The Italian elections and the Pope’s resignation have been the two major stories from Europe over the past week, and so SECL staff have been discussing the impact these two events will have on European culture.
As the Italian election results have made the headlines, Dr Raffaello Palumbo Mosca from the Department of Italian commented on the inconclusive outcome as an insight into contemporary Italian culture.
‘The great success obtained by the Movimento 5 Stelle shows how difficult it is for Italians to distinguish between populist charisma and good leadership,’ he states. ‘This is also true if we think of Berlusconi and how he could once again seduce Italians with promises that dangerously border lies. Even if their voters appear to be extremely different, Berlusconi’s party (PDL) and M5S share some crucial elements.’
For the full press statement, please see:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/comment/stories/ItalianElection/2013
And while the Pope’s sudden and unprecedented retirement continues to impact upon the Catholic church, Professor Robin Gill from the Department of Religious Studies has asked ‘is it right for the Pope to retire?’
‘Pope Benedict is a highly intelligent man. He also watched his predecessor becoming gradually more and more incapacitated towards the end of his long time as Pope. Perhaps he reached the decision then that Popes should be allowed to retire if this happens. After all he was himself one of the key decision makers when Pope John-Paul was becoming increasingly frail,’ says Gill.
For the full press statement, please see: