Revisiting cultural religious heritage : weaving a legacy of beauty and harmony

Abstract

In our fluid and post-Christian society with a people often lacking any sense of orientation given “the crisis of truth in our age,” the proclamation and appreciation of truth and beauty have become ever more urgent. Sacred art must rediscover its true nature, and, in so doing, can, as it has done throughout the centuries, continue to express society’s hopes and concerns and turn into a beacon of the Church’s civilizing and evangelizing mission. Drawing on both Pope Francis’ Lumen fidei and Benedict XVI’s promotion of the Via pulchritudinis as a privileged path for evangelization, this paper argues for the urgent need for an apostolate of beauty in contemporary Malta. While Lumen fidei offers a theological foundation for understanding beauty as a radiance of truth and love, the Via pulchritudinis proposes a pastoral route to reach hearts through the splendour of the Christian tradition. In a local context marred by cultural degradation and aesthetic disfigurement, Christian art and heritage can become a bridge of dialogue between the Church and a wounded society, redirecting souls toward transcendence through beauty. [extract]