In 1864, when he was 20 years old, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a poem to the unknown God:

"Before I go on my way
and set my eyes forward,
I raise again, solitary, my hands
towards You, to whom I take refuge,
to whom in the deepest depths of my heart
I consecrated, solemn, altars
so that at all times your voice,
once more, may call me again.
Open above, deeply inscribed,
the word: To the unknown God:
his I am, and I feel the bonds
that in the struggle bring me down
and, if I want to flee,
force me at last to his service.
I want to know you, Unknown One,
you, who delve into my soul,
who furrows my life like a storm,
you, ungraspable, my like!
I want to know you, I want to serve you".

Many years before, St. Paul had discovered in Athens an altar dedicated "to the unknown God". And he had taken his cue from this expression to begin his famous speech of the Areopagus (cf. Acts 17:22-34), in which he announced the salvation of God manifested in Jesus Christ and tried to explain the Christian message of the resurrection. The Apostle of the Gentiles told them that the Christian God was not alien to their (Greek) culture, but the answer to the deepest questions that that and all other cultures were asking.

On the other hand, in the temple of Jerusalem there was a large space, the "court of the Gentiles," where those who did not share the faith of Israel could meet with the scribes, talk about religion or even pray to that God unknown to them. Jesus came precisely to open the definitive temple (his mystical Body, the Church) to the court of the Gentiles, to tear down the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles (cf. Eph 2:14; Mk 11:17; Jn 2:21). He came to remove "that which is contrary to knowledge and to the common worship of God, thus clearing the space for the worship of all" (J. Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, part two, p. 29).

In our days, the Pope has referred on several occasions to "the unknown God". He did so especially at high school of the Bernardines, Paris (September 12, 2008), to say that the search for God remains the highest manifestation of human reason; just as the availability to listen to him remains the foundation of every true culture.

On December 21, 2009, in a speech to the Roman Curia, Benedict XVI returned to topic, suggesting the opening, in the Church, of a "courtyard of the Gentiles" that would facilitate above all "dialogue with those for whom religion is something strange, for whom God is unknown and who, nevertheless, would not simply want to remain without God, but to approach him at least as Unknown".

Well, the "atrium of the Gentiles" has been launched, organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture committee , to relaunch the dialogue between faith and reason. After a first session in Bologna (February 2011), the second was held in Paris. There, many young people were able to listen to a videoconference with the Pope in front of the atrium of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

On the one hand, he told them, "you non-believers want to challenge believers, demanding of them, in particular, the witness of a life that is consistent with what they profess and rejecting any deviation from religion that makes it inhuman". On the other hand, "you believers want to tell your friends that this treasure you carry within you deserves to be shared, deserves to be questioned, deserves to be reflected upon". In any case, he added, "the question of God is not a danger to society, it does not endanger human life. The question of God should not be absent from the great questions of our time".

Convinced that the meeting between faith and reason is fruitful for man, he warned them, at the same time, that "very often reason bends to the pressure of interests and the attraction of what is useful, obliged to recognize this as the ultimate criterion". For this reason "the search for truth is not easy". But the Gospel calls everyone to decide courageously for the truth, "because there are no shortcuts to happiness and the beauty of a full life". And Jesus says it clearly in the Gospel:"The truth will set you free".

He explained to them that this search is what allows promote fraternity beyond convictions, without denying the differences between believers and non-believers. Since there is no contradiction between a healthy secularity and religion, this begins by helping every human being, which is also a path to God. For this reason, he exhorted them: "Help to break down the walls of fear of the other, of the stranger, of the one who does not resemble you, a fear that is often born of mutual ignorance, skepticism or indifference". He encouraged them to build bridges of dialogue among themselves: "Seek to build closer ties with all young people without distinction, that is, without forgetting those who live in poverty or loneliness, those who suffer because of unemployment, suffer from illness or feel on the margins of society.

Finally, he invited them to enter the cathedral to pray, to seek God without fear, thus walking towards a truly new world. "Open your hearts to the sacred texts, let yourselves be challenged by the beauty of the songs, and if you really want to, let the feelings within you rise up towards the Unknown God."

Indeed, both non-believers and believers would gain from asking themselves, the former, what is the idea of God that they reject (in which they are probably quite right); and the latter, if our life is coherent with a religion that is fully consistent, in turn, with the dignity of man. In this way we will all be able to walk towards God and contribute, as a family, to the Building of a new world.