Romana

The documentary Return to Ithaca is a multimedia report published on the Spanish website of Opus Dei. It follows the story of six people who left God for very different reasons in their youth or adolescence, and then decided to return later on to leading a Christian life.

María Villarino, coordinator of the project, explained that the name of the documentary is based on the island in the Ionian Sea, which is “a symbol of the journey of the person who returns home, the return of Ulysses narrated by Homer in The Odyssey.”

The report, which lasts half an hour, begins with words of Pope Francis: “God is a Father who loves me and awaits my return.” The Pontiff “presents an image of the Church as mother and home, and not as a cold and bureaucratic institution,” Villarino said at the presentation of the documentary on May 31. “Although today many people say they are agnostic, others return to the Church after many years. Suddenly something changes in their lives. These are very intense stories, based on moving experiences or more ordinary events, but which represent a turning point in the person’s life.”