. – History of Christianity (general course – 1° term- cannot be repeated)
PROFESSOR GIAN LUCA POTESTÀ
. – History of Christianity (advanced course – 2° term)
PROFESSOR MARIA PAIANO
. – History of Christianity (general course – 1° term- cannot be repeated)
PROFESSOR GIAN LUCA POTESTÀ
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff
COURSE AIMS
Introduce students to the main bibliographical tools, reference works,
collections of texts; learn to critically read written and iconographic sources; gain
familiarity with studies and current research projects into international
historiography related to the history of Christianity.
COURSE CONTENT
Historical outline of Christianity from the beginning of the sixteenth century up to
the present, with particular emphasis on the following topics:
Christians, Jews, Muslims in the West between the late Middle Ages and the
beginning of the Modern Age. The colonisation of America and missions in the
new worlds. Reform and reforms in the sixteenth century. The Roman reaction,
transformation of the structure of control and new religious orders. Missions in
Eastern Asia (sixteenth-seventeenth centuries). Religious wars and confessional
conflicts. Ecclesiastical discipline strategies and practices. Christianity as an
interior religion and daily practice: Pietism. Churches, Papacy, religious orders
faced with Modernity and Revolution. The Catholic Church, the Restoration and
the status of Christianity between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The
Roman church and religion of the Risorgimento: prophets, martyrs and saints. The
Roman church and the eradication of “modernism”. Churches, colonialism and
wars at the beginning of the twentieth century. Christian churches and
totalitarianism. Christian experiences under the communist, Fascist and Nazi
regimes: co-existence and resistance. Papacy and Jews within the twentieth
century. Prospects and ecumenical achievements. The Second Vatican Council.
The papacies between Paul VI and Frances. Forms of Christianity at the beginning
of the third millennium.
READING LIST
1) Lecture notes, including material (text, maps and images) distributed or made available by the
tutor in electronic form.
2) G. L. POTESTÀ – G. VIAN, Storia del cristianesimo, Nuova edizione, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014,
chapters between 16 and 24.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral examination.
NOTES
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
Students unable to attend lectures will replace the course notes and material with the indepth study of one of the following subjects:
- G. VIAN, Il modernismo. La Chiesa cattolica in conflitto con la modernità, Carocci, Roma 2012
- J. O'MALLEY, Che cosa è successo nel Vaticano II, Vita e Pensiero, Milano 2010
Students may see Professor G. L. Potestà after lectures or by appointment.
. – History of Christianity (advanced course – 2° term)
PROFESSOR MARIA PAIANO
TEXT UNDER REVISION. NOT YET APPROVED BY ACADEMIC STAFF
COURSE AIMS
The course intends to make the students have a critical attitude towards the History
of contemporary Catholicism by examining the historiographical debate on the
subject it deals with. It also intends to make the students develop the ability to
analyse and contextualize the historical-religious sources.
COURSE CONTENT
The course examines Catholics’ attitudes to the war during the last two centuries.
The first part is dedicated to a short description of the Christian tradition on the
war from the origin to the Modern age. A second part illustrates the reworking of
this tradition in the Nineteenth century, particularly by some intellectuals who
influenced the Catholic culture in the following century, too. Then it will focus the
positions of the Catholic Hierarchy and (as far as the state of the studies permits it)
of the different Catholic circles on specific conflicts: from European rebellions in
the Nineteenth to the Italian Risorgimento, the colonial wars and the two World
Wars. It will dedicate specific attention to the initiatives and reflections that in the
second part of the Twentieth century tried to introduce some new elements in the
Catholic speech on war and on peace.
READING LIST
1) Notes of the lessons and photocopies given by the teacher
2) One of the following essays:
- M. TOSCHI, Pace e Vangelo: La tradizione cristiana di fronte alla guerra, Queriniana, Brescia
1980 (antologia di testi)
-G. MICCOLI, La guerra nella storia e nella teologia cristiana. Un problema a molteplici facce, in
Pace e guerra nella Bibbia e nel Corano, Morcelliana, Brescia 2002, pp.103-141.
- Chiesa e guerra dalla «benedizione delle armi» alla «Pacem in terris», a cura di M.
Franzinelli e R. Bottoni, Il Mulino, Bologna 2005 (una scelta di 8 saggi)
- D. MENOZZI, Chiesa, pace e guerra nel Novecento, Il Mulino, Bologna 2008
- La spada e la croce. I cappellani italiani nelle due guerre mondiali, a cura di G. Rochat,
atti del convegno di studi sulla Riforma e i movimenti religiosi in Italia (Torre Pellice,
28-30 agosto 1994), Fascicolo monografico del «Bollettino della Società di studi
valdesi», giugno 1995, n. 176.
- Religione, nazione e guerra nel primo conflitto mondiale, a cura di D. Menozzi, fascicolo
monografico della «Rivista di storia del cristianesimo», 2/2006, pp. 305-408.
- La Chiesa e la guerra. I cattolici italiani nel primo conflitto mondiale, a cura di D.
Menozzi, fascicolo monografico di «Humanitas», 6/2008, pp. 900-992
- R. MOROZZO DELLA ROCCA, Cappellani militari e preti-soldati (1915-1919), Studium, Roma 1980
- G. MICCOLI, I dilemmi e i silenzi di Pio XII. Vaticano, Seconda guerra mondiale e Shoah, Rizzoli,
Milano 2000.
- L. CECI, Il papa non deve parlare. Chiesa, fascismo e guerra d’Etiopia, Laterza, Bari-Roma
2010.
- Clero e guerre spagnole in età contemporanea (1808-1939), a cura di Alfonso Botti,
Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2011.
If interested in a specific aspect of the subject of the course, the students can agree on
another text with the teacher..
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures with critical analysis of the sources.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral Examination.
NOTES
The students who cannot come to lesson have to study for the examination two texts,
chosen in the list published in the teacher’s web page, or settled together with the teacher.
Time and place for consulting the teacher: On Thursdays, after the lesson.