HIST 641C Globalization of Catholicism since 1900
This course deals with the history of Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century, and its transformation from a primarily European to a global faith. Topics include the complex relationship between Catholicism and liberal modernity, capitalism, and democracy in Europe and beyond; the Second Vatican Council; liberation theology; the effects of the downfall of Communism in Eastern Europe; and the impact of the shift of Catholicism to South America, Asia, and Africa.
The course will focus on the main developments of the changes of the relationship between Catholicism and the modern world since the 19th century. It will investigate how the globalization of the Catholic community affected European Catholicism and how the church began to adapt to these changes, most visibly during the II Vatican Council (1962-65). The course will also deal with the relationship between Catholicism and revolutionary movements in Europe, South America, and Asia by looking at the impacts Liberation Theology had in the last third of the 20th Century and how the downfall of communism influenced Catholicism in the same period.