De Lai was one of the leading man in Pius X's project towards a reform of the Church, a movement whose contents deviated substantially frm reformatory pretences arising in innovative circles, and aimed at reconstructing a Christian society. In this context, initially as Secretary to the Congregation of the Council and from 1908 until his death in 1928 as Secretary to the mighty Consistorial Congregation, De Lai turned out to be particularly eager fighting modernists, i.e. organisms that he first supervised himself, until he eventually became the one to direct apostolic visits in dioceses and seminars in Italy, with the goal to lead ao overall fight against Christian democrats and modernists. Moreover, in he final years of Pius X's pontificate, during which he apparently became the centre of reference for the custodians at the peak of the Church, De Lai triggered off several anti-modernistic campaigns, such as those against the studies led by Louis Duchesne and Hippolyte Delehaye. In the folowing years, a series of elements, though lacking further consolidation, a series of elements, though lacking further consolidation, confirms De Lai's anti-modernistic attitude, but its exertion was limited due to the at least somewhat different dispositions of the pontificates of Benedict XV and Pius XI, who both maintained that the responsabilities of the Consistorial Congregation be limited and consequently curtailed De Lai's activities.

Il saggio si sofferma sull'attività antimodernistica di Gaetano De Lai. Egli fu uno dei principali protagonisti del progetto di riforma della Chiesa, condotto da Pio X, con contenuti radicalmente diversi rispetto alle istanze riformatrici che emergevano dagli ambienti novatori, e finalizzato invece a favorire la ricostruzione di una società cristiana. In quel contesto De Lai si rivelò particolarmente solerte nella lotta contro i modernisti, inizialmente come segretario della Congregazione del concilio e dal 1908 fino alla morte (1928) come segretario della potente Congregazione concistoriale, organismi attraverso i quali sorvegliò e poi diresse in prima persona lo svolgimento delle visite apostoliche alle diocesi e ai seminari d’Italia, secondo un indirizzo di lotta capillare contro i democratici cristiani e i modernisti. Inoltre negli ultimi anni del pontificato di Pio X, diventato forse il principale punto di riferimento per gli integristi ai vertici della Chiesa, De Lai avviò alcune campagne antimoderniste come quelle che presero di mira, tra gli altri, gli studi di Louis Duchesne, Hippolyte Delehaye. Anche negli anni successivi, pur bisognosi di ulteriori approfondimenti, una prima serie di elementi conferma l’orientamento antimodernista di De Lai, la cui azione fu però limitata a causa degli indirizzi almeno in parte diversi dei pontificati di Benedetto XV e di Pio XI, che provvidero ripetutamente a ridimensionare le competenze della Concistoriale, riducendo in conseguenza il raggio di attività di De Lai.

Gaetano De Lai, zelante collaboratore di Pio X nella repressione antimodernista

VIAN, Giovanni
2009-01-01

Abstract

De Lai was one of the leading man in Pius X's project towards a reform of the Church, a movement whose contents deviated substantially frm reformatory pretences arising in innovative circles, and aimed at reconstructing a Christian society. In this context, initially as Secretary to the Congregation of the Council and from 1908 until his death in 1928 as Secretary to the mighty Consistorial Congregation, De Lai turned out to be particularly eager fighting modernists, i.e. organisms that he first supervised himself, until he eventually became the one to direct apostolic visits in dioceses and seminars in Italy, with the goal to lead ao overall fight against Christian democrats and modernists. Moreover, in he final years of Pius X's pontificate, during which he apparently became the centre of reference for the custodians at the peak of the Church, De Lai triggered off several anti-modernistic campaigns, such as those against the studies led by Louis Duchesne and Hippolyte Delehaye. In the folowing years, a series of elements, though lacking further consolidation, a series of elements, though lacking further consolidation, confirms De Lai's anti-modernistic attitude, but its exertion was limited due to the at least somewhat different dispositions of the pontificates of Benedict XV and Pius XI, who both maintained that the responsabilities of the Consistorial Congregation be limited and consequently curtailed De Lai's activities.
2009
„In wilder zügelloser Jagd nach Neuem.“ 100 Jahre Modernismus und Antimodernismus in der katholischen Kirche
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
24_Vian_Giovanni.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Accesso chiuso-personale
Dimensione 186.33 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
186.33 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/32320
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact