
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The presentations can address both unexplored and already studied themes, based upon an innovative approach and/or unpublished documentation, as well as proposing a broader interpretative frameworks.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 participate click here: A Christian Revolution. Dialogues on Social Justice and Democracy Between Europe and the Americas, 1945-1965
https://theologyjournal.spbu.ru/article/view/15617
Thanks to the opening of the Vatican archives concerning the pontificate of Pius XII, it is possible to shed light on how between 1947 and 1949 the Secretariat of State of the Holy See faced with the crisis between the Communist government of Czechoslovakia and the Catholic Church. In the context of secularisation after the Second World War, the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia faced a wave of anti-religious persecution by members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which gradually gained prestige in society from 1946 up to the events of February 1948 (the so-called “Victorious February”) when the Communists assumed leading positions in the political system of the country. This study, based on archival data, provides an insight into the following aspects of these critical years: a deeper understanding of the chronological links of events; the reasons and aims of the modi operandi of the Vatican and the local episcopate; the bilateral relations between the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and the bishops of Czechoslovakia and their interaction in opposing the anti-church policies of the state; the reasons why the number of adherence to the so-called “Catholic Action” movement was much lower than that expected of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia; Pius XII’s closeness to the Catholic clergy and believers in Czechoslovakia.
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