Carlo Maria Curci (1810 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

– June 8, 1891 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

) was an Italian theologian from

Biography

Curci joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in 1826, and was devoted to the education and care of the poor and prisoners. Curci became one of the first editors of the Jesuit periodical, '' La Civiltà Cattolica''. He later wrote for Vincenzo Gioberti,

Antonio Rosmini-Serbati Blessed Antonio Francesco Davide Ambrogio Rosmini-Serbati (; Rovereto, 25 March 1797Stresa, 1 July 1855) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and philosopher. He founded the Rosminians, officially the Institute of Charity or , pioneered the ...

and other advocates for reform; Cerci wrote a preface to Gioberti's ''Primato'' (1843), but dissented from his ''Prolegomena''. In the 1870s, Curci delivered a course on Christian philosophy in Florence and published several Scriptural works. In his edition of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, Curci harshly criticized Italian clergy for neglecting to study Scripture. In the meantime, he began to attack the Vatican for its role in politics. In his work "The Modern Conflict between the Church and Italy" (''Il Moderno Dissidio tra la Chiesa e l'Italia'', published in 1878) he called for the separation of church and state in Italy. This was followed by "The New Italy and The Old Zealots" (''La Nuova Italia ed i Vecchi Zelanti'', published in 1881), another attack on the Vatican policy; and by his "Royal Vatican" (''Vaticano Regio'', published in 1883), in which he accuses the Vatican of selling sacred objects and declares that secularism came from the false principles accepted by the ''Curia''. Curci's work in Naples eventually drew him to

Christian Socialism Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

. He was condemned in Rome, and in a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (September 10, 1884), he delivered an account of his disobedience to the decrees of the Roman Congregation, stating: "I am a dutiful son of the Church who hesitates to obey an order of his mother because he does not see the maternal authority in it." Curci was expelled from the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and suspended from the Church. During this time, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning put his purse at Curci's disposal. He eventually accepted the decrees against him and retracted all of his statements contrary to the ideology of the Church. Curci later retired and spent the remainder of his life in Florence. A few months before his death, he was readmitted to the Jesuit Society.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curci, Carlo Maria 1810 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Italian Jesuits 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Clergy from Naples La Civiltà Cattolica editors