AMICIZIA CRISTIANA. — Catholic secret society for the dissemination of good publications, founded in Diessbach (v.) between 1778 and 1780. In the documents it is always designated by the initials A. C.
It consisted of twelve members known as Christian Friends: six men, laymen and priests, and six women, drawn from the aristocratic and educated classes. The governing role of the society was reserved to the men, whose leader, called the First Librarian, was required to possess broad and solid knowledge of literature and books. The A. C. achieved its purpose, namely intellectual apostolate, through the intelligent distribution of good books. The Friends met every eight days, and later every fifteen days, to discuss everything relating to the Society; the meetings were held in the library, the ideal center of the A. C. The books intended solely for the Friends constituted the library known as the immovable library, while those intended for lending constituted the movable library; other books were intended for free distribution. In order to avoid mistakes 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, so that they might escape both the intrigues of the wicked and the criticisms of the mediocre, as well as the harassment of the police. The use of a conventional language among the Friends, and also of a cipher in correspondence, was customary. 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. Turin always remained the driving center, 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 through their activity during the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary periods; indeed, some of their members died for the faith. The society was almost completely 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 a public character, which, at the suggestion of Count Giuseppe de Maistre, was called «Amicizia Cattolica».