"Our sea lies open again". Romano Guardini's contribution to the debate on secularisation

Abstract

In this article, we explore Guardini’s perspective on the origin of cultural secularisation and the relationship between the Catholic Church and the modern secularised world. In particular, we consider the text La fine dell’epoca moderna and his manuscripts on Nietzsche, published in the volume of Guardini’s Opera Omnia Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sémer. We make this comparison because, at first glance, the first text clearly reveals an inevitable contrast between the contemporary world and Christianity, while in the unpublished manuscripts, Guardini offers a personal interpretation of Così parlò Zarathustra, moving from direct criticism to an appreciation of Nietzsche’s words. The Italian-German thinker also states that atheism reacts to an inadequate way of living faith, to a false image of God. Therefore, a believer can interpret secularisation as a form of purification of his faith. Finally, Guardini highlights in many works that God, as creator, gives us our world. Therefore, human life is good by its very nature, and every human being is called by God, regardless of whether they are believers or not, to make their existence flourish. By considering carefully Guardini’s concept of a secularised world, we would like to offer an analysis of his contribution to the debate around secularisation, going beyond Rosino Gibellini’s interpretation.