Titolo Religione, fede ed epidemi. La Chiesa di fronte a una sfida complessa (una cavalcata «episodica» a più voci attraverso i secoli) Periodico Quaderni di diritto e politica ecclesiastica Anno: 2021 - Fascicolo: speciale - Pagina iniziale: 31 - Pagina finale: 55
The paper aims to assess the position of the Catholic Church, as well as of its representatives, vis-a-vis epidemics through legislative and non-legislative sources. Both preventive measures adopted and ‘spiritual remedies’ voiced by some authors, especially ecclesiastics, are investigated. Divine wrath, bellum divinum, God’s punishment through the centuries from the Middle Ages to the modern age is almost constantly indicated as the cause of the outbreak of the disease.