The book “Conversations on Christianity” introduced by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi exalts Napoleon Bonaparte’s catholic soul: this sensitivity exhibited by the exiled emperor on the island of Santa Elena contributes to the religious solemnity of Christmas.
Napoleon: «The birth of Jesus, the history of his life, the depth of his dogma that reaches the maximum of difficulty, dogma that is at the same time the most admirable explanation of his life, his Gospel, the singularity of this mysterious being, his appearance, his kingdom, his victory over time, centuries and civilizations, all this for me is a wonder, an unfathomable mystery… that projects me into an ecstatic meditation from which I cannot return. Moreover, we all know that science and philosophy do not serve in any way for our salvation, and Jesus comes into the world to reveal the secrets of Heaven, and the laws of the soul. To Him the soul is enough, as He is enough for the soul; before Him the soul was nothing, since matter and time were the masters of the world. After Him, all has been restored to the right place, and science and philosophy have been brought back to their secondary role of man’s destiny. With him, the soul has regained its sovereignty, and all the scaffold of philosophical speculation collapses, by the power of only one word of his: Faith».
