A Life-Altering Experience

By Lee Wallace

“Italy is not a Catholic country, but it has a Catholic culture.”
– Dr. Caputo, 2011

THIS SIMPLE QUOTE, with a few words, is the most clear, concise and confounding statement that I have ever heard. It is also the foundation for beginning to understand the culture of Cagli. Understanding the difference is not as trivial as putting words on a page or declaring a list of bullet points. One must descend below the surface, casting off preconceived notions and cultural blinders. If I can leave Cagli after our short time here and actually begin to understand the depth and breadth of Dr. Caputo’s words, it will have been a life-altering experience. This is a part of what it means to become a global citizen.

Arriving in Cagli, one’s first impressions include Catholicism. There is a Catholic church in every neighborhood, and Catholic symbolism is unmistakable everywhere you gaze. Centuries-old buildings display biblical motifs, people of importance in the history and teachings of the church are honored with statuary in the piazzas and streets named in their honor. What appears like the majority of the town’s residents celebrate every Catholic holiday, regardless of importance, with a pomp and circumstance that is both reverential and joyous. Nearly every home is adorned with at least one crucifix or religious artwork, both inside and out. It would be easy for one to conclude from these clues that Cagli is a city deeply bounded by Catholicism and loyalty to the Holy See.

What I am beginning to learn, however, is that symbolism, respect and deference to Catholicism does not make the town, or the country for that matter, a Catholic town. The fabric of Cagliese culture has been woven with threads of Catholicism intertwined with competing threads. As Americans, we cannot easily grasp the depth of influence and foundational importance to the cultural attitudes, norms and value structures those centuries of Catholic evolution have embedded in the essence of what Cagli is all about.

Is Cagli a Catholic town, or does it merely have a Catholic culture, and what exactly is the difference? In the days that remain, I will continue to seek the knowledge and depth of understanding that might enable me to not only articulate answers, but feel them as well.