Clash of Faiths: 19th Century Italy
We went to the theater on Thursday evening last week at the new Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis. The newly opened building is nothing short of a show in itself. Not being a student of architecture I can't give a critique other than to say the mix of windows, mirrors, lighting and open space makes it an experience to explore.

We went to see a play called Edgardo Mine by the Pulitzer, Tony, and Oscar winning playwright, Alfred Uhry. It is based on the true story presented in the book The Kidnapping of Egardo Mortara by David I. Kertzer. It is set in Bologna in the mid-19th Century where a Christian nanny in a Jewish home innocently baptizes young Edgardo when she thinks he's going to die and end up going to hell which all Jews do. Several years later the Cardinal and Pope learn that a "Christian" child is living with Jews- which is against the law. The Papal police show up at the Mortara household and take Edgardo away.

This kicks off an international uproar but in the midst of which the Pope remains adamant. In the end, the Edgardo Mortara affair was one of the instrumental events that led to the downfall of the Papal States and the unification of Italy. But far deeper than that is the pain and earth-shattering impact on Edgardo's mother who becomes a crusader for his freedom. Even years later when Edgardo has grown to be a priest, she continues the rock-solid stand she started with when he was taken.

Many issues are raised, of course, in such a play. The place of faith- or lack thereof; the closed and non-movable position on non-Christians; the role of the church in life; the politics that have played such an entwined role in the church since Constantine first saw that he could "conquer" under the sign of the cross. In an era when religious in-fighting, religious-based terrorism and hatred, and the attempts to meld religion and politics is as strong as ever, Edgardo Mine is a play that will certainly afflict the comfortable.

Which is probably a good idea.