Vade retro Satana: exorcism, possession and contemporary Catholicism in Italy (1980-2013)

• Grant number: 15/02226-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Eliane Moura Silva
• Grantee: Tiago Pires
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/20848-2 - Exorcism, possession and contemporary Catholicism in Italy (1980-2013)., BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The purpose of this research refers to the effort to locate, understand and provide a historical-cultural sense for the revival of a practice that never completely disappeared from the European Catholic scene, but that resurged in a particular way in Italian postwar period. The central question of this investigation is to understand how exorcism and diabolical possession in the Catholic world have returned (as thematic and ritual practice), especially since the 1980s, being Italy the privileged place for its resurgence. Specifically, we aim to analyze how this return relates to the social context and to the theological-political project elaborated by Italian exorcists, which aimed to recover, once again, the credibility of exorcism in society and in the ecclesiastical institution itself. From a historical-cultural perspective, we have chosen as central documentation the literature produced by Italian exorcists and other ecclesiastical documents related to the subject, articles from the main Italian newspapers from 1980-2013, a field work on the annual course on exorcism in Rome and other complementary sources produced by groups persecuted by the "diabolizing" view of the Catholic Church.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

PIRES, Tiago. Vade retro Satana: the theological-political project of retaking of exorcism in Italy (1980-2013). 2020. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas Campinas, SP.