Le secolarizzazioni nel Sacro Romano Impero e negli antichi stati italiani: premesse, confronti, conseguenze / Säkularisationsprozesse im Alten Reich und in Italien: Voraussetzungen, Vergleiche, Folgen (review)

The secularization of Church property in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, its motives and causes, the way in which it happened, and its results and implications add up to a theme of immense importance. The year 2003 saw many conferences and exhibitions held to mark the bicentenary of one of the two largest instances, the seizure by states of all church property except that of parishes under the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss [RDHS] promulgated in 1803, bringing an end to virtually all church-states, monasteries, and other major Catholic foundations throughout Germany. This collection of papers derives from a meeting held at Bressanone on March 6-8, 2003.

As is to be expected from the list of contributors, the quality of the contributions is high, and the theme is treated broadly. Claudio Donati's introductory essay, while whetting one's appetite for the later pieces, also contains valuable remarks on defining the concept of "secularization" understood more generally, both as involving more countries and as referring to a vast process of "disenchantment" (Entzauberung, disincantamento) affecting other religions, Continents, and periods. These general issues are taken up again in the final essay, by Paolo Prodi, which battles with their significance today in the broadest terms, not excluding globalization. Harm Klueting's essay distinguishes with his customary clarity between the processes of taking over church property in many countries from the Reformation onwards. Six essays (Dell'Oro, chiefly on the kingdom of Sardinia; Brambilla on ecclesiastical tribunals in the center and North; Montanari and Del Torre on Venetian bishops, Mazzoni on the Legations, and Nequirito on Trent) focus on Italy. Two, Andermann's and Flachenecker's are concerned with the origins of the German secularization, in southwest Germany and southern areas respectively. Elsewhere varied themes are explored: the impact of the RDHS on the aristocracy of the Austrian Empire (Godsey), the career of Archbishop Hohenwart of Vienna (Trampus), and then more general questions, "the transformation of parishes" (Gatz) and the economic, social, and theological effects of the process (Burkard).

All of these essays deal admirably with their themes, in many cases with real originality; and the more general ones are first-rate introductions to their subjects, for example, Andermann on the merits of the German church states and Burkard on the very difficult issue of defining exactly what was different about the post-1803 Catholic Church in Germany as compared with the old Church.

Of course, there are themes that might have been treated more fully: the role of the papacy, the impact of religious toleration, and the effects on church music are three. In relation to church jurisdiction the nuncios seem to have escaped attention. But of all the many collections produced to commemorate 1803 this is one of the best structured and most thought-provoking.