24 Jun Safeguarding an Immense Heritage of Love and Faith: Why the Saint Veronica Giuliani Foundation (E.T.S.)?
On May 31, 2024, the Monastery of the Capuchin Poor Clares of Città di Castello took a step of profound historical and spiritual foresight: the establishment of the Saint Veronica Giuliani Foundation (E.T.S.), a private legal entity based within the Monastery itself.
This decision was not driven by bureaucratic necessity, but rather by a deep awareness: that of being custodians of a legacy that transcends time and the physical walls of the convent. The Foundation serves as a bridge between the Monastery’s centuries-old memory and the present day, with the goal of preserving, renewing, and sharing the incredibly rich spiritual and cultural heritage bequeathed by the Saint.
An Act of Responsibility: Safeguarding the Truth of the Message
The creation of the Foundation is, first and foremost, an act of responsibility. As nuns, we have always been dedicated to welcoming pilgrims and spreading the story of Veronica; however, we recognized that the growing interest in the Saint, both in Italy and abroad, risked being diluted by superficial or even entirely incorrect interpretations.
Saint Veronica Giuliani was an extraordinary mystic and the author of 22,000 pages of diaries. This vast body of writing is fertile ground, yet it is extremely treacherous for anyone attempting to approach it without the necessary rigor. It is fundamental to understand that Veronica was a woman who lived between the 17th and 18th centuries. Projecting her figure onto our own time without the proper historical and theological keys to interpretation risks falling into anachronism—or, worse, fundamentalism.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing narratives that, in the name of supposed originality or a taste for the bizarre, ridicule the Saint’s mystical experiences. These accounts interpret them with the sarcasm typical of a certain virtual culture that entirely ignores the pietas and the theology of vicarious suffering characteristic of the Baroque era. The Foundation was born precisely to oppose this “anachronistic gaze” which, lacking exegetical tools, ends up overwhelming the profound meaning of these women’s lives, treating them as objects of prurient curiosity rather than as witnesses to an ardent faith.
Scientific Rigor Against the Risk of Manipulation
Presenting Saint Veronica to a broad, contemporary audience requires profound expertise. As Paul Ricoeur noted, “only by interpreting can we believe.” This means liberating Veronica’s mystical experience from the encrustations of Baroque language—which reveals the truth but remains distinct from the truth itself.
The Foundation is committed to fostering scientific studies capable of distinguishing between the literal sense and the deeper meaning of the Saint’s writings. This work of cultural and spiritual “translation” responds to an ethical necessity: that of purifying our memory. Not everything belonging to the past is salvageable: extreme penitential practices and theologies of suffering that cause us embarrassment today—and which were the fruit of “dark” and less-than-evangelical centuries—must be greeted with respect, but also with the courage to make distinctions. The Foundation strives to be the place where this discernment is practiced, in order to restore to the faithful the authentic heart of Veronica’s encounter with God.
A New Springtime of Memory and Reconciliation
The work of the Foundation does not stop at documentary preservation—though that is fundamental, as evidenced by the restoration of her precious diaries—but extends to the promotion of a new ecclesial awareness. We are called to a process of reconciliation with the past, asking forgiveness on behalf of the Church for the distorted or abusive ideas of God that were imposed in the past, however well-intentioned, upon so many courageous women.
In this sense, the Saint Veronica Giuliani Foundation (E.T.S.) represents a wager on the future. Veronica’s spiritual testament—”I have found Love, Love has allowed itself to be found”—becomes the appeal that the Foundation embraces. We want to keep this search alive, share it, and ensure that the pain of the past, inscribed in the stones and papers of these places, transforms into a fruitful opportunity for rebirth.
Supporting the Foundation means actively participating in this process of purifying our memory, safeguarding a charismatic heritage that, even amidst the shadows of past centuries, remains one of the highest peaks of Christian female spirituality. We invite all friends, pilgrims, and seekers of meaning to join us on this journey, so that the experience of Veronica Giuliani may continue to shine—not as a prurient myth or an anachronistic curiosity, but as a living testimony to that wisdom of the heart which the modern world, in its ceaseless rush, risks forgetting. The door of the Monastery, through the Foundation, remains wide open: an invitation to reread pain, love, and faith not as relics, but as a path toward rediscovering Love.