Roberto de Mattei
Roberto de Mattei (born 21 February 1948, in Rome) is an Italian Roman Catholic historian and author.
Biography
Former student and assistant to the philosopher of politics Augusto Del Noce and to the historian Armando Saitta at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Sapienza University of Rome, he has extensively studied European history of the 16th and 20th Century with particular focus on the history of religious and political ideas. He describes himself as "above all … a disciple of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira".[1] Among other academic positions, he was Professor of Modern History at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Cassino and is currently Professor of Modern History and History of Christianity and Coordinator of the Degree Course in Historical Sciences at the new European University in Rome, which was founded in 2004 under the sponsorship of the Legionaries of Christ.[2]
He was vice-President of the National Research Council of Italy (since 2004). As a vice-President he has been highly criticized for his scientific ideas, in particular for having organized and funded a meeting supporting antievolutionism. This fact led part of the Italian scientific community to a request for his resignation.[3][4] The controversy upsurged again after some statements by de Mattei, e.g. that the tsunami in 2011 in Japan was a divine punishment. Furthermore he claimed gay people to be responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. In February 2014 Mattei's monthly radio program, Radici Cristiane (Christian Roots), was cancelled by the director of Radio Maria because of Mattei's increasingly "critical position regarding the Pontificate of Pope Francis".[5] De Mattei has been described as "a renowned apologist for ultra-traditional Catholicism".[6]
He is member of the Board of Directors of the “Italian Historical Institute for the Modern and Contemporary Age” and of the "Italian Geographic Society". He is President of the Lepanto Foundation (Rome - Washington) and he is editor-in-chief of the monthly review “Radici Cristiane”, of the quarterly historical review “Nova Historica” as well as of the weekly “Corrispondenza Romana”. From February 2002 to May 2006, he held the post of Adviser for International Affairs to the Italian Government. He furthermore cooperates with the Pontifical Council for Historical Sciences and has been awarded from the Holy See the Order of Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great, as acknowledgement to this service to the Church.
Among his most recent publications is a history of Vatican Council II (Il Concilio Vaticano II. Una storia mai scritta, Lindau, Turin 2010) wherein, without touching onto the theological debate on the hermeneutics of the Council, he suggests an historical view on the event which is antithetical to that proposed by the School of Bologna. Reviewers have noted the book's "archival discoveries from the ultra-traditionalist Lefebvrians"[6] and its new information concerning the role of the traditionalist Coetus Internationalis Patrum at the Council.[7] However, they described it as "critically flawed" for its denigration of the Council's presiding Popes, John XXIII and Paul VI, and of the Council members who followed their reform agenda,[8] as following a "conspiracy-driven Lefebvrian interpretation" and "essentially useless" for developing an understanding of Vatican II.[6] It has been translated into English as The Second Vatican Council - An Unwritten Story with Michael M. Miller as editor.
Publications
- 1988. 1900-2000 - Due sogni si succedono: la costruzione la distruzione, Roma, Fiducia.
- 1996. Il crociato del secolo XX. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Milano, Piemme.
- 1997. Alta Ruet Babylon. L'Europa settaria del Cinquecento. Lineamenti storici e problemi ecclesiologici, Milano, Istituto di Propaganda Libraria. ISBN 88-7836-429-0
- 1999. A sinistra di Lutero. Sette e movimenti religiosi nell'Europa del '500, Roma, Città Nuova. ISBN 88-311-0326-1
- 2000. Pio IX, Milan, Piemme. ISBN 88-384-4893-0; translated in Portuguese ( 2000) and in English (2003).
- 2000. La souveraineté nécessaire. Réflexions sur la déconstruction de l’Etat et ses conséquences pour la société; Editions François-Xavier de Guibert, Paris 2000 (Prix Renaissance 2001) ; Translated in Italian (2001).
- 2002. Guerra santa guerra giusta. Islam e Cristianesimo in guerra, Milano, Piemme. ISBN 88-384-6980-6; translated in Portuguese (2002) and in English (2007)
- 2004. L'identità culturale come progetto di ricerca, Roma, Liberal Edizioni.
- 2005. La “Biblioteca dell’amicizia”. Repertorio critico della cultura cattolica nell’epoca della Rivoluzione 1770-1830, Bibliopolis, Naples. ISBN 88-7088-487-2
- 2006. De Europa. Tra radici cristiane e sogni postmoderni, Firenze, Le Lettere. ISBN 88-6087-002-X
- 2008. Il CNR e le Scienze Umane. Una strategia di rilancio, Roma, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. ISBN 88-89756-26-8
- 2007. La dittatura del relativismo, Chieti, Solfanelli. ISBN 88-89756-26-8; translated in Portuguese ( 2008 ), in Polish (2009) and in French (2011).
- 2009. Evoluzionismo : il tramonto di una ipotesi, Proceedings of the meeting held in Rome, Italy, Feb. 23, 2009, Siena: Cantagalli. ISBN 8882725006
- 2009. La liturgia della Chiesa nell’epoca della secolarizzazione, Solfanelli, Rome.
- 2009. La Turchia in Europa. Beneficio o catastrofe?, Sugarco Edizioni, Milan; translated in English ( 2009), in German ( 2010) and in Polish (2010)
- 2010. Il Concilio Vaticano II. Una storia mai scritta, Torino, Lindau. ISBN 88-7180-894-0
References
- ↑ Roberto de Mattei: Biography, retrieved 26 March 2015
- ↑ Presentation of the New European University of Rome, Regnum Christi, 25 Oct 2004, retrieved 23 March 2015
- ↑ Margottini, Laura (9 December 2009), "Italy Science Agency Helps Publish Creationism Book", ScienceInsider (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science)
- ↑ Courage, Katherine Harmon (10 December 2009), "Italy science council funds creationist book", Scientific American – Observations (Blog) (Scientific American), retrieved 30 March 2015
- ↑ Fanzaga, Father Livio (13 February 2014), Letter to Prof. Roberto de Mattei, retrieved 24 March 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Faggioli, Massimo (2011), "Council Vatican II: Bibliographical overview 2007-2010", Cristianesimo nella Storia 32: 764
- ↑ Wicks, Jared, S.J. (July 2012), "Still More Light on Vatican Council II", The Catholic Historical Review (Review Article) 98 (3): 501
- ↑ Wicks, Jared, S.J. (July 2012), "Still More Light on Vatican Council II", The Catholic Historical Review (Review Article) 98 (3): 502