A common saying goes, "Italy is home to poets, sailors and saints". Indeed, Italian television production about Saints, priests, nuns or lay Christian people is worldwide renown (think of the success of "Don Matteo").

This media thread can help us to perceive and understand the presence and personality of those who have followed Jesus Christ: through their story, we get the image of the Person they follow (The Lord), so we can choose to answer His call, too, or not - how to do it in each one's unique way. Above all, how what they did (all the good they brought to the world) does not mix up with mere philanthropy, politics or, worse, superstition.

We want to offer a key for navigating these stories: what to pay attention to and look for. Disclaimer: TV fiction is about making drama and real people become characters, so never take for granted that all the facts and events in a biopic are 100% authentic since there could be misconceptions and things-that-never-happened here and there.

It doesn't mean the stories are bad: make sure to get a TV drama as an instrument, a kick-off or a gateway towards an accurate track of acknowledgement, a spiritual and a human one that'll be on you and goes beyond TV.

To comprehend the life of the people we've mentioned, let's remind ourselves that Jesus has come to save us from Death. Christianity means Easter (Passion-Death-Resurrection): everything they did comes with this peculiar mindset. So, let's not make the mistake of interpreting the stories with a social or cultural lens, as this is not the lens of the Gospels. However, it's a Spiritual way, and the Holy Spirit leads, in&out and upside down.

Fr. Giovanni Bosco

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

From the Gospel of Mark (10,14)

Founder of the "Oratory" as we know it today. In Turin, he gathers ragged boys and girls from the streets. His ministry shows the desire to get youth to know and love Christ. One of the children from his oratory is a saint himself: Domenico Savio (passed at the age of 14). In his whole work, the focal point is Jesus: yes, he steered young people to a proper job, he hosted them and fed them up, but above all, he offered them the understanding of what matters the most, which is the knowledge and the life of Jesus Christ, which is the real life-saving consciousness.  

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbKBg1O4Jz0

A scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw5P21uNZS0/ 

Actor, Flavio Insinna (other remarkable interpretations: Ben Gazzara)

Fr. Peppe Diana

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

    for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,

till her vindication shines out like the dawn,

    her salvation like a blazing torch.

The nations will see your vindication,

    and all kings your glory"

From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (62, 1-2)

In Casal di Principe, Camorra kills him because, through his ministry, he denounces crime. The love for Christ pushes him to do so: it's not a matter of "civil war" against Camorra like a judge or a journalist would act. Engagement is born from his relationship with God, making him love the flock of God the Father and the Son as They love it. They want to bring salvation and life when the evil seeds death: fr.Diana uses the passage from Isaiah (quoted above) in a famous letter he writes to his community. There, he wants to awaken the prophetic spirit that Church is called to incarnate in every specific place, time and circumstance, giving life where humankind brings death.

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBbvRG4MRwM

2nd trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDB6ZydCfqU

Actor, Alessandro Preziosi

St. Giuseppe Moscati

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

From the Gospel of Matthew (9,12)

It is false that his vocation comes from a denied romance (as the drama displays). Christ defined himself as the physician for the ills, making clear in the rest of the phrase that illness is more than a physical state: really, it relates to the soul. The Sin, the distance from God, must be healed: all Moscati's work goes in this direction. From Naples, he's been a great scientist, doctor and professor: his strength and desire for research and service come from his relationship with Christ, critical to such a degree that it reverberates in each human connection and choice he makes.

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK5zFPPSmrA/

A scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YODLUvnlsBw  

Actor, Giuseppe Fiorello

Sts. Chiara and Francesco from Assisi

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

From the Gospel of Luke (12,34)

When Church is confused, far from the Christian message and lost for idols such as power and richness, Chiara and Francesco return to the essence of the Gospels, the original Word of the announcement, acting as the "sign of contradiction". Still, they do not intend to cause a "rupture" like other pauperism movements which ended up in heresy: instead, they chose to remain within the Catholic Church, identifying Her as the mystical body of Christ; thence, they can be the yeast that gives Church herself a new life.

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z9ZaJJ1EAw

A scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryP_jRTIpQ4

Actors, Ettore Bassi and Mary Petriuolo (other remarkable interpretations: M.Rourke-H. B.Carter; G. Faulkner- J. Bouwker; N.Gerardi- A.Lamaitre)

Chiara Lubich

"Love wins everything" is the drama's tagline, a sentence by Virgil, the Latin poet. It inspires Chiara's mind a night in 1943 when she decides to stay in Trento under bombardment to act as the presence and consolation of God. Then, she had already consecrated herself to the Lord and had founded the first unit of the "Focolare" movement… (to be continued in pt.2)  

The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKwRunqu9Pc

Actress, Cristiana Capotondi

Here's a link to a list of some TV dramas we're discussing: Fiction - Religioso - RaiPlay

Follow us next month in part 2 of this journey: there are other ordinary-extraordinary people you may want to get in touch with!