Roberto de Mattei
Roberto de Mattei (born 21 February 1948 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian Roman Catholic historian and author. Biography. De Mattei was formerly a student and assistant to the philosopher of politics Augusto Del Noce and to the historian Armando Saitta at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Sapienza University of Rome De Mattei has extensively studied European history of the 16th and 20th centuries, with particular focus on the history of religious and political ideas. He describes himself as "above all … a disciple of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira". Among other academic positions, de Mattei  was Professor of Modern History at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Cassino and is currently Professor of Modern History and History of Christianity and Coordinator of the Degree Course in Historical Sciences at the new European University in Rome, which was founded in 2004 under the sponsorship of the Legionaries of Christ. Between 2003 and 2011 de Mattei was the Vice-President of the National Research Council of Italy. In that role, he has been highly criticized for his scientific ideas, in particular for having organized and funded a meeting supporting antievolutionism. This fact led part of  the Italian scientific community to a request for his resignation. The controversy upsurged again after some statements by de Mattei, such as that the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan was a divine punishment. Furthermore, he claimed the "contagion of homosexuality" had been responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. In February 2014, Mattei's monthly radio program, "Radici Cristiane" (Christian Roots), was cancelled by the director of Radio Maria because of Mattei's increasingly "critical position regarding the Pontificate of Pope Francis". De Mattei has been described by progressive theologian Massimo Faggioli as "a renowned apologist for  ultra-traditional Catholicism". De Mattei is a member of the Board of Directors of the "Italian Historical Institute for the Modern and Contemporary Age", the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family, and of the "Italian Geographic Society". He is President of the Lepanto Foundation (Rome - Washington) and he is editor-in-chief of the monthly review "Radici Cristiane", the quarterly historical review "Nova Historica", and the weekly "Corrispondenza Romana". From February 2002 to May 2006, de Mattei held the post of Adviser for International Affairs to the Italian Government. He has cooperated with the Pontifical Council  for Historical Sciences and has been awarded from the Holy See the Order of Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great, as acknowledgement to this service to the Church. Among de Mattei's most recent publications is a history of Vatican Council II ("Il Concilio Vaticano II. Una storia mai scritta", Lindau, Turin 2010) wherein, without touching onto the theological debate on the hermeneutics of the Council, he suggests an historical view on the event which is antithetical to that proposed by the School of Bologna. Reviewers have noted the book's "archival discoveries from the ultra-traditionalist Lefebvrians" and its  new information concerning the role of the traditionalist Coetus Internationalis Patrum at the Council. As the book's historical content raises questions about the nature of the intents of Second Vatican Council's main theologians and Popes, Mattei's book ended up drawing out heated criticism by both Catholic conservatives and progressives. Fr. Jared Wicks, S.J. and Massimo Faggioli, both progressives linked to Jesuit institutions, described it as "critically flawed" for its purported "denigration" of the Council's presiding Popes, and of the Council members who followed their reform agenda, as following a "conspiracy-driven Lefebvrian interpretation" and "essentially useless  for developing an understanding of Vatican II. However, Mattei's book draws heavily on primary sources that witnessed in first person both the Council and the historical development of the schools of the Nouvelle théologie, such as Fr. Ralph M. Wiltgen, S.V.D.'s book The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II". Mattei's book has been translated into English as "The Second Vatican Council - An Unwritten Story" with Michael M. Miller as editor.