Catholic Culture Put to the Test of Détente: The Case of Augusto Del Noce

How did Italian intellectuals interpret and evaluate the process of detente? How did they react to it? This chapter aims at dealing with this issue, especially focusing on the case of Augusto Del Noce, without doubt one of the most important protagonists of Italian intellectual life and Catholic culture following the Second World War. In this chapter the evolution of Del Noce’s position is described in three main phases: (1) detente as an expression of reverse colonialism (1967–1969); (2) detente as the death of the sacred in Europe, especially because of the United States (1970–1973); (3) detente as “moral Finlandization”, especially because of the Soviet Union (1974–1978). In conclusion, this chapter finds out that the attitude of Del Noce—defined by the author as a Cold War intellectual—toward the detente reflected positions and worries that were very common in Italian (and not only) culture during those years.