During his visit to the Salon du livre de Montréal last fall, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt sketched for The Press several of his projects, including the project of a book on music, as well as a “travel diary” – he had just met Pope Francis at the Vatican, at the latter’s invitation.
Said notebook and the head of the Catholic Church actually had a connection: The challenge of Jerusalemwhere the writer recounts his pilgrimages to the Holy Land, in the footsteps of Jesus and his apostles, while evoking introspective journeys on his faith, once as deflated as a flat tire, today proudly claimed.
Throughout his journey, he evokes how each stage resonates (or dissonates) with his beliefs, multiplying discoveries and dialogues, with other pilgrims as well as with himself. For faith does not shield him from doubt; admitting that certain rites, places or faithful of the Christian nebula inspire him rather mistrust and skepticism. Also, from the first chapters he raises the question of his irreversible investment in the Catholic bath, his intellectual foundations resting rather on a Cartesian vision of the world.
How will Quebecers, having generally distanced themselves from steeples, receive this work imbued with Christian spirituality, whose afterword is signed by the hand of the pope in person? Thanks to his gaze mixing lucidity and wonder, Schmitt could possibly capture the attention of hardened atheists; if they keep in mind that the writer does not seek to push others to believe, but to expose and illuminate the roots of his faith, in the light of this journey guided by his biblical compass.
The challenge of Jerusalem
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Albin Michael
224 pages