War and Genocide, Reconstruction and Change: The Global Pontificate of Pius XII, 1939-1958
June 14-16, 2021 Rome
Monday 14 June, 2020: Ecole Française de Rome
09:00-09:15 Address of Welcome Brigitte Marin (Director of the EFR) Martin Baumeister (Director of the DHI) Sergio Pagano (Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archive)
09:15-09:30 Research Questions on Pius XII Nina Valbousquet (EFR) & Simon Unger-Alvi (DHI)
09:30-11:00 1st Panel: Archival Opportunities
Giovanni Coco, Vatican Apostolic Archive The Opening of the Archives in Historiographical Perspective
Suzanne Brown-Fleming, United States Holocaust Museum (Washington) Il Papa Tedesco: Eugenio Pacelli and Germany
Sascha Hinkel, Jörg Hörnschemeyer, University of Münster/DHI-Rom The Man Eugenio Pacelli in the Online Edition of his Nuncial Reports from Germany: A Digital Approach
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-13:00: 2nd Panel: Snapshots of a Papacy: Power and Media
Camilla Tenaglia, Italian German Historical Institute in Trento Card. Eugenio Pacelli becomes Pius XII: the Mediatization of a Papal Election
Michael Berkowitz, University College London The making of Pius XII—by Sammy Schulman?
René Schlott, Centre for Contemporary History, Potsdam The Death of Pope Pius XII as a global Event
13:00-14:30 Lunch Break (buffet)
14:30-16:00 3rd panel: Church Government and Authority
Elisabeth Richter, University of Münster Censoring books during the turbulent years of war and beyond: the Index of Forbidden Books during the pontificate of Pius XII
Fabien Archambault, University of Limoges Around the excommunication of the Communists in 1949
Stefan Samerski, LMU Munich The Saints of the Pope - Canonization and beatification in the age of Pius XII
16:00-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-18:00 4th panel: The Church and the Holocaust
Hubert Wolf, University of Münster Asking the Pope for Help. A critical online edition
Tommaso Dell’Era, Tuscia University of Viterbo Anti-Jewish Prejudices and Theological Definition of Racism: their Impact on the Catholic Church's Attitudes during the Shoah
Elena Mazzini, Florence The Local church, the Holy See and the rescue practices. The aids to the Jews during the Nazi-Fascist occupation of Florence in light of new archival knowledge
Alessandro Santagata, University of Padova Italian Catholicism in the Resistance (1943-1945). State of the Art and New Perspectives
Tuesday 15 June, 2020: Deutsches Historisches Institut
11:00-12:30 5th panel: Postwar Reconstruction
Gianfranco Armando, Vatican Apostolic Archives The archives of POA and ONARMO: Catholic Church and post-war Reconstruction
Rosario Forlenza, Bjorn Thomassen, LUISS Rome/ Roskilde University (Denmark) Pius XII and the Emergence of Christian Democracy in Post-World War II Europe
Camille Mahé, Sciences Po Paris The role of the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza in the reconstruction of Italy in the Second Post-War Period
Marie Levant, Sorbonne Pius XII and the Middle East: General Background and Case Studies
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-15:30 6th panel: A Global Church in the Postwar Era
Olivier Sibre, Institut Georges Pompidou Paris The Holy See and the new world : Asia-Pacific (China, Korea, Japan), from 1945 to 1955
Jaime Pensado, Notre Dame University The Radicalization of Latin American Catholic Students During the Postwar Era
Susanna de Stradis, Notre Dame University Roman Perspectives on the US and American Catholicism (1945-1958): Open Questions and New Sources
Maria Chiara Rioli, University of Venice/Fordham NYC The Holy See, the Catholic-Jewish relations in Israel and the foundation of the St James community, 1948–58
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:30 7th panel: Decolonization and Missions
Siegfried Weichlein, University of Fribourg Papal Diplomacy and Decolonization: Perspectives and Questions
Marialuisa Sergio, University Roma Tre Missionary activity and decolonization during the pontificate of Pius XII. Theological debate and national cases
Edouard Coquet, Sorbonne, Scuola Normale Renewal of the missionary policy and decolonization in Africa analyzed through the study of three apostolic delegations: British Africa, Belgian Congo and French Africa (1930-1958)
17:30-18:00 Coffee Break
18:00-19:30 Public Roundtable “Genocide, Diplomacy, and Humanitarianism” Giuliana Chamedes David Kertzer Raffaella Perin Karene Sanchez
Wednesday 16 June, 2020: Ecole Française de Rome
11:00-12:30: 8th panel: Cold War and Communism:
José Ramón Rodriguez Lago, University of Vigo The Iberian axis. The Catholic factor and the role played by the Vatican and the United States in Spain and Portugal between 1939 and 1958
Emilia Hrabovec, Comenius University in Bratislava The Holy See and Czechoslovakia 1945-1949 in the Context of the Nascent Cold War
Marion Dotter, LMU Munich Watching the Iron Curtain`s Descent: Perception and Reaction of the Holy See to the Development of a Communist Rule in East Central Europe
Cécile Gonçalves, EHESS Paris Global Anticommunism and the Dogma of the Assumption in Salazarist Portugal 12:30-14:00: Lunch Break
14:00-15:30: 9th panel: Political and Cultural Changes: Toward Vatican II
Rachel Johnston-White, University of Groningen The Catholic Church and the Question of Authority, 1939-1962
Michael O’Sullivan, Marist College Sex and Birth Control in West Germany: Reacting to Pius XII’s Speeches on the Rhythm Method
Kristien Suenens, KADOC Universty of Leuven The Vatican Archives and transformations of convent life in post-war Belgium
Liviana Gazzetta, Padua Catholic Women’s Movement and Citizenship during the Pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958)
15:30-16:00: Concluding Remarks Nina Valbousquet & Simon Unger-Alvi