Description
Book SynopsisThe changing attitude of Catholic culture towards modernity
After decades of a problematic, if not plainly hostile, approach to modernity by Catholic culture, the 1960s marked the beginning of a new era. As the Church employed a more positive approach to the world, voices in the Catholic milieu embraced a radical perspective, channeling the need for social justice for the poor and the oppressed. The alternative and complementary world views of ‘universalism’ and ‘liberation’ would drive the engagement of Catholics for generations to come, shaping the idea of international community in Catholic culture. Because of its traditional connection with the papacy and because of its prominent role in the map of European progressive Catholicism, Italy stands out as an ideal case study to follow these dynamics. By locating the Italian scenario in a broader geographical frame, Universalism and Liberation offers a new vantage point from which to investigate the social and political relevance of religion in an age of crisis.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Trade Review'...provides a substantial and important contribution to the debate on the intellectual history of Catholicism and its role in the culture of internationalism in the twentieth century.'Massimo Faggioli, Catholic Historical Review, Autumn 2019 - https://muse.jhu.edu/article/724059
Table of ContentsIntroduction
The context
Definitions and literature
Periodization
The Italian case
Goals of the research
The Catholic Culture and the Idea of International Community
The legacy of 'Traditional Universalism'
From Traditional to New Universalism: a change of climate in the Catholic culture
'New Universalism': the Magisterium's discourse under Paul VI
An alternative perspective? The culture of Liberation
Toward a new season: the reaction of the Magisterium to the culture of Liberation
The Culture of Foreign Policy of Italian Christian Democracy
Democrazia Cristiana (DC), the 'party of the Nation'
The premises: Italian political Catholicism and the idea of international community, from the first postwar to the end of the 1950s
Between Universalism and Nation. Profiling DC's discourse on the international community in the 1960s and 1970s
The implementation of the discourse. DC's culture of foreign policy and Italy's international relations, between foreign and domestic policy
Aldo Moro: Universalism at work
The Italian Catholic World and the Idea of International Community
An overview of the Italian case
The 'official' organizations of the Catholic laity
The non-institutional Catholic world: two case studies
Conclusions
The idea of international community
Catholicism and society in the age of modernity
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of names
Colophon
