Thomas Renna wrote:
>
> Cara Luciana:
>
> Ha ragione, ma non so come e quando S. Caterina da Siena e' divenuta la
> patrona terza di Italia. Forse nel ventesimo secolo, ma non so securo.
> Tutto e' perdonato. Tommaso
>
> Qualcuno sa?
-- Now that I am absolved, I can confess to another error, by myself
and, I fear, the others who contributed to the classification of S.
Catherine da Siena as third patron saint of Italy. Actually, she gets
equal time with St. Francis of Assisi, because Pope Pius XII proclaimed
them both patrons of Italy at the same time. So, I would infer that they
are both "first patrons".
Now, and this is a comment on George Ferzoco's remarks on WHY St.
Catherine was proclaimed patron of Italy in 1939 (in true hagiographical
spirits, George may be sipping Lacryma Christi or Liebfraumilch while I
type this): I think that George was definitely on the right track seeing
in that move hints to contemporary problems, but I don't think the
problems had to do with national pride or the glorification of Italy.
This could have been very well the case at the beginning of Mussolini's
ascent, but 1939 is a bit late for that. My hypothesis (not verified,
comments are invited) is that Pius XII had someone else in mind, i.e.
the modernists within the Catholic Church and indeed Mussolini, but as a
show of independence from the Fascist regime.
S. Catherine was extremely critical of high-placed cardinals ('demoni
incarnati', isn't that lovely?). Pius XII was telling the world that
some cardinals, in his own entourage as well as in S. Catherine's time,
are indeed the true enemies of the Church - and those were the
modernists.
Secondly, S. Catherine had pressed long and hard for a return of the
pope (any pope) from Avignon to Rome, which would have been, among other
things, a sign of independence: the papacy would no longer be
politically subject to France. By praising S. Catherine, Pope Pius XII
was also telling the world that the Catholic Church should not yield to
political pressures, and in 1939 this meant Nazism and Fascism.
Happy summer, ciao.
Luciana
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Luciana Cuppo Csaki
Societas internationalis pro Vivario
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/athens/aegean/9891/
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