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Catholic MidCentury Modern: The Church & Other Possible Modernities

In the ferment of the mid 20th-Century, Catholic writers and artists sought to develop a new, distinctly Catholic, modernity. They navigated the political challenges of fascism, communism, and liberalism. In this event, we look to the history of MidCentury Catholicism, with figures like Georges Rouault, the Maritains, Dorothy Day, and Claude McKay, and its response to the cultural, intellectual, and political ferment of the 1920s-60s. What can we learn from these great figures as 21st Century people grapple with the challenges of our century? 

A collection of recent books have highlighted the impact of Catholicism on modernity and modernity on Catholicism. In this webinar event we gather three scholars—James Chappel, author of Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Making of the Church, Brenna Moore author of Kindred Spirits: Friendship and Resistance at the Edges of Modern Catholicism, and Stephen Schloesser SJ author of Jazz Age Catholicism: Mystic Modernism in Postwar Paris—to discuss those turbulent years with an eye to understanding our own modern moment.

Beatrice Institute is proud to cosponsor this event.

This event is cosponsored by America Magazine and Nova Forum for Catholic Thought.

This event will be held over Zoom. It is free and open to the public. Click this link to register to receive the Zoom information.

Earlier Event: October 24
Mary Lou's Mass
Later Event: March 22
Hearing the Spiritual in Music