PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS - Università degli Studi di Messina

Charles Carter, University of Bordeaux, France
Putting Mormonism to Academic Scrutiny in France: between Intellectual Curiosity and
Internal Misunderstanding
There is a three-fold dimension to the newly heightened academic interest in Mormonism.
Besides being external and internal, this academic interest crosses borders and goes global with
the faith. Thus, together with the creation of Mormon Studies programs in the United States,
students of Mormonism can observe an increase in the number of websites or forums created
out of personal initiatives, increase in the number of academic endeavors (master’s theses, PhD
dissertations, academic conferences, etc.). Indeed, more and more Mormons in France and in
Europe are emulating their American fellow believers as they make their faith the subjectmatter
of their research. But, what is it like for a French Mormon to study his faith from within
in the twenty-first century? How do such scholars situate themselves when it comes to
academic rigor and the commitment to Mormonism as it is understood by fellow French
Mormons? It is the purpose of this paper to address those questions in the form of
autobiographic presentation; hoping that such will contribute to the study of religions in
general.
Giovanni Casadio, University of Salerno, Italy
Ernesto Bonaiuti
61
Tue 15 th , 11.00, Classroom 6
Ernesto Buonaiuti (1881 - 1946) was an Italian historian and philosopher of religion. A
Christian priest (later defrocked and excommunicated), he lost his seat at the University of
Rome due to his opposition to Fascism and Italian government’s agreement with Catholic
Church. As a scholar in history of Christianity and religious philosophy he was one of the most
important exponents of the modernist current. Although chair of “storia del cristianesimo”
(1916-1931), he was a full fledged historian of religions. His contribution to the field is
polyvalent: 1. Religio-historically based research on crucial topics in the study of religion (e.g.
Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Heresy, Protestantism, Millenarianism, and asceticism); 2.
mentorship of key-figures in the Italian and European historical study of religion (M. Eliade, E.
Benz, A. Pincherle, A. Donini; 3. foundation and editorship until death of a leading
international journal of religious studies, Ricerche religiose (1925-1954; renamed Religio in
the period 1934-1944).
Luciano Catalioto, University of Messina, Italy
Wed 16 th , 15.20, Classroom 9
Monachesimo greco e Chiesa latina nella Sicilia normanna: laboratorio culturale e
sperimentazione politica
Nel vasto alveo tematico relativo al ruolo della religione nell’evoluzione culturale europea è
possibile collocare una struttura portante del complessivo quadro medievale del Mezzogiorno
d’Italia, cronologicamente compresa tra il 1061, data d’inizio della conquista normanna della
Sicilia islamica, e la fine del XII secolo, quando l’azione condotta a Messina da Riccardo Cuor
di Leone negli anni della terza crociata avrebbe prodotto un drammatico azzeramento dell’etnia