01-02-2007 - Traces, n. 2 Fr. Giussani (1922-2005) At School with Fr. Giussani by Alberto Savorana On December 11, 1997, the English-language edition of The Religious Sense was presented at the UN in New York. Seated at the table in the auditorium of the UN Library were a Catholic theologian, a Buddhist monk, and a Jewish musician. The following day, I called up Fr. Giussani and told him about the event. I can still recall his words: “When I climbed the steps of Berchet High School to teach religion, I certainly never had the faintest idea what would develop out of it. Now something else we could never have foreseen has come about, from nothing, and yet something has been born. It’s God who does everything.” And a few days later, commenting on the event with the Movement’s responsibles, he spoke of “a new beginning” for everyone. Inevitably, that was the title on the cover of Traces for January 1998, with a report on the event at the UN. Since then, other books by Fr. Giussani have been published in America. The results of that beginning have been equally unforeseen, and they have all come about in the same way: the experience of a meeting, passing from person to person, which has taken the name of Fr. Giussani and the experience borne by him to a thousand corners of America. Among the most recent fruits of this seed, books by Fr. Giussani have actually been adopted by colleges, seminaries, and universities in the United States (see preliminary list, below). At the end of every hour’s teaching at Berchet High School in Milan, Fr. Giussani used to dictate a few pages of notes to his students. Those lessons, revised and developed in his years of teaching at Catholic University, have become the three books of the “Trilogy” (first published by Jaca Book, then Rizzoli, and finally translated into many languages). Could he ever have imagined that fifty years later those notes would find teachers in the New World who are so interested they have made them part of the course of studies at colleges and universities? The Religious Sense 0773516263 > GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC > ST. MICHAELS COLLEGE, Colechester, VT > LA SALLE UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, PA > ST. MARYS UNIVERSITY, San Antonio, TX > MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, Milwaukee, WI > FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, Steubenville, Ohio > MOUNT MARTY COLLEGE, Yankton, SD > UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, Norman, OK > ST. JOHN VIANNEY THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL, Denver, CO > ST. JOSEPH’S SEMINARY, Yonkers, NY At the Origin of the Christian Claim 0773516271 > ST. JOHN VIANNEY THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL, Denver, CO > ASSUMPTION COLLEGE, Worchester, MA > BENEDICTINE COLLEGE, Atchison, KS > FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, Steubenville, Ohio > ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY, San Antonio, TX > ST. JOSEPHS SEMINARY, Yonkers, NY > UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, Norman, OK > UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, Notre Dame, IN > MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, Milwaukee, WI > SEMINARY CO-OPERATIVE BKS, Chicago, IL Why the Church? 0773517073 > ASSUMPTION COLLEGE, Worchester, MA > FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, Steubenville, Ohio > ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE, Standish, ME > MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, Milwaukee, WI > UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, Notre Dame, IN > ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY, San Antonio, TX > UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, Norman, OK The Journey to Truth Is an Experience 0773531483 > USC UNIVERSITY, Los Angeles, CA > FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY, Steubenville, OH > UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, Notre Dame, IN