The pastoral visit is an essential instrument for the propaganda and strengthening of religious discipline against heresy, and also one of the fundamental decrees of the Catholic Reformation. It is an extraordinary source for historians of several disciplines, and represents a wealth of information for the study of religious spirituality as well as ecclesiastical institutions, art and society. It records a wide variety of aspects, some of which are less thoroughly studied in literature. The visit is first and foremost a journey, with its preparations, its ceremonials, its stages, but also its practical needs, its costs, its hassles, even its adventures. It is customary to refer to the practice of pastoral visits in the diocesan dimension, but it should not be forgotten that similar visits were made annually by religious orders, men and women, especially when organized in a centralized administration whose virtual borders overlap with those of states, nations and dioceses.
Panelists: • François-Xavier Carlotti (Laboratoire de Recherche Historique Rhône-Alpes, Lyon) - La Réforme catholique en son faîte, ou le diocèse de Senez sous le regard de l’Ordinaire (1696-1727) • Roberto Caterino (Independent Scholar) - Le visite annuali nella congregazione dell’Oratorio di Francia, XVII-XVIII secolo • Alessia Rizzo (Università di Torino) - Imago dioecesis. Gli affeschi del Salone nel Palazzo Vescovile di Ivrea (ca. 1751) • Estelle Martinazzo (Université Montpellier III-Paul Valery) - Enquêter pour réformer : l’apport des visites pastorales à la compréhension de la Réforme catholique
