Posted on 05/05/2007 5:10:50 PM PDT by NYer
COREGGIO, Italy, May 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A leading Italian author of the 80’s who was known for extreme depictions of homosexuality, violence and pain in his work underwent a conversion to the Catholic faith shortly before dying of AIDS.
Openly homosexual Pier Vittorio Tondelli was recognized as one of the greatest Italian authors of his time. A writer and playwright, Tondelli’s work was initially censored by Rome officials on charges of obscenity for his explicit portrayals of homosexual life. He was eventually acquitted of the charge of obscenity, but scandal continued to follow his work over the homosexual content.
In the months leading up to his death Tondelli returned to the Catholic faith. He had largely withdrawn from society after discovering he was infected with HIV and had kept his illness out of the public eye.
Fascinated throughout his life by the works of Jewish mystics, the Imitation of Christ and the writings of such Catholic leaders as St. Teresa of Avila, Tondelli wrote, “I love to look through them, to find and read stories, and the idea of holiness.”
After his conversion, Tondelli called chastity “a mystic virtue for those who have chosen it and perhaps the most superhuman use of sexuality.”
In the days before his death Tondelli read the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the last material he read. Notes jotted in the margins read, “Literature does not bring salvation, never. Only love, faith and falling back into grace saves.”
Tondelli died of AIDS in Milan in 1991. His silence about his infection with HIV and the quiet lifestyle he chose for the final years of his life have been a source of outrage to the homosexual community.
**His silence about his infection with HIV and the quiet lifestyle he chose for the final years of his life **
But this is true humility. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
God Bless Him!
Dr. Francis Beckwith Returns To Full Communion With The Church
Catholic Converts - Stephen K. Ray (former Evangelical)
Catholic Converts - Malcolm Muggeridge
Catholic Converts - Richard John Neuhaus
Catholic Converts - Avery Cardinal Dulles
Catholic Converts - Israel (Eugenio) Zolli - Chief Rabbi of Rome
Catholic Converts - Robert H. Bork , American Jurist (Catholic Caucus)
Catholic Converts - Marcus Grodi
Samuel Johnson
“Literature does not bring salvation, never. Only love, faith and falling back into grace saves.”
How can such a simple sentence be so profound to the point of making me teary eyed?
God bless him.
Graham Greene was a professional bad boy. Like most bad boys, he wanted (a) somebody to tell him the right thing to do and (b) to defy that person. He lived a somewhat irregular life when he was a Catholic, but probably planned to make it all right on his deathbed...
There are probably many people like him out there. The Church has always (although not enthusiastically) had a place for people like him. And he did have moments that were glorious - when the Comandante is drinking the wine that the failed priest in “The Power and the Glory” wanted to save for celebration of the Mass, and the priest sees “all the hope of the world draining away.” I don’t remember the specific words and don’t have the book here, so this may not be an exact quote.
But Graham Greene was a wonderful writer, although I think that oddly enough - or maybe not - his powers declined after he left the Church.
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