Fifty years after the conference in which Law and Religion Scholars held a dialogue with Constitutional Scholars in Siena, central issues of that discussion are recalled, and those of a future debate are envisaged, with the hope that both disciplines might benefit from it.

Fifty years after the conference in which Law and Religion Scholars held a dialogue with Constitutional Scholars in Siena, central issues of that discussion are recalled, and those of a future debate are envisaged, with the hope that both disciplines might benefit from it.

The “Church Mission” in the Concordats after the Vatican Council II

ABSTRACT: The Concordat Policy of the Holy Seat went through an unexpected development after the Vatican Council II. The agreements subscribed over the last decades have indeed engaged with lots of European Countries, and the range expanded to the African and Asia continent. The new geography designed to this agreements also matches with innovations in the structure and content of them. This essay aims to analyze this innovation and its strict connection with the documents of the Vatican Council II, enlightening how this has determined a more theological view of the objectives through which the freedom of the Catholic Church defines and details itself. While the concordats of the first half of the past century accompanied, followed and enlarged the trajectory of the Church rights towards spiritualization, this new phase is, indeed, characterized by a theological placement of the interests, whose freedom is indeed the object of the protections granted by the Concordats, which are briefly expressed by the lemma “Church Mission”, found in the first articles of the Concordats. This lemma, in the conciliar texts, is characterized not only by a theological dimension, but also by its direct connection with religious freedom.

Sommario: 1. Una premessa - 2. I precedenti e il contesto dottrinale - 3. I documenti conciliari - 4. La “missione della chiesa” negli accordi concordatari tra XX° e XXI° secolo - 5. Per qualche annotazione conclusiva.

Vatican geopolitics, political institutions and episcopal ordinations in the People's Republic of China. Reflections on State-Church Relations

ABSTRACT: The agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China, concluded in 2018 ad experimentum, has been extended until 31-12-2024.Relations between the Vatican and the Holy See do not follow a linear trend, due to the recurring attempts of some Chinese clergy-so-called patriot clergy-to accept appointments as Diocesan Ordinary without the mandate of the Holy See. In such cases, the relevant regulatory provisions entail excommunication latae sententiae. This contribution, analysing some historical precedents such as the struggle for the endowments and the separation of the constitutional clergy in the period of the French Revolution, proposes an interpretation of the events to understand the Holy See's attitude in the remission of the excommunication to the patriot bishops: the realisation that Catholicism was no longer a phenomenon limited to the European world. The centre of gravity of the Church's influence is irreversibly declining towards non-European areas.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Introduzione al tema - 3. Ius publicum ecclesiasticum sinicum - 4. L’accordo del 2018 tra Santa Sede e Repubblica Popolare Cinese - 5. Il primo quadriennio di applicazione. Riflessioni critiche - 6. Storia e controstoria - 7. Le radici medievali dei rapporti tra Chiesa e Stato: tra Gregorio VII ed Enrico IV - 8. L’età moderna. Le aperture del vescovo G.B. Chiaramonti per una 'democrazia cristiana'. Gli 'articoli organici' del periodo napoleonico - 9. Storia e modernità nelle relazioni tra Chiesa e Repubblica Popolare Cinese.

About the Modification of the Choice to Attend or not Attend Teaching of Catholic Religion. A School Point of View

ABSTRACT: A recent judgement of the Judicial Administration has authorized the free modification of the choice to attend or not attend teaching of Catholic Religion in Italian schools, against the Concordat between Italian Republic and Holy See. The article discusses the judgement formally (highlighting a lack of jurisdiction) and on the substance (a confusion between a cultural and a cultic meaning of the teaching). In addition to institutional relations between State and Church, there are epistemological consequences on the nature of the same teaching.

SOMMARIO: 1. Attualità del problema - 2. La normativa sulle iscrizioni e la scelta di avvalersi o non avvalersi dell’insegnamento della religione cattolica (Irc) - 3. Il caso in giudizio - 4. Sul difetto di giurisdizione - 5. Le motivazioni della sentenza: il richiamo alla libertà di culto - 6. Un Irc culturale o cultuale? - 7. Un bilanciamento poco equilibrato - 8. L’Irc come disciplina scolastica - 9. In attesa di revisioni.

Constantine I The Great. The Emperor, the man, the leader

ABSTRACT: History is not the teacher of life, but perhaps the reverse could be true if one looks at the emblematic events and proceedings of this interesting study conference, held at the University of Bari from 17 to 18 November 2022, in which the mysteries of the past are probed through the eyes of the present. The author reviews the salient features of the figure of Constantine I the Great as Emperor, Man and Commander to reach perplexing conclusions about his elevation to the honours of the Altars, especially in the Orthodox world.

SOMMARIO: 1. Vita magistra historiae - 2. L’Imperatore - 3. L’uomo - 4. Il condottiero.

La segregazione etnico-religiosa nel sistema educativo in Irlanda del Nord *

Ethnic-religious segregation in the education system of Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT: After many years of conflict, Northern Ireland still appears today as a deeply divided society that bears the marks of centuries of ethnic hostility with a strong religious connotation. The context in which, more than any other, the segregationist tension between the two communities, Protestant and Catholic, is still clearly perceivable is the education system, which is characterized by a significant separation of students according to their religious affiliation. The paper aims at reconstructing the origins and outlining the focal points of such an education system, which was recently brought to the attention of the Northern Ireland Supreme Court, with reference to discrimination against students belonging to other religions or beliefs.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Le origini del conflitto politico-religioso - 3. Le persistenti difficoltà politiche e le ricadute sui rapporti interconfessionali - 4. La segregazione scolastica - 5. Profili di discriminazione religiosa nell’accesso alla scuola - 6. La discriminazione nell’insegnamento della religione: la recente pronuncia della High Court of Justice of Northern Ireland - 7. Conclusioni.

The long road after WWII until today (1944-2023): from the reinstatement of the rights denied to Jews victim of the racist laws of fascist Italy to recovering the Memory of the Holocaust to fight against prejudice and antisemitism

ABSTRACT: This paper who served as a basis of the author’s speech at the official remembrance of the Holocaust at the residence of the President of the Republic of Italy (Quirinale palace) on 27 January 2023 examines the various phases of this process. First from 1944 to the mid-1980 the key element is the enactment of more that 90 pieces of legislation abrogating the antisemitic laws of 1938-45 and granting some compensation to the victims. In a second phase (until the end of the XX century) Judaism is recognized as religious entity with parity of rights as compared with the Catholic Church (the Agreement - “Intesa” - between the Italian State and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities of 1987) thus empowering Judaism in Italy to be an active and distinct contributor to Italy’s society. In that period the “Mancino law” of 1993 enacts criminal provisions to fight racism in Italy more effectively. The last phase from 2000 until to-day, witnesses, after the official recognition of the “Holocaust Remembrance Day” each 27 January (“Giorno della Memoria”) witnesses an engagement of Italian institutions to fight antisemitism through education and cultural initiatives.

SOMMARIO: 1. La reintegrazione nei diritti negati: un processo lungo e faticoso (1944-1987) - 2. Dal completamento del disegno costituzionale con l’intesa tra Stato e Comunità ebraiche (1987-89) alla repressione del razzismo con la “legge Mancino” (1993) - 3. La riflessione sulla Shoah quale insegnamento per l’oggi: il Giorno della Memoria (2000) - 4. La strategia europea contro le discriminazioni e l’antisemitismo: protezione ed educazione - 5. La strategia e le iniziative italiane - 6. In conclusione.

About mysterion tes anomias (2Tess, 2): nomos and human rights in the digital era

ABSTRACT: The paper is a thought starting from the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians by Paul The Apostle in order to analyze the current relevance of nomos as a conceptual instrument helpful to define and settle the juridical systems facing challenges of digital era.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. “È già in atto” - 2.1. “Il regno di senso della terra” - 2.2. La rinunzia papale - 2.3. La dissoluzione soteriologica - 3. La profezia schmittiana - 3.1. I Katechon - 4. Il triplice mistero - 5. Un mistero che illumina - 6. L’anomia - 6.1. “Il sistema-mondo” - 6.2. “Ennemos Christou” - 6.3. La volontà di potenza - 7. L’ambivalenza katechontica - 7.1. Il Papa emeritus - 8. La prova - 9. La visione nomica - 9.1 Il processo selettivo - 10. I diritti fondamentali dell’uomo - 10.1. L’inversione anomica - 11. La re-ontologizzazione del Digitale - 12. L’opzione di fondo.

ABSTRACT: The current article analyzes the inextricable and instrumental link between intangible religious heritage and tangible religious heritage. More specifically, UNESCO’s nomination processes are examined in order to investigate the evolution and the approach of national and global institutions to intangible religious heritage. Rituals, architectural techniques of constructions and several UNESCO’s nomination dossiers of religious towns are used to shed a light on problematic aspects. Among them, we should wonder if intangible religious heritage underwent a process of political “instrumentalization”, “scientificization” and “objectivization”: which are the consequences of this institutional activity?

SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. Intangible Heritage and Legal Framework - 3. The National Dimension of UNESCO’s Nomination Processes - 4. The Global Dimension of UNESCO’s Nomination Processes - 5. Intangible Religious Heritage and Criticalities: Is There a Political Instrumentality? - 6. Architectural Techniques of Construction: Uncharted Aspects and Legal Issues - 7. Architectural Techniques of Construction and UNESCO - 8. Rituals: Uncharted Aspects and Legal Issues - 9. Rituals and UNESCO - 10. Conclusions.