Roberto de Mattei

Roberto de Mattei (born 21 February 1948 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian Roman Catholic historian and author.

Roberto de Mattei
Born (1948-02-21) 21 February 1948
Rome, Italy

Biography

De Mattei was formerly a 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

De Mattei has extensively studied European history of the 16th and 20th centuries, 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, de Mattei 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]

Between 2003 and 2011 de Mattei was the Vice-President of the National Research Council of Italy.[1] In that role, 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, such as that the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan was a divine punishment. Furthermore, he claimed the "contagion of homosexuality" had been responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire.[5]

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".[6]

De Mattei has been described by progressive theologian Massimo Faggioli as "a renowned apologist for ultra-traditional Catholicism".[7]

De Mattei is a member of the Board of Directors of the "Italian Historical Institute for the Modern and Contemporary Age", the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family, 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",[8] the quarterly historical review "Nova Historica", and the weekly "Corrispondenza Romana".[9]

From February 2002 to May 2006, de Mattei held the post of Adviser for International Affairs to the Italian Government. He has cooperated 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 de Mattei's 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"[7] and its new information concerning the role of the traditionalist Coetus Internationalis Patrum at the Council.[10] As the book's historical content raises questions about the nature of the intents of Second Vatican Council's main theologians and Popes, Mattei's book ended up drawing out heated criticism by both Catholic conservatives and progressives. Fr. Jared Wicks, S.J. and Massimo Faggioli, both progressives linked to Jesuit institutions, described it as "critically flawed" for its purported "denigration" of the Council's presiding Popes, and of the Council members who followed their reform agenda,[11] as following a "conspiracy-driven Lefebvrian interpretation" and "essentially useless" for developing an understanding of Vatican II.[7] However, Mattei's book draws heavily on primary sources that witnessed in first person both the Council and the historical development of the schools of the Nouvelle théologie, such as Fr. Ralph M. Wiltgen, S.V.D.'s book The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II. Mattei's book 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; translated as The Second Vatican Council - An Unwritten Story, Fitzwilliam, NH, Loreto (2012). ISBN 1-62292-002-3

References
  1. Roberto de Mattei: Biography, retrieved 26 March 2015
  2. Presentation of the New European University of Rome, Regnum Christi, 25 October 2004, archived from the original on 2 April 2015, retrieved 23 March 2015
  3. Margottini, Laura (9 December 2009), "Italy Science Agency Helps Publish Creationism Book", Science Insider, Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science
  4. Courage, Katherine Harmon (10 December 2009), "Italy science council funds creationist book", Scientific American – Observations (Blog), Scientific American, retrieved 30 March 2015
  5. Squires, Nick (8 April 2011), "Fall of Roman Empire caused by 'contagion of homosexuality'", The Telegraph, retrieved 15 June 2015
  6. Fanzaga, Father Livio (13 February 2014), Letter to Prof. Roberto de Mattei, retrieved 24 March 2015
  7. Faggioli, Massimo (2011), "Council Vatican II: Bibliographical overview 2007-2010", Cristianesimo nella Storia, 32: 764
  8. http://www.radicicristiane.it
  9. http://www.corrispondenzaromana.it
  10. Wicks, Jared, S.J. (July 2012), "Still More Light on Vatican Council II", The Catholic Historical Review (Review Article), 98 (3): 501, doi:10.1353/cat.2012.0169
  11. Wicks, Jared, S.J. (July 2012), "Still More Light on Vatican Council II", The Catholic Historical Review (Review Article), 98 (3): 502, doi:10.1353/cat.2012.0169
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