declared unwelcome person following the insults that he has continuously published for years towards people and institutions of the Holy See.

From the stabs of Mr. Perfect few were saved, Among those targeted, there was also no shortage of soldiers from the Vatican Gendarmerie, they were also accused of being professionally incapable and incompetent, as can be seen from this article:

👉https://silerenonpossum.com/it/shock-in-vaticano-chi-e-entrato-nello-stato-senza-autorizzazione/

Added to this is the fact that in numerous of his videos released online Mr. Perfect — that, as explained, it cannot even come close to the Vatican territory – he begins by stating: «because here in the Vatican… we in the Vatican…», thus boasting to simple and uninformed people that they have internal contacts and institutional knowledge at the highest levels.

The videos mentioned here can be viewed at this link:

👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZuSj27wROODKZajlMUSvA

THE FALSE ACCUSATION OF HAVING MADE HIS DOMICILE OF RESIDENCE PUBLIC

To the accusation made against me of having published Mr.'s domicile and residence address on the Facebook platform. Perfect, I reply and firmly deny: I don't know where he lives, nor have I ever been interested in knowing.

However, I am aware that several lawyers have had difficulty finding it, having received an assignment to proceed with complaints against him, including several journalists, among which I mention XXXXXXXXXXXXX, Vatican correspondent of XXXXXXXXXXX, followed by various other colleagues.

Also confidentially, I was also told by some directly interested parties that recently, the lawyer's office. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX has received a mandate to proceed with a complaint against him. However, as has already happened to other law firms previously, he also had difficulty getting the documents served because Mr. Perfect is not available.

This led several lawyers to contact the competent offices with a reasoned request to find his address, where - again according to what was reported by those directly involved - not even a private home was found, but a series of warehouses and the headquarters of a Tax Assistance Centre (CAF).

I am aware of everything because two lawyers, having read some of my denial articles about false and biased news spread by Mr. Perfect, they contacted me to ask if I knew where he lived. I replied that I had no idea where in Italy he lived, much less at what address.

How much Mr. Perfetti complains about the dissemination of his address by me and therefore a falsehood which is then accompanied by the accusation of victimization according to which, because of me, he would even have to "change his lifestyle habits" (!).

Added to his proven unavailability for the notification of judicial documents is the fact that, in the blog I can not remain silent, is indicated via Scalia 10/B (Rome) as the "headquarters" of the "editorial team". Even in this case, however, there is no editorial office or blog headquarters at that address.

THE FALSE ACCUSATION OF BELONGING TO A “HOMOSEXUALIST LOBBY”

Mr. Perfetti complains that I would have accused him of "belonging to a homosexualist lobby".

A clear and necessary premise: the trends, Mr.'s sexual habits and preferences. Perfect (or anyone else) fall within the full and legitimate exercise of personal freedoms, if necessary also protected by law.

This doesn't take away, however, that - as a priest and theologian - he can express, with full legitimacy, of deep reservations regarding the total inappropriateness of admitting people with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies to the priesthood. These are not personal opinions, but of a principle sanctioned by Catholic doctrine and reiterated in official Church documents.

The reason is clear: the ecclesiastical environment is an entirely male context and for those who freely vow celibacy and chastity, the admission of subjects with homosexual inclinations represents an unsuitable situation neither to the priestly state nor to those who share its community life. In other words: excluding homosexuals from the priesthood means protecting the homosexual himself first and foremost.

I have never attacked individual homosexuals nor discriminated against the so-called LGBT communities. If anything I addressed political criticism, legitimate and motivated, to certain associations that intend to impose their cultural and legislative agenda.

In this regard I remember that I am the author of a book written “co-authored” with the Capuchin theologian Father Ivano Liguori, in which we contested the bill proposed by the Hon. Alessandro Zan regarding homotransphobia. In that text, we noted the serious risk of turning the right to opinion and criticism into a crime; a risk that was also forcefully denounced by authoritative openly homosexual personalities, like the Senator Tommaso Cerno, former national president of Arcigay and today journalist and editor-in-chief of Time.

As for the issue of “private life”, I have repeatedly denied Mr. Perfect, who in his articles and videos stated that any homosexual tendencies of candidates for the priesthood or priests already ordained would only concern their private sphere and would not be questionable.

To refute this misleading thesis, I'll use a clear example: even a magistrate has a private life and has the right to have it, but he certainly couldn't sentence a dangerous mafioso to maximum security prison morning and evening, in his “private life”, go to dinner with Camorra clan leaders. The same principle applies to the priest: he never ceases to be so, neither in the public nor in the private sector, nor can he live in contradiction to his own clerical status, both in the public and private sectors.

Every time I recalled this elementary ecclesial and moral principle, Mr.. Perfetti tried to turn the question around, insinuating accusations of “gender discrimination” Do mtake comparisons.

THE PROBLEM OF HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE CASE OF FATHER AMEDEO CENCINI

Mr. Perfect he is no stranger to concocting artificial events, aimed at hitting people he doesn't like. To do it, often, uses particularly sensitive and delicate topics today, such as the issue of homosexuality or gender diversity.

An emblematic case is that of Father Amedeo Cencini, priest of the Canossian Congregation and esteemed specialist in psychology, trainer and author of numerous essays of theological and pastoral relevance. The 23 March 2021 Mr.. Perfetti forwarded one formal reporting to the Order of Psychologists of Veneto, contesting some of the priest's articles and conferences which he deemed "offensive to homosexuals".

The Supervisory Commission of the Regional Order, following the established procedures, opened the file, listened to the parties and summoned both the accusing party (Perfect) is the accused (Cencini). At the end of the investigation, in data 18 July 2021, pronounced this sentence: "There were no hypotheses of violation of the code of ethics". The proceeding was therefore definitively closed on 22 November 2021.

The episode received coverage in the press and a well-known Catholic weekly reported on the story, underlining how the accusation had been judged inconsistent and unfounded. The same article also reported Mr.'s reaction. Perfect, that, seeing himself blamed, he went so far as to say:

«Italy is a Republic that does not know what justice is […] a country that basically makes you laugh".

Link to source:
👉 https://www.settimananews.it/vita-consacrata/fra-critica-insulto-silere-non-possum/

This statement, eloquent in itself, once again confirms his constant attitude: when he doesn't get it right, uses inappropriate and delegitimizing tones towards individual people, the institutions, the judiciary, professional bodies, ecclesiastical bodies and so on.

there, so, the recurring model: reckless and specious accusations, spent largely on sensitive topics (homosexuality, abuse of conscience, etc.), which then result in archiving, but after causing stress, damage to the image and waste of time of the people targeted.

A PROBLEM PERSONALITY WHO SUE HIS PARENTS TO COURT

The obvious behavioral and character problems One part. Perfetti are clearly confirmed by a ruling from the Supreme Court of Cassation, the n. 23132/2022 the 28 June 2022.

In fact, from reading the motivation in its entirety, one thing emerges: clear and unequivocal picture of his highly litigious nature. Mr. In fact, Perfetti went so far as to sue his own parents, dragging them into a civil trial in which he obtained an unfavorable outcome already at first instance. I don't pay, he appealed: even at second instance the judges confirmed the unfoundedness of his claim. A quel point, despite two rulings to the contrary, appealed to the Supreme Court, where what had already been established in the two merit judgments was reiterated and fully confirmed in the legitimacy judgment.

The end result is that Mr. Perfect lost in all three levels of judgment, thus revealing the recklessness of the lawsuit brought against their own parents.

This ruling is not a confidential document, on the contrary it is a public act freely available online. Simply type «Marco Perfetti complaints» on the Google search engine, where this link appears among the various entries:

Clicking on the link opens the PDF document containing the complete reasoning for the sentence, with the appellant's name and surname clearly legible on the search engine, as in the photographic image of the Google page reproduced here.

👉https://giuridica.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Cassazione-civile-23132-2022-mantenimento-figlio-maggiorenne-seminario.pdf

If Mr. Perfetti should consider its right to privacy violated or otherwise, you can always contact Google directly and ask for the document to be removed or obscured. However, it cannot be attributed to the undersigned the responsibility of referring between these lines to what is in the public domain and available to anyone online.

This procedural matter, which sees a child take his parents to the last stage of judgment and then always emerge defeated, is indicative of level of personal conflict which characterizes Mr. Perfect and which is also reflected in his relationships with other individuals and institutions.

THE BLOG "I CAN'T BE SILENT": THE TRIUMPH OF ANONYMITY AND THE CASE OF THE DIOCESE OF ASCOLI PICENO

In light of what has been documented so far, appears as evident as the blog I can not remain silent, managed by Mr. Perfect, represent a poisoned and poisoning communicative place. What distinguishes it is not just the violent tone, offensive and defamatory, but also aparticularly significant aggravating circumstance: the systematic publication of anonymous articles.

Your tale blog, indeed, write subjects who they don't have the courage to expose themselves with their name and surname, thus escaping personal responsibility for what they declare and spread. This Modus Operandi it is all the more serious as anonymous accusations and attacks are often directed at people and ecclesiastical institutions, with the clear intention of delegitimizing them without the accuser assuming any public responsibility.

This is not just my opinion: also there Episcopal Curia of the Diocese of Ascoli Piceno has deemed it necessary to intervene recently to protect its Bishop, S. AND. Mons. Giampiero Palmieri, repeatedly the target of attacks on the blog I can not remain silent, regarding which the Curia complains in unequivocal words in an official note:

«[…] a news blog not even registered as a newspaper that mainly writes gossip, also ecclesiastical, to feed his bubble of readers. We remind you that in this blog many articles do not contain the name of the person writing the pieces... and therefore, objectively, it doesn't come out".

The entire text of the note can be consulted at the following address:

👉https://www.diocesiascoli.it/la-posizione-della-diocesi-sulla-questione-di-cronache-picene/

This official position confirms that not just individual people, but even entire ecclesiastical institutions were forced to publicly denounce the unreliability and irresponsibility of the blog directed by Mr.. Perfect, underlining how it feeds on gossip and anonymous accusations, very far from the criteria of correct and serious information.

THE MANAGER OF AN ANONYMOUS BLOG ASKS TO WARN AN EDITOR RESPONSIBLE FOR A REGULARLY REGISTERED MAGAZINE

Contrary to Mr. Perfect, manager of a gossip blog with a clerical flavor based on anonymous articles and devoid of any legal recognition, the undersigned may qualify as editor in chief of a magazine for all legal purposes, being registered as such with the Order of Journalists of Lazio and paying the required annual taxes.

The magazine The Island of Patmos, founded by me in 2014 together with the theologians and priests Antonio Livi and Giovanni Cavalcoli, is now made up of an editorial staff of eight priests, all fully identifiable, who sign their articles with their name and surname. Each editor is also publicly presented on the official page of the magazine, where biographical notes and curricula are available.

The magazine is duly registered both in the Press Register of the Court of Rome and in the Register of specialized magazines of the Order of Journalists. This implies that, in addition to carrying out the journalistic activity in accordance with the law, as the responsible director I can appeal to the right to the press, at the source protection and to all those guarantees provided by the legal system for an officially recognized newspaper.

None of this can however be attributed to a blog like I can not remain silent, which is neither a registered newspaper nor does it have a responsible editor. Nevertheless, under the heading “who we are”, Mr.. Perfetti presents it in these terms:

👉 https://silerenonpossum.com/it/chi-siamo/

These self-congratulatory statements fly in the face of the evidence: a blog run by an individual, populated by anonymous authors and devoid of legal recognition cannot in any way boast the credibility and protections that belong to registered newspapers.

In this sense,, the paradox is evident: a managing director registered with the Order of Journalists is subjected to a request for a warning from Mr. Perfect, responsible for a blog that hurls constant insults at anyone through the dissemination of writings published anonymously and which through them continues to spread defamatory content without those responsible assuming the slightest public or legal responsibility, while stating «in a context in which journalism risks losing credibility».

Conclusions

I conclude this paper by recalling a historical-political fact. During the twenty years of fascism, a socio-pedagogical technique was adopted, summarized by the well-known phrase: "Hit one to educate a hundred", sometimes paraphrased even more harshly: «Scare one to silence a hundred».

I fear that this is the probable true motive of yet another action undertaken by Mr. Perfect: attempt to attack a publicly exposed person - a priest and an editor in chief of a newspaper - to intimidate and discourage others from opposing his polemical and aggressive style.

But today, thanks to our greats Founding Fathers, we are citizens and associates of Italian Republic, a rule of law based on democratic principles, where similar logics do not and cannot have citizenship.

For this reason I firmly reject the unfounded accusations made against me, demonstrating - with the documents and evidence attached - the systematic nature of the defamatory action conducted by Mr. Perfect. What is asked here is not a personal privilege, but the protection of the principle of truth and justice which must guide the actions of anyone exercising freedom of expression, especially if this freedom is intertwined with the duty of correct information.

I therefore remain at the disposal of the competent Authority, trusting that the assessments are carried out not in light of false accusations, or extrapolated and distorted, but of the objective and documented facts presented here.

Rome, there 6 October 2025

Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo, presbyter
Editor in charge of the magazine The Island of Patmos

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