The Holy Father had to be nice about the 150th anniversary, of course. And in fact, there are some nice things that can be said, although there are also some very nasty ones indeed.
This very day, Italy stands for all of Christendom against that grotesque parody, the European Union, its secularism recently condemned to us in Durham by the same Curial Cardinal who matter-of-factly advocated social democracy (his term) while telling us that the way to save our seminaries was to have more children.
Part of John's invaluable work is that he is making known to English-speaking readers those post-War Italian Social Catholics who promoted Keynesianism and felt a strong affinity with the domestic policies of the Attlee Government, but who were also sceptical about NATO. Figures to listen to, and even to pray to.
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Thank you very much, Mr. Lindsay. Like most Italian-Americans, I come from largely Southern stock, so I have mixed feelings about the Risorgimento, including its liberalism and anti-clericalism. Hopefully Italians from both the North and the South can get over their differences, perhaps through unity via a strengthened Catholicism.
ReplyDeleteThe Italian Social Catholic tradition included Southerners such as Aldo Moro and Giorgio La Pira and Northerners such as Amintore Fanfani and Giuseppe Lazzati.
The ruling on the matter of crucifixes in public schools is great news and is yet another example of why Italians specifically and Europeans in general should avoid becoming too Americanized.
Giuseppe Dossetti may have been naïve about the Soviet Union, but he was right to be wary of too much American influence in Italy and Europe in general.