ITALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY FEDERATION (F.U.C.I.) - The very title of federation indicates an association of bodies that share common aims and a homogeneity of members.
University circles appeared early in Catholic Action. One arose in Pavia, and was among the first (1874), during the episcopate of Msgr. Parocchi and under his successor Msgr. Riboldi, and the blessed Contardo Ferrini was also a member of it; others then arose, under various names, in Milan, Genoa, Bologna and also in Rome, where it was chosen to be named after Sebastian, and finally in Naples, Catania and Palermo.
In the progressive development of the Opera dei Congressi, under the presidency of Paganuzzi, the need was felt to organize and federate these student forces that gave so much hope for Catholic Action.
The promoters of a Federation of University Circles were then, first of all, Prof. G. Toniolo, who already in the city of Pisa often gathered his student friends in his home, and then the young Peppino Micheli of Parma, animator and president of his "Giovane Montagna," Fr. Romolo Murri in Rome, who at that time gathered around himself the young his first adherents, and also Baron Luigi De Mattheis of Naples, vice-president general of the Opera dei Congressi.
The occasion for carrying out the plan was the XI Italian Catholic Congress, which in 1896 was to assemble at Fiesole with excellent prospects of an industrious awakening throughout Tuscany; and indeed, after a brief discussion in the competent section, the founding of the F.U.C.I. was resolved, and the announcement was given by the Dominican Fr. Antonio Luddi, a noted sacred orator, with addresses of greeting and comments by G. Toniolo, Paganuzzi, Fr. Murri and Micheli. The federation consisted of about ten circles, and had as its first president Baron Luigi De Mattheis.
The ranks grew rapidly. The first evident fruits came in 1899 when, with the celebration at Como of the centenary of the invention of the voltaic pile by A. Volta with a scientific Congress, through the initiative of G. Toniolo, he found himself surrounded by young university students from every part of Italy who gave him precious collaboration.
But the most solemn and clamorous manifestation came the following year, 1900, a holy year, when the F.U.C.I. was able to promote an international university Congress in Rome, a magnificent gathering in which large foreign delegations took part together with professors and scientists of clear fame. The young Catholic students received significant expressions of sympathy from the ninety-year-old pope, Leo XIII, and from the entire cultural element. The names come to the chronicle of those days of Angelo Mauri, of Giulio De Rossi, later a priest, of Paolo Arcari, of Domenico Russo, of Antonio Boggiano, of Lodovico Necchi, of Fr. Carlo Sonnenschein and of M. Sangner, who left very distinguished marks in Catholic Action.
To the presidency of Baron De Mattheis there succeeded, at that time, that of Angelo Mauri of Milan, a brilliant intellect, on whom the leaders based rosy hopes. However, all of Catholic Action, after a few years, fell into crisis, and with the dissolution of the Opera dei Congressi (1904) even the F.U.C.I., although not directly struck, had to suffer a standstill. This, however, was brief. Soon a fresh group of students from various universities regained vigor, and under the guidance of Mario Augusto Martini of Florence reconstituted the central organism, presenting itself filially to His Holiness Pius X, who blessed it. The problem of ecclesiastical assistance was also resolved with its own means, when the young priest with a degree in law, Fr. Giandomenico Pini, was acclaimed at Milan for that office, and Cardinal Ferrari, archbishop, was generous with encouragement toward him.
The F.U.C.I. had thus found its way again, which it traveled without fears with the social motto F.S.P. (Fides, Scientia, Patria) and with the most genuine adherence to the Roman Pontiff.
This second period was not, however, without difficulties: but good will overcame all obstacles, thanks especially to the valiant federal presidents and thanks, more than anything, to the propaganda of Fr. Pini, who for several years identified his apostolate with that for young students. Pius X looked upon the F.U.C.I. with an anxious but benevolent eye, wishing for it immunity from modern errors; Benedict XV gave it proofs of great affection during the world war, he who also claimed for himself membership in a university circle (that of Genoa): Pius XI gave eloquent attestations to the F.U.C.I., in reorganizing all of Catholic Action, legitimizing also the women's branch and above all appointing Igino Righetti as president general, with Msgr. G. B. Montini as assistant (1923), since Msgr. Pini had passed to the general assistance of the Gioventù Cattolica.
Under the presidency of Righetti, the F.U.C.I. had periods of flourishing and periods of trial: to be remembered are the Congress of Macerata, opposed by the fascists, and the harassing days of 1931, which were such for all of Catholic Action.
Quiet was not long in returning, and with it the recovery. In 1932, a national Congress held at Cagliari revealed the renewed vitality of this organization, with its unmistakable character, made of perfect joy and at the same time of serious cultural and religious direction.
After the Congress of Trento (1934), its president general Igino Righetti, author of the graduates' movement, gave up the command, held for nine years, to Giovanni Ambrosetti of Verona (Msgr. G. Anichini had succeeded Msgr. Montini in 1933 as central assistant), and after him, called to arms, Dr. Aldo Moro took over, who in turn had as his successor, in 1942, Giulio Andreotti.
The harsh trials of the Second World War, while they somewhat slowed the F.U.C.I. action, did not however succeed in halting it; so much so that, in 1944, as soon as the roar of arms had abated, the F.U.C.I. was able to gather its ranks under a new president, who was Ivo Murgia.
In the new statutes of Catholic Action, the F.U.C.I., both male and female, received its definitive organization with a diocesan character, and the purpose of the formation of students of higher school was outlined.
In 1946, the fiftieth year of the F.U.C.I.'s life was celebrated, and old and new fucini were called together at the place of origin, at Fiesole, where in the evocative Roman setting the celebration took place, which was called the feast of fidelity.
In recent years, the presidency passed from Ivo Murgia to Carlo Moro and from him to Romolo Pietrobelli, always marking new advances both in the organizational and in the cultural part.
The most recent national Congress (the XXXth of the series) was held at Genoa, in the Teatro Carlo Felice (3-6 Sept. 1949), with the participation of two thousand university congressists and of the president general of the Management International Etudiantes Catholiques (M.I.E.C.) Pio Romana, with which the F.U.C.I. is connected. - See rav. LXXIV.
Bibliography11 works
Guido Anichini