Some 250 Catholic bishops from around the world gathered in Israel over several days at Domus Galilea – a center for interfaith encounters, training, conventions, and retreats located near the Mount of Beatitudes and the shore of Lake Tiberias. It was on February 7 that 50 cardinals and bishops from the US, Brazil, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, and other countries came to the center to hear an orchestral score composed by the Spaniard Kiko Argüello for the occasion . Also attending were David Rosen of the Grand Rabbinate of Jerusalem, Raphael Ben Hur of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, and Mayor Aaron Valency of Galilee.
Argüello is a founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, a movement of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelizing by fostering family life within parishes. Besides Spain, it has expanded greatly in the Americas, including the US. Argüello abandoned a career as a musician and artist to continue the work of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, which in addition to applause for his success has also found critics within the Catholic Church.
In trying to explain the motivation and meaning of the symphony, Argüello spoke of “Men crumpled in the street, children dying of the cold. Children abandoned and kept in horrible orphanages where they are abused and raped. There was a woman I met, suffering from Parkinson’s, who had been abandoned by her husband.” He added, “I felt overcome before Jesus, dying on the Cross, in her and so many others. It is such a mystery that the innocent should have to bear the sin of others.”
Argüello then spoke of the horrors of the 20th century that served as inspiration, “There was a file of naked women and children entering the gas chamber, and the profound pain that one of the guards felt who within his heart sensed a voice that said, 'Get in line and go within them to death,' not knowing where it came from. Some say that since Auschwitz, one can no longer believe in God. That is not true! God made mankind to bear the suffering of all of the innocent. He is utterly innocent: a lamb taken to slaughter without saying a word; he is the one who takes on the sins of all. In this piece, we wanted to ask the Virgin to accept the sword that, according to the Prophet Ezekiel, God had prepared for the sins of His people and that now pierces her soul.”
The composition lasted 20 minutes and is almost entirely instrumental. One hundred musicians and 50 singers participated. At the finale, the chorus repeated the words “ Mary, Mother of God.” With great emotion, members of the audience, including the many prelates there assembled, then joined the chorus to sing a tribute to the Virgin Mary.
David Rosen, of the rabbinate, said “This work shows a profound resonance of Hebrew identity, and Hebrew suffering and hope.” Rosen continued, “It is like the story of two peasants who meet, and one asks the other ‘Boris, do you love me?’ ‘Of course I love you.’ ‘Then, do you know what makes me suffer?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Then, how can you say you love me if you don’t know what makes me suffer?’”
For his part, Ben Hur – who serves as Israel’s Senior Deputy Minister for Tourism - praised Domus Galilea as “the most beautiful building in Israel,” which serves to make clear that “Jews and Christians are brothers because we have the same roots.”
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Google+