CATHOLIC FRIENDSHIP.
The plan for this society was set forth at the meeting of the A. C. held in Torino on 3 March 1817 by Cav. Luigi Provana di Collegno. Its purpose was to promote the dissemination of good books in opposition to the Protestant Bible Society of London, which widely distributed Bibles and religious-moral treatises. The plan was accepted and approved by Lanteri, First Librarian of the A. C., and was immediately put into practice. The two societies were to collaborate closely with one another; however, after about a year (1818), the Catholic Friendship completely absorbed the A. C., whose programme it retained, while modifying its statutes in order to make its activity more effective and more in keeping with the new religious and political climate of the Restoration.
The Catholic Friendship aimed at the free distribution of books of religion and piety. The society was governed by 10 administrators, men known for virtue, learning, and social standing, headed by a secretary. The books which the Catholic Friendship proposed both for printing and for reading were listed in a catalogue, in which readers were divided into 11 classes. The Catholic Friendship distributed free of charge tens of thousands of volumes, more than 10,000 of which were sent to North America. Carlo Felice suppressed it in 1828. The soul of this society was the Marchese Cesare d'Azeglio (v.), a pioneer of Catholic journalism.
A. Pietro Frutaz