ORLANDI, NAZARENO. – Priest, journalist, and organizer, born in Siena on 7 February 1871, died there on 7 August 1945. While still a young priest, on 5 June 1897 he founded Il popolo di Siena (a Catholic weekly for the province of Siena), which he directed for 26 years; in January 1919 he expanded L'amico del clero, transforming it from the diocesan organ of Vicenza, where it had originated,
into the official monthly bulletin of the Federation of Associations of the Clergy in Italy, and continued to direct it until the final days of his life.
On 8 May 1915 he founded the first group of Catholic Explorers affiliated with the National Corps, with the guarantee that they would be granted full religious freedom. The greatest and most constructive work of Mons. O. was the Federation of Associations of the Clergy in Italy (F. A. C. I.), which he founded in Siena on 17 November 1916. Attempts of this kind had been made in Lucca, Turin, Bologna, Lecce, and Sicily. The most concrete achievements of this activity were the Clergy Cooperative (founded in Rome on 10 July 1920), headquartered in Siena; the work undertaken for the revision of clergy stipends; the International Secretariat; the defense of the clergy against the enormous burden of taxation; the houses for the clergy in Massa and Montecatini; Fraternitas; and Charitas for the establishment of houses for the clergy (1931), later absorbed by the E. M. Fides Institute, established in 1935. A man of unshakable faith in Divine Providence, inexhaustible and tireless in his initiatives, and unyielding in the face of obstacles, he gave everything to his brothers in the Lord. He wrote: A manual of italian reading (Siena 1907); Italian grammar (there 1910); Key to O.'s italian grammar (there 1911); Richiami all'Opera e alle istituzioni della Federazione tra le associazioni del clero in Italia nel primo ventennio della sua fondazione (September 1936; there 1936). He prepared an edition of the Discorsi of St. Bernardino da Siena, selected (there 1920; English translation by H. J. Rolins, there 1920). He also wrote a manual of Giuochi ginnastici (there 1913), other manuals for the scouts, works for the theater, pamphlets, and articles for various journals. His works were published by the Tipografia sociale, another of his creations, which he continued to direct for many years.