This year's Academy was a cooperative project of the Federal Chancellor Adenauer House Foundation, which became an associate member of Civitas this year, and the division Research Services/Archive of Christian-Democratic Policy (WD/ACDP) of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, whose director, Dr. Michael Borchard, also serves as Secretary General of Civitas.
After the conference was opened by the President of Civitas, Prof. Renato Moro, Prof. Ulrich Schlie delivered a keynote speech analysing the concept of the state as understood by Christian Democratic Chancellors from Adenauer to Merkel, placing their European policy positions within the broader context of European history. He also addressed the sometimes glaring lack of historical understanding. Following this, the CIVITAS board presented the newly published "Mission and Work Plan 2025-2029" and the goals outlined for the future of the association.
The contributions presented by the participants during the Academy impressively demonstrated the thematic diversity and great potential for interdisciplinary research that the history of European and Latin American Christian Democratic movements offers. It also highlighted the significant increase in international interest in this field:
On Tuesday, Marianao Vallenilla Torrealba (Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas) analysed the actions of the Organización Demócrata Cristiana de América (ODCA) during the period of Latin American military dictatorships in the 1970s. Riccardo Maria Sciarra (LUMSA, Rome) presented his project on a comprehensive analysis of the historical development of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. Guiseppe Iglieri (Università del Molise, Isernia) discussed the relations between Italian Christian Democracy and the USA during Gerald Ford's presidency.
The presentations on the first day were followed by a tour of the Archive for Christian Democratic Politics. Dr. Michael Borchard led the group through the archive's magazine rooms, highlighting collections of particular relevance to the participants' research areas and promoting the use of the archive.
The second day of the Academy took place on Wednesday at the Federal Chancellor Adenauer House Foundation in Rhöndorf. Dr. Élodie Giraudier (Franklin College, Indiana) presented her socio-historical analysis of three leadership generations of the Chilean Partido Demócrata Cristiano. Dr. Ádám Darabos (Ludovika University of Public Service, Budapest) explored the "Hungarian Adenauer," István Barankovics, and the roots of Hungarian Christian Democracy. He was followed by Giammarco Basile (LUMSA, Rome) with his lecture on the internal debates within Italian Christian Democracy during the terror of the second generation of the Red Brigades. Finally, Dr. Holger Löttel provided the group with fascinating insights into the life of Germany's first Federal Chancellor during a tour of the exhibition, the residential house, and the garden of Konrad Adenauer.
The last day of the conference was spent by the participants at the ACDP, utilizing its extensive collections on European and international Christian Democracy for their work and preparing further research stays. After three days of inspiring discussions, high-quality lectures, and fruitful archival research, the CIVITAS Academy concluded on 12 December. The consistently positive feedback from the participants encouraged Civitas to continue promoting and intensifying the networking of young scholars focused on the history of Christian Democratic movements and parties.
