CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIP. - A Catholic secret society for the diffusion of good literature, founded in Diessbach (v.) between the years 1778–80. In its documents it is always indicated by the initials A. C.
It consisted of 12 members called Christian Friends, six men—laymen and priests—and six women, drawn from the aristocratic and cultured classes. The governing body of the society was reserved to the men, whose head, styled First Librarian, was required to possess wide and solid literary and bibliographical knowledge. The A. C. pursued its aim—intellectual apostolate—through intelligent distribution of good books. The Friends met every eight days, later every fifteen, to transact all business relating to the Society; their gatherings took place in the library, which was the ideal centre of the A. C. Books intended solely for the Friends formed the so-called immovable library, while those for lending constituted the movable library; still others were destined for free distribution. To avoid error in recommending a book, a catalogue of good books was prepared, divided into eight classes according to the spiritual needs of the readers.
The strictest secrecy bound the Friends, to escape the intrigues of the wicked and the censure of the envious, as well as the harassment of the police. The members employed a conventional language among themselves and even used ciphers in their correspondence. From Turin, between 1780 and 1803, the A. C. spread to various cities in Italy and abroad, such as Milan, Fribourg in Switzerland, Paris, Vienna, Augsburg in Bavaria, Florence, Rome, Warsaw, etc. The driving centre remained always Turin, directed by the founder Diessbach and later by the Lanteri (v.); in Florence it was supported by the Marquis Leopoldo Ricasoli, in Milan by Count Pertusati, in Vienna by the celebrated Baron Penkler, etc. In Paris, the Friends distinguished themselves by their activity during the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary periods, indeed some of its members died for the faith. The society was almost entirely dispersed by the revolutionary and Napoleonic upheavals.
After the Restoration, Lanteri attempted to revive it in Turin (1817), but by then its character as a secret society had become an obstacle to its development. It was decided to establish alongside it a society of public character, which, at the suggestion of Count Giuseppe de Maistre, was called “Catholic Friendship.”