CLERICALE e CLERICALISMO. - C. is one of those adjectives coined periodically for disparaging use, as happened in the sixteenth century with the word «chietino» to designate a person devoted to a life of piety, and later with «gesuita», as a synonym for hypocrite and covert schemer. It soon also became a noun; hence Tommaseo wrote: «They abound in the sense of contempt as a noun (the c.) to mark with blame not only the clergy and those who humanly take its side, but anyone who professes religious beliefs» (N. Tommaseo-B. Bellini, Dizion. della lingua ital., I, II, Torino 1865, p. 1467).
Tommaseo already noted the confusion being fostered by those who proclaimed themselves liberals: not only was an attempt being made to discredit political opponents; believers who intended to be Catholics in the genuine meaning of the word were also being targeted—those who adhered to the entirety of Catholic teaching and did not wish to compromise with the new theories and with that religious indifferentism which was gaining ever greater ground among the upper classes. This equivocation, or rather confusion, between the political and religious concept continued; and how the word was understood some years later can be read in another dictionary published several years afterward: «Today, in political language, which is ever fertile in new names, it is said of one who belongs to a party hostile, under the guise of religion, to every civil liberty, and almost more often used as a noun» (G. Rigutini-P. Fanfani, Vocabol. ital. della lingua parlata, Firenze 1883, p. 370).
Panzini in turn wrote: «After 1870, c. was the name given to persons and associations that proposed to struggle for the vindication of the rights of the Holy See. Abstention from the political vote was the most evident rule of c. policy. After the elevation of Pius X to the pontificate, when the c. went to the polls, the name c. was given to those who envisaged an agreement between religious and civil authority. With the concordat of 11 February 1929, the word c. is less commonly used. It may still designate those who would like to return to the old antagonisms (1934)» (A. Panzini, Dizionario moderno, Milano 1941, p. 141). There is no one among true and sincere believers who envisages such a return, yet the word c. in its disparaging sense has not fallen out of use. The word clericalism, which followed it in its shifting meanings, suffered a similar fate. To these corresponded the terms anti-c. and anticlericalism.
They were in fact created to signify particularly the virulent action of the enemies of every religion, and especially of Catholicism, who, always ready to employ every means of struggle, from propaganda by word and press to direct, even violent action, make themselves systematic and avowed opponents of II. They do not, however, refrain from calling themselves anti-c. and from making anticlericalism their cause—persons who, as they assert, while remaining obedient to the faith and proclaiming themselves believers, propose to combat political tendencies that have taken root in genuine Catholicism or abuses at variance with genuine Christian practice and tradition.
It is not always easy to understand how this kind of action can be reconciled with the reverence due to ecclesiastical teaching; meanwhile, those who do not hesitate to appropriate the words anti-c. and anticlericalism in this second sense easily become confused with the avowed enemies of the Church and cooperate, more or less consciously, in their destructive work. V. LAICISMO; LIBERALISMO.