Pontifical Lateran University

Lateran, 5 November 2004

Press Release

“Dies Academicus 2024-2025”

Inauguration of the Academic Year 2024-2025 of the Pontifical Lateran University

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and the actor Giacomo Poretti, known to the public as a member of the comic trio Aldo Giovanni e Giacomo, will be the protagonists of the inauguration of the Academic Year 2024-2025 of the Pontifical Lateran University on Wednesday 13 November at 11.00, in the Great Hall of the Pope’s University. The Rector Magnificent of the PLU, Archbishop V. Amarante, C.Ss.R., will present the report of the Academic Year 2023-2024.

In particular, Giacomo Poretti will propose a monologue entitled “Per far un’anima” (“To make a soul”), which will bring together reflections on an “organ” that the anatomy manuals do not consider, but which has been talked about for ever: when does the soul develop in a living being? Does it really exist or is it merely a chimera, a desire? Or is it so infinitesimal that it cannot be seen even with the most powerful electron microscope? And in the end, even if we did find it, what use is the soul? What do we do with it? Or better, what would it do to us?

“The project had been on my mind ever since my son Emanuele was born”, explains Giacomo. “On that occasion, an elderly priest who my wife and I knew well came to see us in hospital. He complemented us and said: good, you have made a body, now you have to make the soul. This phrase stayed with me for a long time, it lingered until I decided to confront the question, certainly not an easy task”. The actor and author of the monologue emphasized, “I used the language of humour and irony, and I asked myself a lot of questions. How is the soul born? Does it emerge with the baby teeth? Or later? To what extent does a correct diet influence its growth? Would a high-protein diet be best, or gluten-free, or low sodium? But does the soul truly exist, or is it an invention of ours? And again: is it a word that should be retired, or do the complicated times we are going through make it more inescapable than ever?”.

The soul, says Poretti, “is a word that risks extinction, next to more clamorous and rowdy modern words. And yet”, he continues, “if we think about it, what use is a soul? No-one asks you to show it: when the Carabinieri stop you they are satisfied with your driving license and registration; to make a purchase on the internet, a credit card and email address are enough. The soul seems to be the most anti-modern thing that could exist, more ancient than a steam train, older than a cathode-tube television set, more old-fashioned than the skates you can put on in a room with a waxed floor; more distant than a black and white photograph, as bizarre as a fan, as eccentric as a tuxedo and as pointless as a bow-tie”.

And yet… there is a great ‘and yet’ in the monologue that will be proposed on the occasion of the Dies Academicus of the PLU. An opportunity to reflect on a word that is perhaps obsolete, certainly uncomfortable, but despite all appearances, still very important.

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE

Journalists and media operators who wish to attend must apply, no later than 24 hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.

Pontifical Lateran University

Institutional and Events Communication Service
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