Strategic canonisation: sanctity, popular culture and the Catholic Church

Dying for the cause: The rationality of martyrs, suicide bombers and self-immolators

“…He refused to renounce his faith, even though it would mean his release; he died in captivity in 1621 (Lennon, 2000). Similarly, Marcel Callo was imprisoned to hard labour by the Gestapo in World War II for his Christian beliefs and practices where he later died in 1945 refusing to renounce (Bennett, 2011). Each of these individuals voluntarily suffered death as the penalty for not renouncing their faith under persecution, torture or threat of death.…”

Creating cultural heritage: three vignettes on Carl Jacobsen, his museum and foundation

“…'Canonization' borrows its metaphor from theology, in reference to what chapters are taken into sacred text or e.g. in the Catholic Church referring to the saints that have been recognized by the Pope (Bennett 2011). The term is increasingly used to describe the process by which powerful art museums create 'schools' or 'genres' that, if successful, attain cultural value in the repertoire of the wider cultural sphere (Leigh 2008;Langfeld 2014).…”

“…The term is increasingly used to describe the process by which powerful art museums create 'schools' or 'genres' that, if successful, attain cultural value in the repertoire of the wider cultural sphere (Leigh 2008;Langfeld 2014). An organization or museum or prestigious actor may thus work to create or expand canons by talking up new events, objects or 'saints' into a common category or repertoire and promoting the status of that category (Bennett 2011). This requires significant resources and status on the part of the canonizing agent, which is predicated on not only the successful framing of a singular event, but a series of events or bodies of artwork.…”

Who Says You Can’t Be a Saint? Female Saints as Heroes on the Italian Catholic Stage

“…But even as early as the late 1950s, the Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana [Christian family], sold in the churches’ foyers, began the publication of the lives of the saints as fotoromanzi (Ferrari, 1998), a very popular postwar genre, which combined comic strips and photographs to tell (usually love) stories. Stories of saints and martyrs, in fact, contain most of the characteristics of contemporary popular culture: “strong narratives, heroes and villains, human interest, extreme violence, fantastic happenings, exotic locations and so on” (Bennett, 2011, p. 439). But their main purpose, beyond the entertainment, is that of providing a suitable role model for their readers, spectators, or users in general.…”

“…In his address to the faithful assembled for the young woman’s beatification, Pope Pius XII denounced the conscious and voluntary corrupting forces of novels, magazines, cinema, and fashion. His speech appeared to be “an attack not only on American popular culture but also as an attempt to counteract the sexual behaviour of the American troops, most of whom were Protestant, that had liberated Italy in 1944” (Bennett, 2011, pp. 447-448).…”