The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

) for short, is a widespread

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

lay association in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

History

In Italy in 1905, Azione Cattolica was established as a non-political lay organization under the direct control of bishops. It was established by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

after an earlier similar organization,

Opera dei Congressi The Opera dei Congressi or Work of the Congress was a Roman Catholic organisation that promoted Catholic ideas and culture. It was created in 1874, and observed the positions of the Catholic Church, in particular ''Non Expedit''.Helena Dawes (2011) ...

was disbanded in 1904 by the same pope because many of its members were siding with

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. The set of events which brought to the foundation of the Azione Cattolica was critical in the

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

of modernism in 1907 and a prelude of it. The organization was established as a non-political one because the modernists used Catholic lay organizations to promote a political agenda of siding with Italian parties of the left (even of the extreme as per standards of the time). One of the first main leaders of the Azione Cattolica was count

Ottorino Gentiloni Count Vincenzo Ottorino Gentiloni (13 October 1865 – 2 August 1916) was an Italian politician, one of the early leaders of the Italian Catholic Azione Cattolica movement. He was born near Ancona, was active in Catholic politics from the 1890s, an ...

. In 1909 count Gentiloni was appointed by

also as head of UECI, a political Catholic organization, and in such capacity he co-authored in 1912 with

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history. A pr ...

the Patto Gentiloni which won the Italian elections in 1913. In the thirties the original strongly anti-modernist stance of the organization started changing. Since the organization was forbidden by the Vatican to participate in politics, it was not opposed by the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

regime, unlike the

Partito Popolare The ''Partito Popolare'' (PP, Italian for "Popular Party" or "People's Party") was a political party in the Crown Colony of Malta during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was founded on 2 June 1895 by Sigismondo Savona, a former leade ...

. Vatican support for Catholic Action resulted in hundreds of thousands of Catholics withdrawing from the '' Partito Popolare Italiano'', and joining the apolitical Catholic Action – causing the Catholic Party's final collapse.

Other associations related to Azione Cattolica

*''Movimento Studenti di Azione Cattolica'' (MSAC) *''Movimento Lavoratori di Azione Cattolica'' (MLAC) *''Movimento di impegno educativo di Azione Cattolica'' *''Movimento ecclesiale di impegno culturale'' (MEIC) *''

Italian Catholic Federation of University Students The Italian Catholic Federation of University Students ( it, Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana, FUCI) is a federation of groups representing Roman Catholic university students in Italy. History On December 8, 1889, it was founded in Rom ...

'' (FUCI) *''Centro Sportivo Italiano'' (CSI)

References

External links

NON ABBIAMO BISOGNO (On Catholic Action in Italy)

Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from ...

, 1931
Azione Cattolica Italiana Official Website

Forum of Catholic Action
- From Zenit.org {{Authority control Catholic lay organisations Catholic Church in Italy Political organisations based in Italy

History

Other associations related to Azione Cattolica

References

Further reading

External links