Clothesline of memories and affections

Abstract

In this chronicle of memories and affections, I pay tribute to Prof. Dr. Fr. Edênio dos Reis Valle, who was teacher at PUC-SP since 1971 and died on 10/28/2023. With Prof. Dr. José Queiroz, he implemented and taught in the Postgraduate Program in Study of Religion at this University, and was community vice-rector during the two Nadir Kfouri administrations (1977-1984). My goal is to give voice to the silent love of members of the university community for Edênio. By hanging their memories and their most personal affections on the clothesline offered, “Puquians” outlined a more intimate face of our honoree, inaccessible to systematic curricula. I followed three steps. In the first one, I collected manifestations, which reached me through social media and, above all, through face-to-face testimonies. In the second stage, I tried to organize the collected material; however, given its existential characteristic, occasionally I could not follow a Cartesian logic. The third step was to produce a final text capable of harmonizing the contributions received, which I complemented with my personal memories. This text is divided into three parts: 1. Principles; 2. Culminations; 3. Plain. It combines biographical fragments, the military dictatorship in Brazil, the trajectory of resistance and democracy at PUC-SP, highlighting moments such as the Basic Cycle, the police invasion of the campus and the fire at the Tuca theater. Emphasis is given to the contribution of personalities such as Cardinal Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, the then rector Nadir Kfouri, the vice-rectors Marcos Masetto and Antônio Severino and the rector Maria Amalia Andery (2020-2024). Precious testimonials from teachers, staff, students and collaborators.