Catholics and Political Violence in the Twentieth Century

A Global History
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-33217-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 268 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 553 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Modern History

Catholics and Political Violence in the Twentieth Century presents a historical reconstruction of the ways in which Catholics have justified the recourse to political violence during the twentieth century, a period marked by major wars, nationalisms, decolonization, ideological clashes, and episodes of genocide. Legitimation processes are particularly complex when this violence is not endorsed by the state, and perhaps used against it. Depending on perspective, the protagonists of this radical form of collective action may be seen as ‘terrorists’ or ‘freedom fighters’.

Written by a leading historian of contemporary Catholicism, this book examines a series of case studies from different parts of the world, selected because of the central role played by the Catholic religion. They range from Northern Ireland to the Basque Country, from the Philippines to Colombia, and from Mexico to Rwanda. It highlights how theological sources, paradigms of martyrdom, and symbols of the Christian tradition have provided a catalogue of reasons to give moral value to violence and promote it in the name of God.

By looking at the history of Catholicism in global terms and adopting a transnational perspective, Catholics and Political Violence in the Twentieth Century sheds a critical light on the themes that are crucial to understanding the relationship between religion and violence. It will appeal to scholars and students working and studying in the fields of Modern and Contemporary History, Religious Studies, Terrorism Studies, Cultural and Global Studies, Intellectual History, and the History of Political Thought.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ceci, Lucia

Weitere Mitwirkende

Oglethorpe, Stuart

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Besondere Kriege und Kampagnen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

 

1. The mystique of sacrifice and political violence

 

Passion and resurrection in Ireland

Doctrine, public opinion, and politics

A war waged by saints

Squadrismo, violence, and obedience

 

2. Tradition and rebellion in Mexico

 

Against the secular state

Hard-line rebels

‘Cristeros’

In defence of the faith

 

3. Sacralized insurrection

 

Crusade and terror in Spain

A universal struggle in a national battleground

The Church in combat

El derecho a la rebeldía

Holy war and the Holy Office

 

4. Revolution and incitement to hatred: the deliberations of Rome during total war

 

The battle between devils

The truly Catholic war

The heresy of hatred

 

5. Holy war during the Cold War

 

Not revolution, but war

A crusade to save Hungary?

Global mobilization

Discrimination and disadvantage

 

6. Latin America and revolution as an obligation

 

Armed charity from sociology to guerrilla warfare

Transatlantic circulation of ideas

Theology and revolution

Violence by the peace-lovers and the mystique of guerrilla warfare

From liberation to human rights

 

7. Words and deeds

 

The increasing disconnection

A Catholic element in the origins of the Red Brigades?

Division and infiltration

The beginning of the end

The ‘Sands bomb’

 

8. Rwanda: colonialism and its legacy

 

A ‘Catholic country’ in central Africa

The Church during the revolution

Construction of ‘the enemy within’

Complicity and silence

 

9. The end of the revolution?

 

Rosaries, not bullets: the Aquino ‘miracl’ in the Philippines

Lights in the East and the ‘morality of means’

Ambivalende and the peace process in the Basque Country

Democracy and policies of terror: Peru’s tragic twenty years

Armed for life: anti-abortion attacks in the United States

 

Conclusions

Über Autor(innen)

Lucia Ceci is Professor of Contemporary History at the Tor Vergata University of Rome. Her research interests include the relationships between Catholicism, politics, and ideologies in the twentieth century. As well as writing five books on these themes, including The Vatican and Mussolini’s Italy (2016), whose original Italian edition (2013) won the Friuli History Award, she has edited eight others, and published numerous articles.