Sacralization of Politics and Secularization of Religion. Old Narratives in New Paradigms

The contemporary world faces a double distortion in articulating the relationship between political authority and religious belief, a pendulum phenomenon that oscillates between two equally risky extremes: the sacralization of politics and the radical secularization of religion. The international seminar "The Sacralization of Politics and the Secularization of Religion. Old Narratives in New Paradigms" aims to analyze these symmetrical pathologies, inviting critical reflection on the place of the Church in the polis and the legitimate limits of secular power. The first line of analysis concerns the sacralization of politics, a phenomenon whereby the state or a particular ideology arrogates to itself a soteriological character, claiming absolute authority and an aura of sacred intangibility. This tendency, identifiable from ancient monarchies to modern totalitarianisms and subtle forms of contemporary political idolatry, transforms the instrument into the goal. The seminar will explore how authentic theology and critical thinking provide the tools necessary to unmask this claim as idolatry, reaffirming the essential distinction between the Kingdom of God and any historical political regime, which is inherently provisional and subject to ethical judgment. The second direction focuses on the opposite pole: the absolute secularization of religion. This is not limited to a necessary institutional distinction, but describes a programmatic exclusion of the religious voice from the public sphere, reducing faith to a strictly subjective and private experience. In the context of what was called the "dictatorship of relativism," the seminar will question the illusion of the "axiological neutrality" of the public sphere. It will examine how the void left by the withdrawal of religion is often filled by new "civil religions" and secular beliefs, which function as undeclared dogmatic systems of meaning. The academic event invites researchers in the fields of theology, philosophy, political science, sociology, and law to contribute to a necessary debate on the restoration of a dynamic balance. How can religious traditions refuse complicity with political idolatry without retreating into a pietism that is irrelevant to the current global context? How can the public dimension of religion—especially through the defense of the vulnerable and the promotion of justice—be reaffirmed in a society that claims absolute autonomy for the political? How can the role of religion in defending human dignity and the common good be redefined, beyond political partisanship or retreat into the private sphere? We welcome proposals for papers that address these tensions, offering original perspectives on how individuals and communities can navigate and avoid the sacralization of politics and the secularization of religion.