Scrolling through the uninterrupted flow of social media, between algorithms that reward speed and content that vanishes in the space of a click, one can come across a voice that seems to inhabit a different temporal dimension. In a society that convulsively mirrors itself in the web, where discussions and interactions define new identity boundaries on a daily basis, the need emerges to study the figures that animate these sentiments and that the web itself has chosen as interpreters of the present.

It is in this context that Paolo Gambi ‘s profile takes on particular significance. A journalist with solid international experience, gained in fifteen years as Contributing Editor for the British Catholic Herald, and a prolific writer with over thirty books to his credit, Gambi has been able to build a massive following precisely on digital platforms. Through the ‘Poetic Renaissance’ movement, he has brought poetry and spirituality back into the virtual squares, garnering thousands of shares and fuelling a debate that, at first glance, appears rooted in a conservative aesthetic and an old-fashioned Christian fervour.

However, observing the extent of its social impact, a question arises spontaneously: what is really behind this narrative of Beauty? Does Gambi represent a nostalgic voice or is he rather the more modern face of a Europe that, tired of being ‘irrelevant’, seeks refuge in a new trench of roots and identity? The following interview tries to dig behind the surface of this activist of thought, to understand whether his language is a bridge towards a new humanism or the architecture of a closure that the Continent can no longer ignore. We discover this by talking to him, taking him to a terrain where the suggestion of faith must confront the complexity of coexistence and civil responsibility.

Full interview:

Q: You are a writer, journalist and observer of spirituality. Your narration of beauty seems to coincide with an aesthetic dear to the Italian conservative right. Do you feel you are an interpreter of this sentiment or do you think your proposal transcends Italian political dynamics anyway?

A: Look, political categories don’t belong to me. I don’t do politics, I don’t come from that world and I don’t think they are the right categories to understand the present, especially if we are talking about beauty. The aesthetic categories I refer to are rooted in spiritual experiences. I believe that the West has a deep spiritual dimension that has been gradually hidden since the Enlightenment. This aesthetic approach starts from the Renaissance, Roman experiences and proto-Christianity: it is part of our world that cannot be read through the filters of politics. When you label something as ‘right’ or ‘left’ you only tell half the reality; we must learn to get out of this mechanism that polarises everything.

Q: You have been Contributing Editor for the Catholic Herald for fifteen years. In his latest novel, “The Proof of My Innocence”, Jonathan Coe accurately sketches the British neocon environments that have profoundly changed British thought and identity. Do you think there is part of that Anglo-Saxon debate and those experiences that changed the defence of the West in your communication?

A: Definitely. I was formed in years when many people were looking at London and I was influenced by the English system. That system managed to sum up all the components of society: the Monarchy, the Aristocracy in the House of Lords and the people in the House of Commons. Until recently, English society was in balance; today I see it lost because they have worked against their roots. My experiences have made me realise that the poles of understanding the present are different from those we use in Italy: the issue is no longer left and right, but the defence of a system based on the values of the West against alternatives that deny the human being in the image of God.

Q: Many read in your defence of Christianity a closure, particularly towards the Islamic faith. Don’t you fear that the language of faith may fuel a fire of intolerance that is already high in Europe? How can real integration be built in a continent where the Islamic presence is now structural?

A: Our civilisation is based on freedoms and rights that exist because there is a Jewish-Christian substratum. The problem is that you cannot integrate Islam within this scheme if Islam does not accept individual rights. There are those who hope for a version of Islam that accepts equality, but I think this is impossible at this stage in history. We must distinguish: those who live Islam as a faith are free to do so; but those who live it as an ideology that wants to subvert the West must be treated as such.

Q: Conservatives often feel like figures ‘under siege’ by a dominant culture. Do you find yourself in this definition and feel you have to legitimise your content in a world that looks with suspicion on terms like roots, homeland or tradition?

A: I don’t really feel like either an intellectual or a conservative in the strict sense. I am identified this way because in Italy it is difficult to raise issues that disturb the ‘real’ conservatives, i.e. the current left. Today, many follow slogans like ‘woke’ without awareness. The battle is not so much in the content, but in the mechanism: we need to develop critical thinking instead of parroting empty slogans.

Q: Which political model should guide the renaissance of the continent? Do you stand for a federal Europe or for a Europe of peoples and nations, as it resonates most in Eastern Europe today?

A: I am an early Europeanist, but the centralisation of power must be stopped. The control built in Brussels, similar to the ‘towers of Mordor’, manages regulations to please lobbyists. Current model demonstrates an inability to create healthy relationships. The result is that Europe has become irrelevant on the world chessboard. Those with brains are wondering: if Mario Draghi himself starts asking such profound questions about the mechanism itself, we should all ask ourselves some questions.

The meeting with Paolo Gambi leaves on the table a question that goes beyond the perimeter of an interview. At a time when feeling ‘Christian’ is perceived by some as a safe haven and by others as a weapon of exclusion, how much do faith and spirituality weigh today in the construction of European identity?

The question arises as to whether the Christian socio-cultural context is slipping towards a new form of isolation, risking becoming – depending on the perspective – an environment discriminated against by dominant currents or, on the contrary, itself discriminating. The voices that inhabit social media are increasingly polarised, often reduced to slogans that feed the anonymous and empty ‘click’. And yet, Gambi’s experience shows that behind every digital interaction there is a content waiting to be explored and studied, far from prejudice.

The question remains: will the rediscovery of these roots be the leaven for a new dialogue or the brick for a final trench?

In this fast-paced society, stopping to study the interpreters of common sentiment is no longer just an exercise in style, but a civic necessity in order not to be trapped in an eternal present without memory.