The Christ-Haunted World of Ignazio Silone’s Abruzzo Trilogy & The Question of Scandal as a Force for Religious Change Andrew L. Ouellette, MA
Can scandal be a force of religious change? If Saint Thomas Aquinas’ definition of scandal is correct—as “something less rightly done or said, that occasions another’s spiritual downfall”1 —then scandal can absolutely bring about religious change; but a change that would cause a deformation rather than a transformation. Can we however separate the sin of scandal from a type of scandal that causes men, women, or institutions to change for the good? If the crucified Christ is “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” according to the apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth (1 Cor 1:23), could not ideas from outside the boundaries of religious orthodoxy give benefit to both the individual believer and the worshipping community? Introduction The purpose of this paper will be to discuss the writings and thought of the Italian novelist and political thinker Ignazio Silone and to assess whether or not the ideas of a writer who referred to himself as “a Socialist without a Party, a Christian without a Church” can serve as a benefit in the Christian understanding of the nature of man and his destiny as best defined in Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.”2 This will be done in three parts. First, because Silone is not as well known in English-speaking world today, I will provide a brief biographical sketch that will be necessary in better understanding Silone’s thought as it is expressed in his writings. Second, this paper will particularly examine the characters and themes of his celebrated Abruzzo Trilogy to posit that Silone’s understanding of human nature and the person’s activity in the world as something “Christ-haunted” in which he cannot seem to ever fully remove religion from his being. Lastly, Silone’s thought will be assessed Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (ST), II-II, q. 43, a. 1, (New York: Benzinger Brothers, Inc). 2 Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 22 (cited from Austin Flannery (ed), Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Postconciliar Documents, (Collegville: Liturgical Press, 1996). 1
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