Italian Catholic Federation of University Students explained

The Italian Catholic Federation of University Students^[1] (Italian: Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana, FUCI) is a federation of groups representing Roman Catholic university students in Italy.^[2]

History

On December 8, 1889, it was founded in Rome the Saint Sebastian Circle which published the La Vita Nova, a university cultural journal edited by Romolo Murri.^[3] The circle tested a primitive form of coordination between some independent Catholic student groups who were active in the Italian universities. A column stated the program of the future FUCI, claiming the willingness to rebuild sciences and social life, to reconstruct the human community, but under the laws of the inspiring faith and under the bonds of the industrious Christian charity.^[4]

The FUCI was founded during the 14th Italian Roman Catholics national congress which the Opera dei Congressi organized from the 1st to the 4th September 1896 in Fiesole. Since its beginning the FUCI was involved in Italian political life and particularly engaged in the abolition of the Non Expedit ban of Roman Catholics, which had come into force since the Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

In 1921 the FUCI promoted the institution of the MIEC PAX Romana, which was one of the first supranational experiences of the Roman Catholic laity.^[5] In 1925 the future Pope Paul VI succeeded Gian Domenico Pini as spiritual director, while the barrister Igino RIghetti was elected president of the association. Montini remained in charge from 1925 up to 1933.^[6]

After the Matteotti homicide in June 1924, the National Fascist Party founded its student and youth organization under the name of Fascist Universitarian Groups. At the same time, all the existing universitarian student organizations were suppressed by law, providing a unique exception for the FUCI.^[7]

At the end of the Second World War, 35 FUCI members were elected within the 1946 Constituent Assembly of Italy.^[8] During the 1960s some of the FUCI exponents and alumni were actively involved in the Second Vatican Council^[9] whose pastoral suggestions were widely adopted across the following decades.

Notable members

• Aldo Moro : politician and head of Italian government. Was president of FUCI from 1939 to 1942.
• Giulio Andreotti : politician and head of Italian government. Was president of FUCI from 1942 to 1944. Andreotti met for the first time Alcide De Gasperi when he was employed at the Vatican Library during the Second World War.^[10] Both of them married the FUCI's positions.
• Francesco Cossiga : politician and president of Italy
• Giovanni Battista Montini : the future Pope Paul VI was the FUCI national spiritual assistant from 1925 to 1933.
• Blessed Itala Mela : Benedictine oblate, mystic and theologian.
• Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati : Italian Youth, 1901–1925, member of Cesare Balbo Circle (FUCI Member) at Polytechnic of Turin
• Venerable Giorgio La Pira : engaged in the FUCI's branch located in Messina (to practice with playing cards and to play chess)^[11] and then at the Catholic University in Rome (1940-1945).^[12]

See also

• Australian Catholic Students Association
• National Catholic Student Coalition
• Katholieke Studentenvereniging Sanctus Virgilius Delft
• Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond

External links

• Official site
• Centro Studi Politici Franco Maria Malfatti - FUCI

Notes and References

1. Web site: Message of John Paul II to the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students. The Vatican. 7 November 2011. 26 April 2002.
2. Book: Fanello, Gabriella Marcucci. Storia della FUCI. 1971. Stadium. Rome. Italian.
3. Web site: Dalle origini agli Statuti del 1923. From the origins to the statutes approved in 1923. Italian. 6. archive.is. https://web.archive.org/web/20161208222924/https://www.azionecattolicaalbano.it/documenti-online/send/5-documenti/5-atto-normativo. December 8, 2016. live. May 10, 2021.
4. Book: Italian. 9788884985965. 1971. La vita nova (1895-1896). Rodolfo Murri. Francesco Maria Cecchini. Edizioni di storia e letteratura. 917811643. (p. 74).
5. Web site: Discours du Pape PAUL VI aux Participants au Congrès Mondial de "Pax Romana". Speech of Pope Paul VI to the participants of the Pax Romana Global Congress. July 22, 1971. French. May 10, 2021. https://archive.today/20201028232159/http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/fr/speeches/1971/july/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19710721_pax-romana.html. October 28, 2020. live.
6. Catherine M. A.. McCauliff. Jacques Maritain's Embrace of Religious Pluralism and the Declaration on Religious Freedom. Paperity . May 10, 2021. April 19, 2011. 729618115. Seton Hall University, School of Law. 0586-5964. Seton Hall Law Review. 41. 2. 597.
7. Book: Universities under dictatorship. pdf. John. Connelly. Michael. Grüttner. 2005. The Pennsylvania University State University Press. Only the University Federation of Italian Catholics (FUCI) survived, in part because of its willingness ti collaborate with the GUFS in Fascist anti-Masonic campaigns.. 0-271-02695-2. 2004028124. 54. Italian Universities under Fascism. May 10, 2021. 925989737.
8. Book: Jorge. Dagnino. Faith and Fascism: Catholic Intellectuals in Italy, 1925–43. 9. Springer. March 1, 2017. May 10, 2021. 10.1057/978-1-137-44894-1. 978-1-137-44894-1. 934193691. Histories of the sacred and the secular 1700-2000.
9. Book: Ahern. Kevin. Malano. Christopher Derige. God's Quad: Small Faith Communities on Campus and Beyond. 51. Orbis Books. September 20, 2018. 9781608337538. 1037886577.
10. Book: John Peter Pham. Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession. 1048618007. 9780195346350 . 232. Oxford University Press. November 30, 2004. 2004009726.
11. Web site: Giorgio La Pira: una straordinaria figura di laico cristiano. Italian. https://archive.today/20190404101025/http://www.centrolapira.it/CentroLaPira/GiorgioLaPira/tabid/64/Default.aspx. April 4, 2019. live.
12. Web site: Il compromesso tra la fede e il mondo di Giorgio La Pira. July 1, 2018. Italian. Corrispondenza Romana.