The article focuses on the (failed) campaign to name Benedict of Nursia the patron Saint of Europe, launched in June 1946 by the Abbot of Monte- cassino, Ildefonso Rea. Notwithstanding the international support the campaign attracted, Pope Pius XII decided not to acquiesce to the Italian and European Catholic hierarchy, preoccupied most likely that the elevation of the "Patriarch of the West" to the status of patron Saint of Europe would be considered no less than an endorsement of the Western bloc. Based on the analysis of 149 postulant epistles kept in the Archives of the Abbey of Mon-Tecassino, the article pursues two main objectives: 1) to reconstruct the creation of the myth of Saint Benedict as the artefice of European Civilisation; 2) to offer a glimpse of the Italian and European Catholic hierarchy in the aftermath of the Second World War, with a particular focus on its perception of the times and its religious and political preoccupations.
Un santo per la ricostruzione cristiana dell’Europa. La campagna (fallita) per la proclamazione di san Benedetto patrono d’Europa nel 1946-1947
Sante Lesti
2017-01-01
Abstract
The article focuses on the (failed) campaign to name Benedict of Nursia the patron Saint of Europe, launched in June 1946 by the Abbot of Monte- cassino, Ildefonso Rea. Notwithstanding the international support the campaign attracted, Pope Pius XII decided not to acquiesce to the Italian and European Catholic hierarchy, preoccupied most likely that the elevation of the "Patriarch of the West" to the status of patron Saint of Europe would be considered no less than an endorsement of the Western bloc. Based on the analysis of 149 postulant epistles kept in the Archives of the Abbey of Mon-Tecassino, the article pursues two main objectives: 1) to reconstruct the creation of the myth of Saint Benedict as the artefice of European Civilisation; 2) to offer a glimpse of the Italian and European Catholic hierarchy in the aftermath of the Second World War, with a particular focus on its perception of the times and its religious and political preoccupations.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
