FEDERAZIONE TRA LE ASSOCIAZIONI DEL CLERO IN ITALIA (F.A.C.I.) — Various attempts had been made since the beginning of this century through movements of individual Italian dioceses (e.g., Bologna, Turin, Sicily) that sought to defend the clergy and its interests against attacks by Freemasonry. The F.A.C.I. finally came into being in 1917, through the efforts of a group of Sienese priests who, under the guidance of Cardinal P. Maffi and Msgr. P. Scaccia, Archbishop of Siena, brought together in a single association all the energies scattered throughout the various dioceses of Italy.
The first congress of the F.A.C.I., which received the approval of the Holy Father, took place in Pisa in October 1917. At it, Msgr. Condio, representing the Diocese of Turin, was elected president of the Federation. The driving force and soul of the F.A.C.I. at its inception was the vice-president, Msgr. Nazareno Orlandi of Siena.
The F.A.C.I.’s first interventions in defense of the clergy and ecclesiastical institutions took place immediately after its foundation, in the struggle against the Sacchi decree, in defense of ecclesiastical property; these interventions were all successful. The years following the world war were further years of tenacious struggle, during which the F.A.C.I. sought to provide the entire clergy with more adequate financial means and succeeded in obtaining from the State Treasury considerable sums that were transferred each year to the fund for worship in order to increase the congrua.
Other measures were adopted after the Congresses of Naples in 1919 and Bologna in 1921, to relieve the clergy of fiscal and labor-union pressures and to reform ecclesiastical legislation. In recent times, various welfare institutions were established on the initiative of the F.A.C.I.: a sanatorium for the clergy at Vigne d’Arco in Trentino, two wards for sick priests (Bisceglie [Bari], Venice), an insurance company, two convalescent and rest homes (Montecatini and Marina di Massa), and agreements with various institutes to obtain the greatest possible concessions for priests.
The Congress of the Federation meets every two years. In addition, since 1919 the F.A.C.I. has published its own monthly bulletin, under the title of Bollettino ufficiale of the F.A.C.I.; since 1924, under the title of L'amico del clero.
Banc. F.A.C.I., Richiamì alla sua opera e alle istituzioni me nel primo ventennio della sua fondazione, Siena 1936.