This course aims to equip students with the critical tools necessary for studying contemporary Catholicism. This will be achieved through discussions on the monographic theme of political cults, with a particular focus on the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi. Adopting a comparative approach, the course considers the various forms that Catholic culture has taken in relation to the multifaceted phenomenon of modernity, including the secularisation of public space and society, the sacralisation of politics, the formation of nation states, the development of industrial capitalism and its unprecedented means of communication, the rise of mass politics and its ideologies, the conflict between scientific autonomy and religious tradition, and the globalisation of religions.
The objective of this course is for students to demonstrate mastery of the themes and methods of contemporary Catholic Church history, with a focus on religious cultures as meaning systems capable of feeding rhetoric, ideological schemes, symbolic forms, cults, liturgies, and social practices with inextricable political value. The goal is to become acquainted with the historical-religious specialist lexicon; to orient oneself with regard to the international historiographical debate on the history of Catholicism in the age of secularization; and to develop appropriate techniques of reading and critical interpretation of sources for the history of the Church through seminars or written reports.
AIMS
The teaching aims to:
- convey knowledge of the main historiographical issues related to modern and contemporary Roman Catholicism, with a focus on the international scientific debate;
- identify the importance of Roman Catholicism in shaping the modern and contemporary world, as well as the role of Catholic culture in political and social conflicts;
- bring out the distinctive approach of religious history, focusing on the cultural and political history of modern and contemporary Catholicism;
- apply the understanding of the themes, methods and sources of the history of Catholicism in the age of secularisation to a specific monographic topic;
- train students in the analysis and interpretation of primary sources for the history of Catholicism (press, documents, images, audio-visual sources) as an integral part of the cultural history of modern politics.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students should:
a) know and be able to argue with appropriate language the problems and questions of method pertaining to the religious history of the modern and contemporary age, adequately illustrating the themes of the historiographical debate on Church, politics and society from the 18th to the 21st century.
b) know how to reorganise these notions and categories by applying them to the analysis of the documents presented in class and linking them to the reference bibliography.
c) be able to manage one's social interactions with a collaborative attitude, constructive communication and willingness to overcome prejudices (social competence - advanced level);
d) show decision-making autonomy, collaborative attitude and the ability to understand and find synthesis between different points of view (project management competence - basic level).
A basic knowledge of modern and contemporary history is required.
Teaching will mainly consist of lectures, although discussion sessions, reading of texts and analysis of iconographic sources will be included. Dialogue with the teacher and other students is a fundamental part of the teaching method and aims to promote a critical approach, consolidate knowledge and acquire the language of the discipline.
Regular attendance is therefore recommended.
During the course, working groups may be organised to analyse and comment on a range of sources, based on the knowledge and methodologies acquired in class. Each group may briefly present to the others the result of the discussion, conceived as a concise critical introduction to the analysed source.
Classes will be held in person. Only those who make an express request at the beginning of the course due to specific needs (e.g. working students or those who are objectively unable to attend) will be able to follow the classes remotely via streaming and recordings on Microsoft Teams. If you do this, you will be considered as not attending for all purposes (including for the purposes of the required exam texts).
Information and materials relating to the course will be made available on the Aulaweb platform.
The course focuses on the role of Catholic culture in shaping political identities and the concept of society itself, emphasising the analysis of cultural dimensions and models of sanctity. Catholic discourse and religious practices will be analysed along the following lines: the dialectic between the Roman centre and the peripheries; a comparison of the Christian ideology and the outcomes of the 'double revolution', including the hegemony of nationalism (including its totalitarian developments); the massification of society; the rise of the culture industry and the 'consumption of faith'; the emergence of a Catholic public opinion; and the late 20th-century myth of 'global development'.
The course is divided into two parts.
1. The first part (30 hours) addresses the main methodological and interpretative issues inherent in the study of Catholic cultures in the contemporary world. This block of lectures illustrates how the 'new political history' has transformed the critical perception of religious history and how the 'new political history of Christianity' diverges from the history of political Catholicism. A number of key concepts will be examined in this regard, including modernity/modernisation, secularisation, religious revival, popular religion, intransigence and the sacralisation of politics/politicisation of religion. Through case studies such as the liturgical movement, devotion to the Pope and the cult of the papacy, Marian devotion and the cult of the Sacred Heart, the lectures will introduce the discussion of the politicisation of cults, liturgy and sanctity as factors of symbolic integration and elements of ambivalent modernity. This modernity is characterised by mass politics, capitalist processes of mediatisation (print capitalism and mass media), urbanisation, globalisation and the 'feminisation of faith'.
2. The second part (30 hours) will explore a monographic theme within this interpretative framework: Inventing St. Francis of Assisi: Myths and Narratives of a Global Icon. To mark the 800th anniversary of the death of Italy's patron saint (1226–2026), this section will examine the various meanings of his model of sainthood during the 19th and 20th centuries: Franciscus Romanus, Vir Catholicus et Totus Apostolicus, anti-modern hero and defender of the papacy; the saint of Christian Democracy; the saint of Modernism; 'the most Italian of all saints, and the most saintly of all Italians'; the saint of ecumenism and the 'new universalism' of personalism; the saint of pacifism.
Particular attention will be paid to:
ATTENDING STUDENTS are required to prepare the following materials:
A. Mandatory texts
Books
Articles and book chapters
B. Course materials, slides e texts shared on Aulaweb.
C. A monograph, monographic dossier or collection of essays from the following:
NON-ATTENDING students are required to prepare the following materials:
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EXAM FOR 6 CFU
C. Two articles/book chapters from the following:
Ricevimento: By appointment (both remotely and in person) upon emailing: matteo.caponi@unige.it Via Balbi 2, second floor.
MATTEO CAPONI (President)
ENRICA ASQUER
GURI SCHWARZ (Substitute)
February 2026.
Non-attending students: oral exam only.
Attending students may replace part of the assignments (SECTIONS A and C) with a written paper of 15,000 - 20,000 characters. this paper, the subject of which must be agreed upon with the teacher, is expected to be a critical note on a book or group of essays from section C, demonstrating the capability to make historiographical connections with the texts from section A.
The written paper and the oral exam allow the skills acquired to be rated.
The skills developed both with respect to the historiography of Roman Catholicism in the modern and contemporary age and to the specific monographic theme of the course will be assessed. The achievement of the training objectives will be assessed on the basis of the following elements: a) mastery of the topics dealt with; b) degree of critical awareness; c) ability to apply knowledge to a specific topic; d) use of the specialised language of the discipline.
