Romana

The Sumaré Center for University Studies in São Paulo opened the academic year on March 15 with a lecture by the well-known Brazilian poet Bruno Tolentino. The topic selected in agreement with the speaker was “Life is Metaphysics.”

Tolentino has published a large body of work in Portuguese, English, French, and Italian. After some years spent teaching at Oxford, he returned to Brazil ten years ago. He has published five books and has been awarded three Jabuti prizes, the country’s most prestigious literary award, in addition to receiving other distinctions.

In his talk he developed the idea that human life, even in its simplest and most ordinary manifestations, cannot be explained if one does not take into account its transcendent dimension, although so many people ignore it. Using verses from the Brazilian poet Cecilia Meireles, Tolentino emphasized the role that memory has in the perception of transcendence, especially in the definitive reality of death.

The conference was attended by university students and young professionals. Some of them take part in the means of formation offered by Opus Dei, and a number are part of a philosophy study group that meets weekly at the center.