Posted on 05 July 2016
The Intellectual history of Polish and Italian political Catholicism in comparative perspective from 1943 to 1948 is the subject that brought Przemyslaw Pazik, recent Sørensen grant holder, to the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU). Mr. Pazik’s research at the HAEU is part of a broader research project for a doctoral thesis in history. He conducted his research at the HAEU in June 2016.
Przemysław’s research aims to compare the ideas of the most important Catholic political groups in Italy and Poland between 1943 and 1953. To this end, he studies the public discourse and the Catholic political press and public speeches to identify similarities and differences between various Catholic groups in the national and comparative contexts.
During his stay Przemysław focused especially on the Alcide De Gasperi and Piero Malvestiti papers, which hold particularly relevant documents that shed light on the development of the Christian Democracy’s political doctrine in Italy in the post-war period.
In his research, he compares the evolution of De Gasperi’s thought in the wake of the consolidation of the bi-polar division of Europe after WWII and compares it to a parallel process that took place in Poland. In both cases, politically engaged Catholics had to adapt their thinking to the new reality of Cold War.
Pazik has recently obtained a Master Degree at the Natolin site of the College of Europe (CoEN). The European University Institute has recently enhanced its collaboration with the College of Europe with the aim to exchanging experiences and best practices. This cooperation also includes a yearly research grant opportunity at the Historical Archives of the European Union for a graduate of the CoEN.
Alcide De Gasperi papers
Piero Malvestiti papers
College of Europe