Pope Francis celebrates Dante: Prophet of hope and poet of mercy

'Pope Francis releases an Apostolic Letter entitled Candor lucis aeternae marking the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, and highlights the relevance, timelessness and depth of faith in Dante’s masterpiece: The Divine Comedy.'

Isabella Piro reported at Vatican News.

"There are two main pillars in the Divine Comedy – the Pope explains - namely 'an innate desire in the human heart' and 'fulfilment in the happiness bestowed by the vision of the Love who is God.' This is why Dante is a 'prophet of hope': because with his work he urges humanity to free itself from the 'dark forest' of sin to find 'the right path' and thus reach 'the fullness of life and time in history' and 'eternal beatitude in God'. The path indicated by Dante, a true 'pilgrimage' - the Pope points out - is 'realistic and within the reach of all, because 'God’s mercy always offers the possibility of change and conversion'."

See Dante, "On World Government" from De Monarchia in Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 7, and The Divine Comedy in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 21, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 19.