This project examines how the Roman Catholic Church responded to the issue of anti-Black racism from the 1930s through to the era of decolonisation and the civil rights movement in the United States. It highlights the Church’s crucial contribution to the reshaping of discourses and behaviours relating to race. For the first time, the project carries out a comprehensive transnational analysis of this topic, focusing on Catholic ‘interracialism’ as a distinctive third way between racism and anti-racism.

The main research questions are:

How did interracialism spread and become a shared orientation within Catholicism on both sides of the Atlantic?
Did interracialism actually alter traditional conceptions of race?
What were the ideological interactions between US-based interracialism and the dominant colonial and postcolonial Catholic culture in Europe?

The starting point will be the figure of Father John LaFarge, an American Jesuit and pioneer of the interracial movement, together with his circle of collaborators and supporters. The main contribution of this research lies in reconstructing the history of how these ideals circulated through the European press, ecclesiastical networks and the intellectual landscape, focusing on specific centres: the Vatican and three Catholic colonial powers (France, Belgium and Italy).

Adopting a religious, cultural and transnational historical perspective, the main objective of the project is to analyse the interplay between ideologies, images and practices. The focus is on both the key figures who developed and disseminated this discourse and on the characteristics and limitations of such ‘interracialism’ as a form of ‘moderate’ or ‘respectable’ anti-racism.

The University of Florence and Fordham University provide ideal support for the academic and civic dimensions of this proposal. The expertise offered by the academic staff of both institutions, combined with the resources of their respective universities, is fundamental to achieving the project’s objectives. These include the publication of a monograph and three academic articles, as well as the dissemination of research findings and the consolidation of professional networks through conferences, workshops, teaching activities and initiatives aimed at public outreach and engagement.