Christmas is coming, “Journey into the Great Beauty” takes you to the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. We will also visit other beautiful places in the Land of Israel. With Cesare Bocci, Sunday 18 December prime time on Canale 5.
Very strong feeling of entering the Holy Sepulcher – “In Jerusalem, the richness and contrasts of beliefs and cultures are so stark that it leaves one dizzy. Especially if, like me, you visit it for the first time,” the presenter told “Tv, Sorrisi e Canzoni”. “The emotion of entering the Holy Sepulcher was very strong. But I also remember the trips we took out of town and into the desert. For example to Qumran, where they found fragments of an Old Testament text in some amphorae. And at Masada, the plateau where the Jews resisted the Roman siege for years and finally, in AD 73, rather than surrender, killed each other”.
Journey between religions – “We met authorities such as Latin Patriarch Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Western Wall Rabbi Shamuel Rabinovitch, archaeologist Dan Bahat and historian Antonella Bellantuono. But I was most impressed by the dialogue with Adeeb Al.” Hussein who is the keeper of the keys to the Holy Sepulcher,” Bocci explained. “Centuries ago, when Christians often argued about how to deal with local rules, it was decided to entrust the keys to a Muslim family. I asked him, ‘What is it ‘if you lose her?’ And he said, ‘It’s not going to happen, ever. It would be like losing your soul.’