The Vatican and Spiritualism (1853-1870) New Perspectives Based on Archival Sources

This article charts the Vatican’s investigation of Spiritualism from 1853 to 1870. During this time, the Catholic Church addressed Spiritualism through a series of normative resolutions. Behind this regulatory façade, however, a complex activity of study and information gathering went on for decades. Focusing on a range of documentary sources preserved in the Archives of the Holy Office and the Vatican Apostolic Archives, the paper provides a comprehensive overview, shedding light on lesser-known documents and identifying some neglected aspects of a complex cultural dialectic.