Verdammtes Licht

Popes have condemned the light of the Enlightenment as heresy. Enlighteners like Voltaire sought to destroy the Church. Attempts to impose an Enlightenment on Catholicism itself were condemned as "errors of the times." Hubert Wolf masterfully traces this epochal conflict through case studies and clarifies why a Catholic Enlightenment must still contend with resistance today. When discussing the "values of the West," Christianity and the Enlightenment are often mentioned together and positioned against other religions. However, it is overlooked how fiercely the Vatican fought against the "light of reason" well into the 20th century. Hubert Wolf explains why the popes feared democracy and the Enlightenment more than they feared pro-Roman dictatorships, how Catholic "laypeople" fought for an end to their immaturity, how enlightened theologians emancipated themselves from Rome, and how democratic politicians defended their Catholic faith. In recent decades, the Church has revised its militant rejection of the Enlightenment, processed traumas, and opened up. Yet, democracy and the Enlightenment are still not a given. This engaging book enlightens Catholicism about its conflict history with the Enlightenment in order to finally reconcile with it.