Catholic church and challenges of modernity in Italy: evolution of approaches and interpretations

Abstract

This paper takes a closer look at global challenges currently facing the Catholic Church and the Catholic community in Italy at the present stage: the 2020–2021 coronavirus pandemic, migration crisis and populism, the breakthrough of new cultural and religious traditions in Europe, an aggressive behavior of the young people as a manifestation of the culture of death, further growth of urbanization and the multi-faceted phenomenon of artificial intelligence and «post-truth». The discussion is focused around evolution of interpretations by hierarchs, and by the Pope himself first and foremost, the head of the Roman Catholic Church on global problems of our time. The starting point of the study was the Second Vatican Council. The paper attempts a comprehensive study of the key provisions of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church in the context of global challenges of modernity in Italy, using the historical-and-hermeneutical method of the Vatican’s official documents analysis and the relevant statements of Catholic hierarchs in their historical context.