ITALICA GENS. - Federation of the Italian clergy for the assistance of national communities residing in transoceanic countries, founded in 1909. The institution is an offshoot of the National Association for Aid to Italian Missionaries, conceived in Firenze in 1886 by S. Schiaparelli.
Protected by the support of distinguished persons and by the Italian government, the Association took care of the numerous Italian missions, founding hospitals and schools everywhere. Through its activity, foreign protection, which safeguarded Italian missionaries, especially in the Middle and Far East, was eliminated. The Association established itself in Egitto, Palestina, Transgiordania, and the former Italian colonies, particularly in Libia and the Isole Egee. Important centres, schools, and hospitals also arose through its initiative in Cina, Grecia, Marocco, Tunisia, and Albania. Greatly damaged during the war of 1914–18, it reasserted itself vigorously in the postwar period. Its situation, especially in the former Italian colonies, appears more precarious after the Second World War, which deprived it of many institutions. Nevertheless, it already shows signs of recovery.
From time to time the Association also published an information bulletin (Le missioni cattoliche, 1887 ff.; I. G., 1910–39). Angelo Pezza