After last October's important conference ("The New Documents of the Pontificate of Pius XII and their Significance for Jewish-Christian Relations", 9-11 October 2023), the Pontifical Gregorian University continues with new avenues of historical research on the long Pacellian pontificate thanks to the opening of the Vatican Archives. Indeed, they offer a valuable opportunity to explore various aspects of the Holy See's diplomatic action on the international scene during this period, a multifaceted action that adapted to fluid political conditions: from the tragedy of the Second World War to a new world order animated by a desire for peace, but indelibly marked by the divisions fostered by the Cold War.

Against this background, the international conference “Vatican Diplomacy and the Shaping of the West during the Pontificate of Pius XII” (April 18-19, 2014) intends to develop, through a wide range of thematic proposals, the 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.

The conference is 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. In fact, the pontificate of Pius XII represents a crucial historical period for the evolution of the idea of the 'West' and its relationship with the Church and Catholicism. The breadth of published and unpublished sources currently available to scholars also suggests the opportunity to develop research on such wide-ranging topics by networking among academic institutions recognized on the international scene which, in the framework of stable collaboration and in respect of the widest freedom of scientific research, can share and integrate their respective competences in order to open up original and interdisciplinary research paths.

The conference will be inaugurated at the Aula Magna of the Pontifical Gregorian University on Thursday 18 April, at 9 a.m., with institutional greetings by Fr. Délio Mendonça S.J. (Dean of the Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage of the Church - Gregoriana), the opening address by H.E.R. Mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher (Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations) and the introduction to the work by Rev. Roberto Regoli (Director of the Department of Church History - Gregoriana).

The six sessions of the conference are intended to develop a wide range of thematic proposals: the construction of the West (Andrea Ciampani, Kiril Plamen Kartaloff, Gabriele Rigano) and the West of the 'others' (Donato Di Sanzo, Francesco Margiotta Broglio); the rise of the new Anglo-American-driven world order (Massimo de Leonardis, Luca Castagna, Elena Serina); the construction of the European West (Nicholas Joseph Doublet, Marco Figliola); the West seen from the Iron Curtain (Marion Dotter, Marko Trogrlic, Massimiliano Valente, Tamas Veghseo); the Holy See's new relationship with Africa (Sara Ercolani, Kristian Suenens, Elisabeth Bruyere).

The last session will finally be focused on the post-war Middle East, with the creation of the State of Israel (Philippe Chenaux), the partition of the Holy Land and Jerusalem (Angela Cimino) and relations with Iraq up to 1950 (Paolo Maria Leo Cesare Maggiolini).

The detailed programme is available at this link.
Presentations will be in English and Italian; simultaneous translation will not be provided.
Participation is free after registration at www.unigre.it

For more information on the OCCIDENTES Research Project, please visit: occidentes.hypotheses.org

 

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