
Vatican Diplomacy and the Shaping of the West during the Pontificate of Pius XII – Rome, Pontifical Gregorian University, 18-19 April 2024

The opening of the Vatican archives from the period of Pius XII offers a precious opportunity to examine in greater detail various aspects of the diplomatic action of the Holy See on the international plane during this long pontificate, a multifaceted action that adapted to fluid political conditions, from the tragedy of a Second World War, to a new world order animated by a desire for peace, yet one indelibly marked by the divisions fostered by the Cold War.
It was the firm belief of Pius XII, nurtured since the last years of the pontificate of his predecessor Achille Ratti (Pius XI), that only in a return to a truly Christian civilization, and a world view inspired by Christian principles, could a strong enough antidote to the evils of war, atheism and materialism be found, providing a solid foundation for a new international order assuring a lasting world peace.
This inner conviction had to come to terms, especially after the end of the Second World War, with the emergence of an idea of Western civilization – conveyed by the growing processes of economic, political, cultural, and social globalization – as an organic entity, animated by the same basic democratic values and a capitalist model of development, with the United States setting the agenda, in contrast to an Eastern bloc, under the grips of Communist ideology.
Against this background, how and to what extent the action of papal diplomacy, from the outbreak of the Second World War to the end of Pius XII’s pontificate, was inspired by or conveyed peculiar visions of the West is the theme that the proposed conference – jointly promoted by Pontifical Gregorian University, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Universidad de Navarra, Universidade Católica Portuguesa and University of Malta within the framework of the OCCIDENTES research project – intends to develop, through a wide range of thematic proposals:
The presentations can address both unexplored and already studied themes, based upon an innovative approach and/or unpublished documentation, as well as proposing a broader interpretative frameworks. Please submit an abstract (max. 2000 characters) with a short CV and a list of publications to occidentespiusxii@gmail.com by not later than 31 July 2023.
Successful proposers will be informed by 15 October 2023. The conference will take place at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome) on 18 and 19 April 2024. Travel and accommodation expenses will be borne by the participants. The presentations may be either in English, Italian, French or Spanish. More articulated articles based upon the presentations will be published at a later date.
Coordinating Committee: Nicholas Doublet, Roberto Regoli, Paolo Valvo
Scientific Committee: Mireno Berrettini, Philippe Chenaux, Andrea Ciampani, Massimo de Leonardis, Nicholas Doublet, Andras Fejerdy, Paulo Fontes, Andreas Gottsmann, Mario L. Grignani, Emilia Hrabovec, Pablo Pérez Lopez, Laura Pettinaroli, Roberto Regoli, Kathleen Sprow-Cummings, Massimiliano Valente, Paolo Valvo
To join remotely click here: Un mondo a misura di Vangelo? Il progetto sociale sinarchista in Messico, tra utopia e realtà
to participate click here: A Christian Revolution. Dialogues on Social Justice and Democracy Between Europe and the Americas, 1945-1965
In the context of the fiftieth anniversary of the “Capela do Rato case”, there will be, on the 23rd and 24th of February 2023, at the Catholic University of Portugal, the Study Days on “Religious Currents in the Face of Decolonization”, carried out in partnership with Comissão Comemorativa 50 anos 25 de Abril. The goals of the initiative are to promote historiographical debate on the positions of religious groups in dealing with decolonization since the end of World War II. These conferences, which will be held in hybrid mode (in person and online), are part of the research project “25 de Abril: permanências, ruturas e recomposições”, underway at the Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa (UCP-CEHR).
Decolonization will be approached from different angles by the speakers: the singularity of the Portuguese case by Bruno Cardoso Reis (CEI-ISCTE/IUL), gender issues by Isabel Santos (UCP-CEHR) and António Matos Ferreira (UCP-CEHR), the churches of Eastern Europe by Madalena Resende (IPRI-NOVA), and contemporary civic and religious consciousness by António Matos Ferreira. The four panels will bring together about 20 researchers from different universities around topics related to decolonization, international and transnational oppositions and dynamics, women and resistance, and the positions of religious institutions and Christian currents.
For more information (Program & zoom link):
http://icm.ft.lisboa.ucp.pt/site/custom/template/ucptpl_fac.asp?SSPAGEID=1004&lang=1&artigoID=18628
28 May 2022, 9:00-14:00 – The Archbishop’s Curia, Floriana (Malta)
https://church.mt/zoom-the-world-is-a-sea
Programme
Il Mediterraneo negli archivi di Pio XII
(Maria Chiara Rioli – Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
Religione e politiche internazionali nello spazio mediterraneo
(Massimo de Leonardis – Emeritus, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Il Mediterraneo nel discorso pubblico di Pio XII
(Roberto Regoli – Pontificia Università Gregoriana)
I cattolici italiani e il Mediterraneo
(Paolo Valvo – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Les Catholiques francais et le cadre méditerranéen de la Libération à la guerre d’Algérie
(Dominique Avon – école Pratique des Hautes études)
A Sea with its Centre in the Pope’s Rome: the Mediterranean in the Horizons of Civilization of Spanish National Catholicism
(Carlos Veci Lavín – Universidad de Navarra)
Forging a Maltese State – Projects of Civilization articulated in the Clash between Church and State, 1921-1964
(Nicholas Joseph Doublet – University of Malta)
A Mediterranean Island at a Crossroads: 1950’s Malta within the British Empire
(Simone Azzopardi – University of Malta)
Link for meeting: https://church.mt/zoom-the-world-is-a-sea
WHICH WEST FOR WHICH CHURCH?
The Time of Pius XII (1939-1958)
Launching Seminar of the International Research project “OCCIDENTES. Horizons and Projects of Civilization in the Church of Pius XII”
Introductory remarks
Paolo VALVO (Researcher in Contemporary History, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
Speakers
Philippe NEMO (Director, Ecole Professorale de Paris)
John POLLARD (Emeritus, Trinity Hall, Cambridge)
Discussants
Pablo PÉREZ LÓPEZ (Director, Department of History, Universidad de Navarra)
Roberto REGOLI (Director, Department of Church History, Pontificia Università Gregoriana)
Final remarks
Paulo FONTES (Director, Centre of Religious History Studies, Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
Friday 10 December 2021
Microsoft Teams Platform, 4 PM – 5:30 PM
Largo A. Gemelli, 1 – Milan