The Year of Dante

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to a Delegatioin from the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia, on the Occasion of the Year of Dante.

"Thus, he concluded his earthly journey in Ravenna; and he concluded that exile that so greatly marked his existence and also inspired his writing. The poet Mario Luzi has highlighted the importance of the turmoil and the higher rediscovery that the experience of exile held for Dante. This leads us immediately to think of the Bible, of the exile of the people of Israel in Babylon, which constitutes, so to speak, one of the 'matrices' of Biblical revelation. In a similar way, exile was for Dante so significant as to become a key to interpreting not only his life, but also the 'journey' of every man and woman in history and beyond."

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.