Loisy, Benedetto XV e la Grande Guerra

Benedict xv was strongly criticised by the political authorities and public opinion of the belligerent countries, including Catholics, who everywhere supported their national causes and made a strong contribution to the mobilisation against the opposing front, where there were co-religionists. Among the critics of Benedict xv was Alfred Loisy. This article aims to consider the position of the French intellectual on the Pontiff in the broader panorama of the relationship between religion and the Great War, trying to grasp its specificity and comparing it with the position on the war of the Pontiff himself. It highlights how they both started from the categories of the doctrine of the just war, emphasizing different elements, and both ended up taking contradictory positions with respect to the common importance assigned to the Gospel.