Project "The Vatican and the Legitimisation of Physical Violence” in the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics"
How did the Vatican observe physical violence in different countries in the first half of the 20th century? According to which "unalterable principles" did the Vatican evaluate physical violence? Which schemata can be identified in Vaticanic activities? When did the Vatican condemn the force of arms, when did they tolerate, when did they legitimize and when did they propagate it? In the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" Prof Hubert Wolf, Dr Gianmaria Zamagni and Toni Morant i Ariño investigated these questions in project (D9) "The Vatican and the Legitimisation of Physical Violence: The Example of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)".
The holdings of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, formerly the Vatican Secret Archives, which have been accessible since September 2006, offered them an almost inexhaustible source through which to examine the Catholic Church’s global policy of the first half of the 20th century paying particular attention to the theme of "religion and violence" from a new perspective. Further information on this project can be found on the homepage of the Cluster of Excellence.
International Workshop "God Wills It". The Catholic Church and the Legitimisation of Violence in the Spanish Civil War
In mid-July 1936 a military coup in Spain unleashed the outbreak of a bloody, three-year civil war. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of these events, an international and interdisciplinary workshop took place on the topic from 8 to 9 September 2011 and was organized by the project "The Vatican and the Legitimisation of Physical Violence: The Example of the Spanish Civil War". During this workshop, experts from various countries and disciplines discussed the relationship between religion and politics in Spain in the 1930s and 1940s against the backdrop of republic, civil war and dictatorship. Various disciplines had their say: history, religious studies and law, theology and philosophy.
You can find an overview of the conference program here.
Parallel to the workshop, the article "Francos Putsch und Papstes Segen" (Franco's coup and Pope's blessing) by Prof Hubert Wolf was published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) on 9 September 2011. This piece can now be read here.