Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences

The Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences is a division of the Roman Curia established on 7 April 1954 by Pope Pius XII.

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Background

Pope Pius XII created this committee on 7 April 1954 as the successor to the Commission of Cardinals for Historical Studies, which Pope Leo XIII had created on 18 August 1883 with the apostolic letter Saepenumero considerantes. That commission was created to contribute to the development and proper use of historical sciences, especially late in the nineteenth century when parts of the Vatican's historical records, known as the Vatican Secret Archive, was opened to scholars.^[1] The new committee was created to foster cooperation with the International Committee of Historical Sciences, which was scheduled to hold its convention in Rome in 1955.^[2]

On 14 January 2019 Pope Francis created the new role of the assessor as third leadership position, after the president and the secretary.^[3]

Recent events

In 2011, the committee held a conference devoted to St. Catherine of Siena.^[4] In 2012 it marked the 1700th anniversary of the Battle of Ponte Milvio with a conference called "Constantine the Great. To the roots of Europe".^[5] A 2014 conference considered the legacy of Pope Pius X.^[6] In 2017, the committee sponsored a three-day conference called "Luther: 500 Years Later" to examine the non-theological context of the origins of the Protestant Reformation.^[7]

Leadership

Presidents

Pio Paschini [it] (1954 – 20 August 1962)
Michele Maccarrone (1963–1989)
Victor Saxer (1989–1998)
Walter Brandmüller (13 June 1998 – 3 December 2009)
Bernard Ardura, O. Praem. (3 December 2009^[8] – present)

Secretaries

Michele Maccarrone (1954–1963)
José Ruysschaert (1963–1973)
Amato Pietro Frutaz [it] (1973–1980)
Raffaele Farina, S.D.B. (1981–1989)
Vittorino Grossi, O.E.S.A. (1989–2002)
Cosimo Semeraro [it], S.D.B. (16 November 2002 – 16 May 2013)
Luigi Michele De Palma [de] (16 May 2013 – present)

Assessors

Enrico dal Covolo (2019 – present)

References

^ "Profilo storico del Comitato". Pontficio Comitato di Scienze Storiche (in Italian). Retrieved 7 April 2018.
^ Filoramo, Giovanni (2015). "Locating the history of Christianity between the history of the church and the History of Religions: The Italian case". In Otto, Bernd-Christian; Rau, Susanne; Rüpke, Jörg (eds.). History and Religion: Narrating a Religious Past. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter. p. 452. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
^ "Vatican – Bishop dal Covolo, SDB, appointed as member of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences". www.infoans.org (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-03-02.
^ Kerr, David (21 October 2011). "Italian conference set to honor St. Catherine of Siena". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ "One thousand and seven hundred years ago the 'Constantinian turning-point'". Osservatore Romano. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ Lubov, Deborah Castellano (13 June 2014). "International Experts Study the Reforming Pope Pius X". Zenit. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ Tornielli, Andrea (31 March 2017). "The Pope at the conference on Luther: "Look at history without resentment"". La Stampa. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
^ "Rinunce e Nomine 03.12.2009" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2018.