FEDERAZIONE UNIVERSITARIA CATTOLICA ITALIANA (F.U.C.I.) — The very title of federation indicates an association of bodies sharing common aims and uniformity among their members.
University circles appeared early in Catholic Action. One arose in Pavia and was among the first (1874), during the episcopate of Mons. Parocchi and under his successor, Mons. Riboldi; the Blessed Contardo Ferrini was also a member. Others subsequently arose, under various names, in Milan, Genoa, Bologna, and also in Rome, where St. Sebastian was chosen as patron, and finally in Naples, Catania, and Palermo.
As the Opera dei Congressi progressively developed under the presidency of Paganuzzi, the need was felt to organize and federate these student forces, which offered such great promise for Catholic Action.
The first to promote a Federation of University Circles were Prof. G. Toniolo, who in the city of Pisa often gathered student friends in his home; the young Peppino Micheli of Parma, animator and president of his «Giovane Montagna»; Fr. Romolo Murri in Rome, who at that time was gathering around himself the young people who were his first adherents; and also Baron Luigi De Mattheis of Naples, general vice-president of the Opera dei Congressi.
The opportunity to put the plan into effect was provided by the Eleventh Italian Catholic Congress, which was to convene at Fiesole in 1896, with excellent prospects for an industrious revival throughout Tuscany. Indeed, after a brief discussion in the competent section, the foundation of the F.U.C.I. was approved, and the announcement was made by the Dominican Fr. Antonio Luddi, a well-known preacher, with speeches of greeting and commentaries by G. Toniolo, Paganuzzi, Fr. Murri, and Micheli. The federation consisted of about ten circles, and its first president was Baron Luigi De Mattheis.
Its ranks rapidly grew. The first visible fruits appeared in 1899 when, on the occasion of the centenary of A. Volta’s invention of the pile, a scientific congress was held at Como. On G. Toniolo’s initiative, he found himself surrounded by young university students from every part of Italy, who provided him with valuable assistance.
But the most solemn and impressive demonstration took place the following year, 1900, the Holy Year, when the F.U.C.I. was able to promote an international university congress in Rome, a magnificent gathering attended by large foreign delegations together with professors and scientists of recognized fame. The young Catholic students received significant expressions of sympathy from the ninety-year-old pope, Leo XIII, and from the entire cultural world. The names of Angelo Mauri, Giulio De Rossi, later a priest, Paolo Arcari, Domenico Russo, Antonio Boggiano, Lodovico Necchi, D. Carlo Sonnenschein, and M. Sangner appear in the reports of those days; they left a distinct mark on Catholic Action.
Baron De Mattheis was succeeded at that time by Angelo Mauri of Milan, a brilliant intellect in whom the leaders placed bright hopes. Yet after a few years Catholic Action as a whole fell into crisis, and with the dissolution of the Opera dei Congressi (1904), the F.U.C.I., although not directly affected, also suffered a period of stagnation. This, however, was brief. A vigorous group of students from various universities soon revived the movement and, under the leadership of Mario Augusto Martini of Florence, reconstituted the central organization, presenting itself filial to His Holiness Pius X, who blessed II. The problem of ecclesiastical assistance was likewise solved through its own means: in Milan, the young priest and law graduate Fr. Giandomenico Pini was acclaimed for this office, and Cardinal Ferrari, the archbishop, gave him generous encouragement.
The F.U.C.I. had thus found its path, which it followed fearlessly under the organizational motto F.S.P. (Fides, Scientia, Patria) and with the most wholehearted adherence to the Roman Pontiff.
This second period was not without difficulties; but goodwill overcame every obstacle, thanks especially to the courageous federal presidents and, above all, to the preaching of Fr. Pini, who for several years identified his apostolate with that directed toward young students. Pius X watched over the F.U.C.I. with anxious yet benevolent concern, hoping that it would remain immune from modern errors. During the world war, Benedict XV gave it proofs of great affection, claiming for himself as well membership in a university circle—that of Genoa. Pius XI gave the F.U.C.I. eloquent marks of approval when reorganizing all Catholic Action, officially recognizing the women’s branch as well and, above all, appointing Igino Righetti as general president, with Mons. G. B. Montini as assistant (1923), while Mons. Pini had moved to the general chaplaincy of Catholic Youth.
Under Righetti’s presidency, the F.U.C.I. experienced both periods of prosperity and periods of trial. Worth recalling are the Congress of Macerata, opposed by the Fascists, and the harassing days of 1931, which affected Catholic Action as a whole.
Calm soon returned, and with it a revival. In 1932, a national congress held at Cagliari revealed the renewed vitality of this organization, with its unmistakable character, combining perfect joy with a serious cultural and religious orientation.
After the Congress of Trento (1934), its general president, Igino Righetti, founder of the graduates’ movement, relinquished the leadership, which he had held for nine years, to Giovanni Ambrosetti of Verona. (Mons. G. Anichini had succeeded Mons. Montini in 1933 as central assistant.) After Ambrosetti, when he was called to military service, Dr. Aldo Moro took over; he was in turn succeeded in 1942 by Giulio Andreotti.
The harsh trials of the Second World War slowed the F.U.C.I.’s activity to some extent but nevertheless failed to halt II. Thus, in 1944, as soon as the din of arms had subsided somewhat, the F.U.C.I. was able to regroup under a new president, Ivo Murgia.
Under the new statutes of Catholic Action, the F.U.C.I., both male and female, received its definitive diocesan organization, and its purpose was defined as the formation of students in higher education.
In 1946, the F.U.C.I. celebrated its fiftieth year of existence, and old and new members were summoned to its place of origin, Fiesole. There, in the evocative Roman setting, the celebration took place and was called the Feast of Fidelity.
In the final years, the presidency passed from Ivo Murgia to Carlo Moro and from the latter to Romolo Pietrobelli, marking further advances both organizationally and culturally.
The most recent national congress—the thirtieth in the series—was held in Genoa, at the Teatro Carlo Felice (3–6 September 1949), with the participation of two thousand university delegates and of Pio Romana, general president of the Management International Etudiantes Catholiques (M.I.E.C.), to which the F.U.C.
I. is affiliated
Vedi rav. LXXIV.BIBLI: Atti del XI Congresso Cattolico Italiano, Padova 1897; G. B. Montini, Azione Cattolica Universitaria, Roma 1920; G. P. Dore, D. G. Pini, Todi 1936; G. Anichini, Cinquanta anni di vita della Foci, Roma 1973; G. B. Scaglia, Associazione universitaria di d. C., ivi 1938; A. Baroni, Igino Righetti, ivi 1934; C. Moro, L'Azione Cattolica Universitaria, ivi 1950; Azione Furiosa, periodical; Ricerca, periodical; Studium, periodical; Lettricità della Foci, cuodersi (Studium). Guido Anichini