Il XVI Centenario Costantiniano del 1913. Cronaca e significati di un evento

In 1913, the Catholic Church held a global celebration of the 16th Centenary of the Edict of Milan, with which the Emperor Constantine conceded freedom of cult to Christians after the age of persecution. While the subject of commemoration was centuries-old, the message of the Centenary was very much conceived for the present: the traditional Catholic criticism of the process of secularization - counted with an ideal return to the 'societas christiana' - was, first and foremost, articulated in the form of criticism of the relationship between the Church and the Modern State, with the latter accused of limiting the freedom of the former. In Italy, the Centenary was therefore an opportunity for the Catholic world to return the Roman question to the centre of debate, presenting it as a stage along the journey of reorganisation of the fracture caused by the Breach of Porta Pia.

In 1913, the Catholic Church held a global celebration of the 16th Centenary of the Edict of Milan, with which the Emperor Constantine conceded freedom of cult to Christians after the age of persecution. While the subject of commemoration was centuries-old, the message of the Centenary was very much conceived for the present: the traditional Catholic criticism of the process of secularisation - countered with an ideal return to the societas Christiana - was, first and foremost, articulated in the form of criticism of the relationship between the Church and the Modern State, with the latter accused of limiting the freedom of the former. In Italy, the Centenary was therefore an opportunity for the Catholic world to return the Roman question to the centre of debate, presenting it is a stage along the journey of reorganisation of the fracture caused by the Breach of Porta Pia.