One notable recent appearance on the literary scene is the volume Sangue del vostro sangue, ossa delle vostre ossa. Il pontificato di Giovanni Paolo II (1978-2005) e le Chiese in Europa centro-orientale. Nel centenario della nascita di Karol Wojtyla [Blood of your blood, bones of your bones. The Pontificate of John Paul II and the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe. In the centennial year from the birth of Karol Wojtyla], curated by Professor Jan Mikrut (Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome), with a foreword by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. The volume is part of the ongoing collection The History of the Church in Central and Eastern Europe by Gabrielli Press.
The volume contains over 50 studies, the fruit of the efforts of archival research penned by reputable international specialists which focus on the relations between Pope John Paul II and the Churches of Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Albania, Austria, Germany, Romania and Hungary).
The chapter dedicated to the Romanian Orthodox Church, titled “Due padri dell’Europa davanti a uno solo grido: Unitate! Analisi degli aspetti ecumenici della visita di Giovanni Paolo II in Romania” [“Two Fathers of Europe before one sole outcry: ‘Unity!’ An analysis of the ecumenical aspects of John Paul II’s visit to Romania] is authored by Alexandru-Marius Crișan, a young researcher at the Centre for Ecumenical Research at the University of Sibiu.
Over the course of his detailed and very well documented analysis, the author makes use of the bilingual volume Pope John Paul II in Romania: Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue Nine Centuries after the Great Schism (an effort of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization) as a primary source. With a foreword signed by Professor Vlad Nistor and an afterword penned by the former Ambassador of Romania to the Holy See, Teodor Baconschi, the volume (published in 2019 by Bucharest University Press) was coordinated by Laura Ganea, Advisor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization. Other contributions to the volume came from Reverend Radu Preda, painter Sorin Dumitrescu, the Secretary General of the Sant’Egidio Community, Alberto Quattrucci, and from Cătălin-Ștefan Popa, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization.
The volume on Pope John Paul II’s visit to Bucharest, launch on the occasion of Pope Francis’ visit to Romania, is part of the Institute’s broader project on the “Levant, Cradle of Abrahamic Religions”.
