It has already been three weeks since we have ended our
class in Rome. Overall, it was an amazing experience. Since then I have thought
about several themes that we talked about, and there are a few I would like to
expand on for my last post.
One theme that really became clear during our time in Rome
was that the Catholic Church has always had this fascination with science and knowledge. We
spoke about Galileo and how he experienced issues with Catholics in regards to
his beliefs about the universe. I think that this is important in the history
of Catholicism and science because it gives an initial impression that religion
does not like science. This
however was not the case. Instead, they only wanted to spread ideas that could
be proven in a concrete sense. In the case of Galileo, it was more a matter of
not being able to prove his theories that caused the church to silence him.
During our time in Rome we saw firsthand the emphasis Catholics place on
science when we visited the Vatican Observatory. It was really an eye opening experience
to see that for many years Catholics have encouraged knowledge. This can also be seen in the Vatican Library where scholars from around the world can be exposed to ancient texts and expand their thinking.
Another theme I saw throughout our trip was the idea of the
Last Judgment. Probably the most famous representation of this can be found in Michelangelo’s
work in the Sistine Chapel. I previously described it as beautiful yet
terrifying because he does an amazing job of depicting the rewards Jesus offers
if you follow him. On the other hand, viewers see what lies in the depths of
Hell for those who turn their back on the grace of God. We also saw a Last
Judgment mural in one of the Byzantine style churches. Here, we again saw an overabundance
of God’s grace as well as the despair of those who were exploding out of the
ceiling and filling Hell. What I found most interesting about this theme was
that it did not only come up in art, but also in the sermon of the Pope. Pope Francis spoke about how the Last Judgment is a time of celebration for believers
because it is finally the time to join Jesus in heaven. It is essentially a
time for Catholics to begin a new life. I found this particular theme really
amazing because we have seen it throughout history. We first saw it in the
Sistine Chapel, later in the Byzantine style church, and then in present day
during the Pope’s sermon.
The final theme I would like to discuss is martyrdom in
Rome. I think this theme is particularly important because Rome is really the beginning
place of not only Christianity as a religion, but also the attempt to break
down that religion by killing believers. We talked about martyrdom as being the
ultimate imitation of Christ, and we even visited locations were Christians were
most likely martyred. We discussed that Christians believed that if you were on
Jesus’ side, you were might have to suffer, but ultimately you were on the right
side of history. When I think about martyrs in Rome the one I think about most is Peter. Specifically, I think about the obelisk in St. Peters square.
This obelisk is referred to as the silent witness since it was thought that it was
taken from the circus in which Peter was martyred. This is so significant
because over thousands of years the obelisk was preserved because it has a
connection with Peter’s martyrdom. This theme is seen throughout Rome and
throughout history.
While we talked about many other themes, these three really
stood out to be. I feel that because of this trip I really grew to appreciate
the history and culture of Rome.
