ADELPHI, society of. - A secret society founded in France, according to some in 1804, through the efforts of Col. Oudet, Gen. Lafayette, and the exiled Luigi Angeloni; according to others, it existed earlier. It is, however, generally accepted that it was an offshoot of Freemasonry, to which it became hostile when, in the final years of the Empire, Freemasonry remained loyal to Napoleon, its great protector. Its aims were hostility toward every revealed religion, the overthrow of monarchies, and the establishment of popular republics. According to Salvotti, who mentions it in the indictment against Maroncelli (A. Luzio, Il processo Pellico-Maroncelli, Milano 1903, p. 446), it was divided into churches presided over by bishops.
Enciclopedia Cattolica