The Catholic Church’s politics of memory

DEFINITION OF THE TERM: The Catholic Church pursues its own politics of memory in the activities undertaken by ecclesiastical institutions as well as historians and thinkers affiliated with the Church. The political themes it addresses can be divided into those related to the Church’s history (which are of a rather defensive nature) and those related to evaluations of historical events from the Church’s perspective.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TERM: Initially, uncritical apologetics was the only form of the Church’s defence for its Christian vision of history. However, this changed in the middle of the 20th century, since when the Church has faced both external and internal criticism. Internally, there were calls for an objective evaluation of past events. In the second half of the 20th century, the Church attempted to confront some of the ‘dark pages’ of its history, in which John Paul II played a particular role.

DISCUSSION OF THE TERM: Three main areas of the Church’s politics of memory can be identified: the defence of the thesis of the indissoluble link between European culture and Christianity; efforts to sanitise the memory of controversial events in the Church’s past; and the current position taken by the Church towards its behaviour in face of 20th-century totalitarian systems, including its policy on beatification processes and the confession of faults .

SYSTEMATIC REFLECTION WITH CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: As a response to accusations levelled at it, the Church has adopted the following course of action: first, a thorough historical investigation; next, based on that investigation, a theological evaluation, which might lead to a confession of faults. The Church feels a special bond with previous generations of Christians and feels responsible for its actions. This is accompanied, however, by a concern to not admit to faults for which Christians are not responsible, and to not give in to excessive demands, as this could provide additional arguments to opponents of the Church and weaken the belief of the faithful in its holiness.