Interpretation of the contemporary anthropological crisis in Luigi Giussani's works
The article analyses the work of the Italian priest and thinker in relation to the crisis of modern society. Luigi Giussani (1922-2005) noticed the increasing neglect of the self in the 20th century. The thought of the author, which hasn't been studied thoroughly yet, will be analyzed in the context of Catholic anthropological theology of the 20th and 21st centuries, in the light of such authors as J. Ratzinger, A. Milano, J. Bergoglio, A. Scola. A signiﬁcant likeness between the thoughts of Giussani and Ratzinger will be highlighted. Such likeness consists in stating boththe inseparable bond between Christianity and the recognition of man's greatness: the former is an encounter which reveals man to himself, and in this way saves him. The fundamental themes in the article are: the concept of man as image of God and the concept of man as the tension between relation and individuality. In this regard, the author tackles the problem of the Christian category of existentialism, the image of Christ as a new Adam who fulﬁ lls the image of God, of the dependence on God as ontological truth of the human creature. In this respect some characteristics of Giussani's thought are made clear: Christianity as an encounter, the belonging to an Other, Renaissance as the period when the ﬁ rst signs of changing the Christian conception of man are seen, modern power as a force aiming at the alienation of the human being, modern nihilism as a form of subjugation to the power.