Catholicism in Modern Italy: Religion, Society and Politics since 1861 [Hardcover]

John Pollard's book surveys the relationship between Catholicism and the process of change in Italy from Unification to the present day. Central to the book is the complex set of relationships between traditional religion and the forces of change. In a broad sweep, Catholicism in Modern Italy looks at the cultural, social, political and economic aspects of the Catholic church and its relationship to the different experiences across Italy over this dramatic period of change and 'modernisation'.

Acknowledgements.  Glossary and list of abbreviations  1. Introduction  2. Catholicism and the Liberal Revolution (1815-1870)  3. The Catholic Recovery (1870-1914)  4. Italian Catholicism and the Challenges of Industrial Development (1880-1914)  5. Italian Catholics, the Great War and the Rise of Fascism (1914-1929)  6. Fascism, War and the Resistance (1929-1945)  7. The Age of Catholic 'Triumphalism' (1945-1958)  8. The New 'Secularisation' (1958-1978)  9. Italy in the Age of Religious Pluralism (1978 to the Present)  10. Conclusion.  Endnotes.  Bibliography.  Index

 

 

Pollards survey is a very important book. It is the first such comprehensive historical assessment of the period to appear in English. It is also important for its excellent notes, index, and bibliography. These could easily be the point of departure for further profitable research.  Church Times

'In his multidimensional study of Catholicism in Italy from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, John Pollard explores the impact of modernization on the Catholic Church [&] [and] the creation of a selfconfidentlÃ3