Born in 1914, Andrei Bloom, shared the destiny of many Russians, who after the revolution of 1917 emigrated to Europe. Amidst a childhood of frequent hardship and marginalisation, Andrei, at the age of 14, experienced an unlikely but definitive encounter with Christ, which radically changed his view of the world, and gave him the insight to later remark that: “The Lord took us like seeds and scattered us all around the world.” Then follows the story of his vocation, first as doctor and monk in France, then as a priest and, ultimately, bishop in Britain. For years he was the free voice of an oppressed Church, bound to silence in the atheistic Soviet Union.
For me to live is Christ builds upon the words encounter and freedom, which guide us through six sections representative of those encounters and unexpected circumstances which changed Anthony’s life and opened the road to a deeper understanding of reality and human encounters in the light of the Gospel. This theme of freedom is then developed through the quotes printed in light blue around the main panels of the exhibition, whose aim is to enlighten the visitor’s reading of the exhibition by giving Anthony’s own understanding of the life and experiences here described.
