Sep 30, 2020

The Street of Reconciliation, the Via della Conciliazione, honors an agreement that welcomed the Church back into Italian society and recognized it as a legitimate sovereign state. Along with the contrasting statue of Giovanni Bruno, it raises the questions of the relationship between Church and State, and Reason and...

Sep 28, 2020

The Bruno statue in effect declared ongoing war against the Roman Catholic Church and thus represented the anticlerical sentiment that helped to fuel the revolution that created modern Italy; but the next sixty years brought new circumstances, interests, and ideas, and both Italy and the Church grew ready to settle...

Sep 23, 2020

To find, we must seek, but what should we be looking for in Rome? I here propose that you keep your eyes peeled for evidence of various kinds of strife as you walk the charming streets of the Eternal City. I offer a preliminary list to get you started. 

Sep 21, 2020

The Statue of Giordano Bruno was erected not to add to the considerable charm of its surroundings in the Campo de’ Fiori but to accuse the popes of cruelty and injustice. The statue thus marked a deep change in the attitudes of the ever-changing Eternal City.  But was this change permanent?

Sep 19, 2020

Why we need to get ready for Rome before we find ourselves in the midst of Rome’s chaos and how to organize this chaos on the basis of Rome’s two most important transformations, from Pagan to Christian and from Catholic to Modern.