ITALIAN WOMEN'S CENTER (C.I.F.). - It is a federation of women's forces inspired by Christian principles for constructive and harmonious action in all sectors of civil and social life (art. 1 of the Statute), established on 5 Nov. 1944.
Women of Christian sentiment, already for the most part organized in religious associations or associations of apostolate, have felt the duty to exercise a more active influence also in the civic and social field, coordinating their action in a great federative organism of the individual bodies already in existence, of which the most important are the Unione Donne, the Gioventù femminile di azione cattolica, the Ladies of St. Vincent, and the female Third Orders.
The field of action of the C.I.F. is vast: the civic and political education of women; assistance to needy children, one of the most delicate problems left behind by the world conflict; the opening of schools for the people, of nurseries, of mountain and seaside colonies. The organization is governed by a council composed of the representatives of the federated bodies, and by a directing committee with an elected president. Orthodoxy is guaranteed by an ecclesiastical adviser. The organization has, at the provincial and municipal level, the same organs as at the national level, with proportionate functions and under the high central direction.
The C.I.F. publishes its own periodical of official information: the Bollettino del C.I.F. For the statutes of the C.I.F. cf.: L'Assistente ecclesiastico, 18 (1948), p. 35, n. 68 ff.