Il cristianesimo come storia in Alfred Loisy

The article seeks to contextualize, with the modernist crisis as its backdrop, Alfred Loisy’s approach to historical criticism, in particular with reference to the fields of biblical criticism and the history of Christianity he was so engaged in. On one hand, it will investigate the conceptualization that underpinned Loisy’s vision of the history of Christianity, on the other, it will offer comments on some of the French abbé’s concrete historiographical practices, especially with regards to his writings penned in the very first years of the twentieth century. His attempt to legitimize the history of Christianity as a scientific discipline no longer bound to confirming or denying Christianity’s transcendental dimension hoped to aid a profound renovation within Catholicism, and aid the church in taking one further, indispensable step towards facing the transformed expectations of the time. L’articolo contestualizza sullo sfondo della crisi modernista l’approccio di Alfred Loisy agli studi storico-critici, applicati ai campi dell’esegesi biblica e in particolare della storia del cristianesimo. Da un lato viene proposta una messa a fuoco della concezione che Loisy elaborò della storia del cristianesimo, da un altro lato sono offerte alcune considerazione sulla concreta pratica storiografica dell’abbé francese, con un’attenzione prevalente agli anni iniziali del ventesimo secolo. Il suo tentativo di legittimare la storia del cristianesimo come disciplina scientifica, che non si addossava più il compito di confermare o di negare la dimensione trascendente, a suo avviso avrebbe anche favorito un profondo rinnovamento del cattolicesimo, per compiere un ulteriore, indispensabile adattamento alle attese della società del tempo

Making heads or tails of mitochondrial membranes in longevity and aging: a role for comparative studies

Mitochondria play vital roles in metabolic energy transduction, intermediate molecule metabolism, metal ion homeostasis, programmed cell death and regulation of the production of reactive oxygen species. As a result of their broad range of functions, mitochondria have been strongly implicated in aging and longevity. Numerous studies show that aging and decreased lifespan are also associated with high reactive oxygen species production by mitochondria, increased mitochondrial DNA and protein damage, and with changes in the fatty acid composition of mitochondrial membranes. It is possible that the extent of fatty acid unsaturation of the mitochondrial membrane determines susceptibility to lipid oxidative damage and downstream protein and genome toxicity, thereby acting as a determinant of aging and lifespan. Reviewing the vast number of comparative studies on mitochondrial membrane composition, metabolism and lifespan reveals some evidence that lipid unsaturation ratios may correlate with lifespan. However, we caution against simply relating these two traits. They may be correlative but have no functional relation. We discuss an important methodology for body mass and phylogenetic correction in comparative studies

Study protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of an NCD access to medicines initative: Evaluation of Novartis Access in Kenya

INTRODUCTION: Novartis recently launched Novartis Access, an initiative to provide a basket of reduced price medicines for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to be sold through the public and private nonprofit sectors in programme countries. This study will evaluate the impact of Novartis Access on the availability and price of NCD medicines at health facilities and households in Kenya, the first country to receive the programme. METHODS: This study will be a cluster randomised controlled trial. 8 counties in Kenya will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group using a covariate constrained randomisation method to maximise balance on demographic and health characteristics. In intervention counties, public and private non-profit health facilities will be able to order Novartis Access NCD medicines from the Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS). Data will be collected from a random sample of 384 health facilities and 800 households at baseline, midline after 1-year of intervention, and end-line after 2 years. Quarterly surveillance data will also be collected from health facilities and a subsample of households through phone-based interviews. Households will be eligible if at least one resident has been previously diagnosed and prescribed a medicine for an NCD addressed by Novartis Access, including hypertension and diabetes. The primary outcomes will be availability and price of NCD medicines at health facilities, and availability, price, and expenditures on NCD medicines at households. Impacts will be estimated using intention-to-treat analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Strathmore University and at Boston University. Informed consent will be obtained from all participants at the start of the trial. The findings of the trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, international conferences, and meetings and events organised with local stakeholders

Albino Luciani dal Veneto al mondo

Il volume presenta gli atti del convegno promosso dall’Istituto per le ricerche di storia sociale e religiosa (Vicenza) e dalla Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII (Bologna), e svolto a Canale d’Agordo, Vicenza, Venezia nel settembre 2008. L’ampio ventaglio di studi qui raccolti offre una documentata ricostruzione dei principali snodi biografici della vita di Luciani, si sofferma su alcuni rilevanti temi e problemi che ne hanno caratterizzato l’opera come sacerdote della diocesi di Belluno, poi vescovo di Vittorio Veneto, patriarca di Venezia e infine romano pontefice. Luciani emerge come un vescovo che cerca di operare secondo le linee indicate dal concilio Vaticano II, difensore della dottrina cattolica contro le opposte critiche degli ambienti conservatori e progressisti, fedele collaboratore di Paolo VI, attento al problema del riequilibrio delle risorse a livello planetario, sostenitore di alcune prudenti aperture nell’ambito della morale familiare e sessuale. Il suo percorso si conclude nel breve pontificato, la cui cifra appare il “primato del religioso”

Le Pontificat Romain dans l’Époque Contemporaine / The Papacy in the Contemporary Age

The volume, deepening specific aspects of the popes from Pius X to Francis, offers, overall, a historical reading of the papacy from the early twentieth century to the present. In this time – between uncertainties, resistances, cautious openings – the papacy realised the transition from intransigent Catholicism to dialogue with modernity and its most characteristic cultural, political and social expressions. In this regard, the presence of swings and retractions in the popes of the last decades are also an expression of the troubles that have marked the long and difficult coexistence between papacy, Roman Catholic Church and modernity, until pope Bergoglio’s new guidelines.Le volume (Edizioni Ca' Foscari, collection «Studi di storia», 5), à partir des recherches inédites réalisées par un groupe de chercheurs de différents Pays, se concentre sur le pontificat dans l’époque contemporaine. Pendant le dernier siècle le rôle du pape a changé plusieurs fois et à différents degrés. Sur le plan politique, la transformation a été extraordinaire, après la réduction de la principauté du pape à une dimension rien de plus que symbolique. Si on porte l’attention aux aspects ecclésiaux, le pontificat, jusqu’à Pie XII, a été ancré à une ligne catholique intransigeante, rapidement écartée par son successeur Jean XXIII. En observant les changements intervenus dans le pontificat pendant l’époque contemporaine on peut être conduit à penser que cette institution s’est beaucoup transformée dans les derniers temps. Il est assez évident que, à travers des processus parfois lents et complexes et dans une certaine façon forcés par les conditions et les phénomènes de la société, et parfois par des changements poursuivis avec des accélérations planifiées, le pontificat a été modernisé, dans une certaine mesure, et il a réussi à se confronter avec la modernité pas seulement dans des façons antagonistes et de fermeture, au contraire en accroissant au fur et à mesure la capacité d’être en phase avec les exigences et les dynamiques de la société globale. Tout cela ne s’est pas passé paisiblement, en termes prévisibles, nets. Plusieurs éléments exposés dans les chapitres de ce volume (par référence à la crise moderniste, aux deux guerres mondiales, à l’antisémitisme et à la Shoah, à la modernité et à la sécularisation, et aussi au procès de mondialisation) permettent de saisir les difficultés qui ont marqué la longue et agitée cohabitation parmi le Saint-Siège, l’Église catholique et la modernité, de Pie X au pape François

Chiesa, politica, nazione in Giovanni XXIII

Il saggio esamina il rapporto tra Chiesa, politica e nazione in Giovanni XXIII. Se ne considerano gli sviluppi nel corso del pontificato (1958-1963)

Semeria a Venezia nelle note del diario del patriarca La Fontaine

Il contributo si sofferma sui rapporti tra il barnabita Giovanni Semeria e il patriarca di Venezia Pietro La Fontaine, sviluppatisi negli anni che vanno dalla prima guerra mondiale ai patti lateranensi. La ricerca prende spunto prevalentemente dalle note del diario autografo di La Fontaine. Nell’insieme le registrazioni del diario di La Fontaine riguardanti Semeria, anche quando toccano episodi relativamente marginali, hanno comunque un risvolto significativo, non solo per l’importanza e il ruolo dei due ecclesiastici. Esse infatti nel complesso contribuiscono a illuminare aspetti e figure del primo Novecento che concorsero, con loro specifiche peculiarità individuali, a un iniziale avvicinamento della Chiesa cattolica all’Italia durante la prima guerra mondiale, a preparare gli accordi nel dopoguerra e a instaurare un rapporto con il regime di Mussolini in termini che alle gerarchie ecclesiastiche e a molti cattolici sembravano rendere possibile l’avvio della costruzione di una “società cristiana”