TRENTINO PAYS HOMAGE TO THE CITY OF JOHN PAUL II

In the Val di Fiemme in Trentino the ritual of creating nativity scenes is a long-standing tradition. It was the “segantini”, woodworkers in Venetian sawmills functioning using the driving force of water in the Prince Bishoprics of Bressanone and the Tyrol, who imported the art of woodcarving to the valleys.

The area, which is the undisputed gate to the magnificent Dolomitic landscape, is renowned for its wood. Indeed, Stradivarius used the resonance wood of the fir trees in the Val di Fiemme for his violins.
Many master craftsmen work wood in the valley, while the tradition of nativity scenes is common to the whole of Trentino, artistic expression being directed above all at representation of Christ’s nativity. Popular worship is strongly linked to Christmas and to the mystery of the birth of Jesus.
This is the background to the collaboration that the Holy See proposed to Trentino for Christmas 2006 and 2007, when the nativity scenes in Piazza San Pietro were set up and carved by master craftsmen from Tesero (Val di Fiemme). On both occasions Trentino presented Rome with nativity scenes made by past and modern-day sculptors, with figures realised by the Trentino people, who today prepare for Christmas with a deep-felt religious spirit, just as they did in the past.
This year the best works dedicated to representing the birth of Jesus will be on display in Cracow, at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy so dear to Pope John Paul II, who had a special relationship with Trentino: the Trentino people hold in their hearts and minds the recollection of that day way back in 1984, six years after Karol Wojtyla had been elected Pope, when he chose the Adamello mountain to contemplate God through the “peaceful and grandiose magnificence of the mountains”. The first Polish pope in the history of the Church, a working-class priest with a sporting background, Wojtyla chose the perennial snows of Trentino to go skiing with an equally exceptional companion: the President of the Republic, Sandro Pertini.
Pope Wojtyla viewed his office as a mission, using travel as a way of being present throughout the world and getting to know peoples directly. Pope John Paul II came to Trentino on two subsequent official occasions: once in 1995 for a pastoral visit involving thousands of people and once in 1998 to honour a small wooden cross placed at an altitude of 3,278 metres at ‘Punta Croce’, subsequently renamed ‘Punta Giovanni Paolo II’. However, in 1988, three years after the tremendous tragedy in Stava, he also came to Tesero from his place of vacation in nearby Alto Adige in order to commemorate the 268 people who died. The important gesture made by Pope Wojtyla before the marble slab bearing the names of all the victims left an indelible sign. On 17 July 1988 in the small cemetery of San Leonardo, Pope John Paul II “fell” onto his knees, resting his forehead on the stone and clutching the cross: his silent but incredibly eloquent prayer stopped time, involving all those present in a moment of profound meditation, restoring dignity to the great pain caused by the devastating tragedy.
Now the message of peace invoked by the Holy Father John Paul II from the mountains of Trentino returns to his homeland in Cracow, in an exhibition dedicated to the mystery of the birth of Christ.
In the Grand Foyer of the Chapels of the Lagiewniki Sanctuary, in addition to the nativity scenes on display it will be possible to admire Trentino craftsmen at work while they realise the figures for the scenes.
At the end of the exhibition the works realised by the master carvers will be put on sale and the proceeds will go towards supporting the John Paul II Foundation in Cracow.