Conference on Pius XI at Brown University, Rhode Island.

Over this weekend an international conference is underway at Brown University, RI.  It is one of the (few) hardships of living in Australia, that we are so far away from exciting events such as this!  A quick glance at who is speaking and the list of topics indicates it should be an academic cornucopia - and I am green with envy.  I look forward to reading the papers when they are published (and may that be soon!) 
The speaker list is impressive.  The quality of this gathering will be first class.

Pius XI and America



International Conference


October 28-30, 2010, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA


The Vatican's opening in 2006 of its archives for the period of the papacy of Pius XI (1922-1939) has prompted a burst of historical research which is not only shedding new light on the role of the Holy See and the Church in this period of extraordinary political and social turmoil, but also on some of the major world events of this period. In an effort to bring scholars from the many different countries who are working in these archives together and to highlight this emerging work to the broader scholarly community, a number of institutions have come together to create a research network. The principal sponsors of this initiative are the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XIII in Bologna; the University of Münster; the École Française de Rome; the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan; and Brown University (USA). Following a June 2009 conference in Milan and a March 2010 conference in Münster, a conference is planned for October 28-30, 2010 at Brown University.

A major theme of the Brown conference is the relationship between the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church in the Americas during the papacy of Pius XI. However, other topics will also be treated, including a concluding debate focusing on the relationship between the Church and Italian Fascism

The conference schedule is well worth looking at.

Organizing committee:

David Kertzer, Brown University, USA, chair


Charles R. Gallagher, S.J., Boston College, USA


Alberto Melloni , Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII, Bologna, Italy


Pius XI and America is sponsored by:

Fondazione Cariplo


Fondazione CRT


Fondazione Goria


PRIN - Università di Modena/Reggio


PRIN - Università di Roma1


PRIN - Università di Roma Tor Vergata


PRIN - Università di Roma 3


PRIN - Università di Verona


Brown University