The Christ of the Abyss

Bronze sculpture of the sculptor Guido Galletti (1893-1977), this Christ of the Abyss rests, seventeen meters deep, in the bay of San Fruttuoso di Camogli, in Liguria, where he was immersed by the Italian Navy 22 August 1954. With open arms, gaze turned to the surface, he blesses the sailors, while every last Saturday of July, above him, a ceremony is held in memory of all those who died at sea. Magnificent symbol, among many others, of this Christian civilization which, for more than fifteen centuries, has irrigated Europe. And no, as one might think, one of the archaeological remains of a sunken civilization. It is because, for forty years or so, the Old Continent has put a lot of energy into turning the page of its long and rich Christian history, to forget its baptism even though, everywhere else, or almost seems to witness a strong return of the religious. Should we, for all that, speak of the "dechristianization" of Europe or, rather, of the metamorphosis of European Christianity?