A peculiar pluralism

Abstract

In this article, we shall describe the complexity and differentiation that characterizes the state of religion in Italy, beginning with a concise reconstruction of the chief factors that characterize the relationship that Italians experience with their birth religion or the prevailing religion (Catholicism). We shall then describe the level of ethical and religious pluralism (found both within the Catholic universe and, especially, outside of that universe) that Italian society is beginning to experience directly, in part because of the fact that other religious entities (both old and new) are become increasingly visible in the public sphere, adding color and identity to the symphony of voices attempting to speak publicly in religious terms. In conclusion, we shall explore a phenomenon, popular religion, which continues to show extraordinary vitality. The basic hypothesis that we intend to set forth is based on the idea that ordinary Italians consider themselves Catholic but have a variety of different ways of interpreting their practical involvement with the Catholic Church.     

Stability amid Change: Ontario’s Religious Schools and Canada’s Regime of Secularism

Canada’s religious landscape has changed a great deal over the last forty years and, in most provinces, educational institutions have changed to accommodate this social shift. The articles reviews the divergent ways in which educational regimes have responded to this change and then turns to an examination of the one province in which little has changed regarding religious schools, Ontario. Ontario’s educational structure, which has continued to publicly support only a secular and Roman Catholic separate school systems in one of the most religiously diverse jurisdictions on the planet, is a surprising example of institutional rigidity in the face of societal change. This article highlights the peculiarity of this outcome, attempts to explain this surprising example of institutional continuity, and considers its implications for Canadian secularism more broadly.     

Citizenship and religion in the Italian constitutions, 1796-1849

This article explores the link between religion and politics, religious liberty and the rights of religious minorities, by focusing on the constitutions which Italian states adopted and discarded from 1796 to 1849. It concerns questions about the ‘national character’ and the rights and duties of the citizen, and argues that - far from being ‘an outlet’ for material discontent - questions of religious identity and pluralism were integral to the Risorgimento definition of liberty. In this context, the author explores also the Mazzinian vision of a democratic republic inspired by an acephalous and non-hierarchical civil religion, similar to the Unitarian Transcendentalism practiced by some of his New York admirers - a far cry from the ‘religions of politics’ inspired by Saint Simon and Auguste Comte.     

发挥宗教界人士和信教群众在促进经济社会发展中的积极作用

党的十七大报告明确指出：要全面贯彻党的宗教工作基本方针,发挥宗教界人士和信教群众在促进经济社会发展中的积极作用。这是积极引导宗教与社会主义社会相适应的新体现,不仅表明了党的宗教政策的连续性、稳定性,还赋予了宗教工作新的内涵,为我们全面客观地认识宗教、准确而科学地判定我国宗教发展的历史方位开辟了新的视域,其深刻的现实意义和深远的历史意义将会在实践中不断得以显现。     

God,not Caesar: Revisiting National Socialism as ‘political religion’

This article argues that use of the concept of ‘political religion’ to describe the radicalized political movements of the twentieth century has again gained currency in recent years as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the global upsurge of religiously inspired violence and that research with respect to religion proper – what religion is, its role in public life, its evolving reception by ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ – can advance the discussion. The article subsequently offers the author's own research as evidence of the concept's applicability to the case of National Socialism. Analysis focuses, specifically, on a movement in nineteenth century Germany to develop a secular system of ethics, a project that eventually led, ironically and tragically, to the emergence of a new faith in a absolutized ‘collective will’ as the transcendent source of all moral values. The National Socialist movement subsequently co-opted this article of faith, the article argues, by transforming Hitler into a holy medium for the salvific dictates of what became, by the early 1930s, an unimpeachable ‘Volkswille.’     

The religious politics of prophecy: Or,Richard Brothers's Revealed Knowledge confuted

The messianic messages delivered to Londoners by the self-styled prophet, Richard Brothers, were regarded by many sceptical observers and pamphleteers as eccentric or, worse still, the embarrassing utterances of someone wishing to reprise the political turmoil of a by-gone era marred by religious ‘fanaticism’. This article shows the extent to which Brothers's messages, as set down in his Revealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times (1794–1795), were absolutely central to the religious politics and culture of the 1790s—or what one contemporary critic mockingly referred to as the ‘age of prophecy’. Brothers's prophecies came to the attention of the British government, which culminated in his arrest for treasonable practices in March 1795 when he became a cause célèbre, before being confined to an asylum for eleven years. He was deemed a criminal lunatic but, as this article seeks to demonstrate, his ‘prophetic imagination’ arose out of the same rich theological, political and cultural context that spurred ‘radicals’ like Tom Paine, whilst inspiring poets and artists such as William Blake. If the content of his prophecies were regarded by contemporary sceptics for having no validity, it remains true to say that Richard Brothers, as an educated gentleman and naval officer, dramatically altered 18th-century expectations and perceptions of what prophets were and the nature of prophecy itself.     

我国宗教文物保护的特殊性初探

宗教文物作为我国文化遗产的重要组成部分和传统文化的重要载体,近年来引起了业内及社会的广泛关注和讨论.作者在文中就”宗教文物”这一对象,从其特殊性、保存现状和问题、宗教文物的有形与无形价值,等几个方面进行了分析和讨论,强调了宗教文物的独特性,以及相关保护修复工作的特殊意义.     

Signore e signori d'Italia: Una storia delle buone maniere

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the boycott against the Pentecostal presence and proselytism which took place in Italy between 1935 and 1955. The Italian State and the Roman Catholic Church were allied in opposition, worried by the increasing success of Pentecostal proselytism all over Italy and, in particular, in the south. In April 1935, the Fascist government issued a decree (the so-called Circolare Buffarini-Guidi) which banned all religious activities of the Pentecostals, arguing that their religious practises were dangerous for the safety of the population and for the continuity of the ‘Italian race’. This decree, despite the fact that it was clearly illiberal, was active until 1955, eight years after the signing into law of the Republican Constitution, which guaranteed full religious freedom. My article wants to look at how this continuity on such a crucial aspect was possible despite the profound changes that followed the Second World War in Italy.     

Disputing legal privilege: civic relations with the Church in late medieval England

This article explores how provincial town governments sought to bolster civic authority in the period from c.1350 to c.1500. It focuses on royal boroughs, such as York, Chester and Norwich, which had a strong sense of lay civic identity and political pride. In these places, the king was the direct overlord, but the power of civic government was nonetheless frequently challenged by the franchises of local abbeys and convents, cathedral chapters, bishops' palaces, areas of sanctuary and the estates of local nobles. The main case study is urban relations with the Church, in particular disputes with local religious houses and rivalry between the Church and borough courts. How town leaders sought to deal with rival authorities provides an insight into the creation and assertion of lay urban identity in the late medieval period, and illuminates broader themes of how power was legitimised and enforced in post-Black Death society.