Augusto Del Noce

"Of course, Catholics have a terrible habit: thinking about the power of modernity and ignoring how this modernity, insofar as it seeks to deny religious transcendence, is currently experiencing its greatest crisis, as recognized even by certain secular writers."

"(About the book of Simone Weil entitled The Need for Roots) Of course, one cannot expect the formal perfection of other writings, but that is simply because “it is a book,” whereas the natural expression of tragic consciousness, such as Weil's, is the aphoristic form."

"(About Dante Alighieri) Of course, one cannot expect the formal perfection of other writings, but that is simply because “it is a book,” whereas the natural expression of tragic consciousness, such as Weil's, is the aphoristic form."

"It is not that Dante intends to combat the cupiditas of the clergy in order to save the autonomy of the State; rather, “it is the struggle against cupiditas, the need to thoroughly permeate public life with religion, that leads him to distinguish between the orders.” In other words, the central point of his thinking, which leads him to overcome both Guelphism and Ghibellinism, is "the intuition of the concordance between the affirmation of the autonomy of the Empire, hitherto supported by heterodox thinkers, and that of the purification of the Church affirmed by spiritual writers," which is in line with what the best interpreter of Dante's philosophy, Étienne Gilson, defines as the singular and unique feature of his thought, irreducible to any source."

"Gilson criticizes attempts to trace Dante's position back to Thomism or Averroism. For St. Thomas, every hierarchy of dignity is at the same time a hierarchy of jurisdiction, while for Dante—except for God—a hierarchy of dignity is never the foundation of a hierarchy of jurisdiction, and this corresponds to Dante's specific philosophical problem, which is not so much to define the essence of philosophy as to determine functions and jurisdictions. The principle governing this determination is absolutely irreconcilable with Thomism. St. Thomas knows only one ultimate end: eternal bliss, which can only be attained through the Church; moreover, the spirituality of the ultimate end implies that between temporal and spiritual power there is a hierarchical subordination of the means to the end. For Dante, on the other hand, man can obtain, through the exercise of political virtues, a human happiness completely distinct from heavenly bliss, even if the latter represents a higher end. The thesis of the “duo ultima” legitimizes the complete distinction between the political order and the religious order, which is equally universal to that of the Church, but autonomous and pursuing an end of earthly happiness."

"The hierarchy of dignity must not be confused with the hierarchy of jurisdiction. Such confusion, far from being homage to the order established by God among things, is a violation of it: and it is this confusion that allows “cupiditas” to prevail, which in philosophy means the opposite of justice, and in theology means the will perverted by sin. Therefore, recognition of the autonomy of orders is the authentic form of respect for the order established by God, or for the sovereignty of God himself."

"The originality of Dante lies not so much in his affirmation of the autonomy of the state, but in the religious reason for which it is affirmed. This is the path to asserting the religiosity of politics and the religious meaning of secularism."

"[...] it is within the theology of original sin that the mutual autonomy of the Empire and the Church is understood."

"The theocratic ideal is based not only, as is often repeated, even by distinguished writers and by Maritain himself, on the unity of faith, but also on the medieval non-problematization (at least not experienced problematization) of faith as truth. The theocratic ideal is unfeasible today, and not only from a prudential point of view and taking into account the actual situation, as too many theologians and, behind them, too many Catholics think; but it is unfeasible for ideal and logical reasons, because the spiritual condition of the modern age is precisely the problematization of faith as truth (how truth can become my truth). The theocratic ideal is therefore not, at least in my view, the absolute ideal of Christian politics, but its specification in relation to the spiritual situation of the Middle Ages: even if the unity of faith were to be reconstituted, the theocratic ideal would no longer be feasible, because it would be a reconstruction of unity subsequent to its problematization."

"These days, I am writing an introduction to Monarchia by Dante. It is a work that contains some very interesting insights into current affairs, including what I believe to be an unsurpassable definition of “laity”."