‘A Great Work of International Charity’: Catholic Humanitarianism, Displaced Persons and the Making of Post-War Europe (1945–1947)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article explores the role of the Vatican and Catholic aid agencies in resettling European displaced victims of war in the aftermath of the Second World War, contributing to the field of refugee history and humanitarian studies. Focusing on the entanglements between Catholic humanitarians and UN agencies such as UNRRA and IRO, it shows how controlling mobility and managing population movements became a central part of the Vatican’s agenda and paved the way to greater involvement of the Catholic Church in the post-war reconstruction. In doing so, the essay intersects primary sources (predominantly from the Vatican and US Catholic archives) and different historiographical debates, with the aim of nuancing our understanding of post-war ‘refugeedom’ and the emergence of the ‘Cold War West’.
Source: Contemporary European History
Author: Elena Serina
Institution: Scuola Superiore Meridionale
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
OpenAlex ID: W4415384599