The 19th century in Geneva was a turbulent period in more ways than one: the creation of a canton under the Catholic Church, dissent within the Protestant Church, radical revolutions, and above all, the Kulturkampf, which pitted radicals against Roman Catholics. It is this last conflict that will hold our attention.
The sources are unbalanced. The minutes of the Grand Council only record the interventions of the Catholic Church's adversaries. Only one deputy, not particularly competent, spoke out against measures hostile to the Church. How can we explain this relative silence of the Roman Catholic Church? How did the Church defend itself? What were the ideological and practical stakes in this conflict? In particular, what became of the Church of Notre-Dame?
The conference will also examine the resolution of the conflict: who made concessions, and what were they? By asking what traces this conflict leaves in the canton today, the conference will open onto the present and the management of religious pluralism.
