The inner life of G. K. Chesterton | Una conferenza di Karl Schmude, presidente della Società Chestertoniana Australiana.

G. K. Chesterton was a prolific writer on all manner of subjects, and my particular focus will be on one vital part of his life and thought; namely, his inner life or spirituality.

When Chesterton was asked to explain why he had become a Catholic, a step which he took rather late in his life, when he was nearly 50, he briefly – and famously – replied: “To get rid of my sins.”{{1}}

This was a surprising and even startling answer – that Chesterton had joined the Catholic Church because of its practical power of dealing with sin. He had, indeed, long been thought to be on the threshold of the Catholic Church. His great work of Christian philosophy, Orthodoxy, was published as early as 1908, a full 14 years before he entered the Catholic Church. On his death in 1936, Cardinal Pacelli (as he then was – later Pope Pius XII) bestowed upon him the title “Defender of the Faith.”

Il resto nel collegamento qui sotto:

https://www.clergy.asn.au/the-inner-life-of-g-k-chesterton/

G.K. Chesterton Became Catholic 100 Years Ago, Drawn In By Jerusalem And Our Lady - di Kevin Turley (EWTN e Catholic Register).

But why did the writer’s conversion take so long?

K.V. Turley, March 8, 2022

On July 30, 1922, at the Railway Hotel, in Beaconsfield, England, G.K. Chesterton became a Catholic. In the absence of a local Catholic church, the Railway Hotel’s Irish landlady had allowed the ballroom to be converted into a makeshift chapel. It was there, beneath a corrugated-iron roof and surrounded by bare wooden walls, the 48-year-old writer entered into full communion with the Church.

What were the reasons for Chesterton taking this step?

And, given his thought and writings on Christianity for many years, why had it taken him so long?

(...)

“Something happened at the Basilica of Ecce Homo,” said Marco Sermarini, president of the Italian Chesterton Society. Speaking to the Register, Sermarini said he thinks that Holy Land trip clarified things irrevocably for the Englishman. “Frances’ diary records that they went three times to the Basilica of Ecce Homo. The first visit, on March 4, was by Frances alone; then they went together, on March 26, in the morning,” he explained, “and, again, for a blessing the next day in the afternoon. There, they had a long conversation with an English nun. We have no other record of this, but it is certain that Chesterton was particularly touched by this place or, perhaps more correctly, everything became clear there.”

C'è dell'altro ancora, con contributi di Dale Ahlquist (presidente della Society of G. K. Chesterton, la Società Chestertoniana Americana), di Karl Schmude (presidente della Società Chestertoniana Australiana) e, come vedete, di Marco Sermarini (il nostro presidente).

Il resto qui sotto:

https://ewtn.co.uk/article-g-k-chesterton-became-catholic-100-years-ago-drawn-in-by-jerusalem-and-our-lady/

G.K. Chesterton Became Catholic 100 Years Ago, Drawn in by Jerusalem and Our Lady | National Catholic Register

A questo articolo di Kevin Turley sul National Catholic Register che ricostruisce la strada percorsa da Chesterton verso la sua conversione, in occasione del suo centenario, hanno contribuito con le loro voci Karl Schmude, president of the Australian Chesterton Society, Dale Ahlquist, president of the Society of G. K. Chesterton (America) e il nostro presidente Marco Sermarini.

Vale la pena di leggerlo anche se in inglese.

https://www.ncregister.com/news/g-k-chesterton-became-catholic-100-years-ago-drawn-in-by-jerusalem-and-our-lady