SETTIMANE SOCIALI. – A characteristic type of conference for the study and dissemination of social Catholicism, first held in France in 1903 through the efforts of Eugène Duthoit and on the initiative of Marius Gonin and Adéodat Boissard, serving admirably to bring together and merge the various, and often discordant, social tendencies of French Catholics (Christian democrats, social Catholics, Christian socialists, etc.). Its declared purpose was, in fact, to substitute for the various currents of Christian social thought a unified teaching inspired by the Gospel, Catholic doctrine, and the Leonine encyclicals.
The technique of the s. s. consisted of an annual cycle of conferences and lectures, lasting seven days, given by eminent figures in social Catholicism, mostly professors at universities, public schools, private institutions, and seminaries, with the aim of treating a given social issue in its various aspects and from different points of view. The venue of the s. s. was changed each time in order to visit all the cities of France, while rigorously preserving the character of an itinerant higher chair. At the end of each conference or lecture, only objections and requests for clarification from the audience were admitted, to which the lecturers would respond.
1. THE FRENCH S. S. – The 1st Semaine had as its theme: La sociologie chrétienne (Lyons 1904); the 2nd: Travail et salariat (Orléans 1905); the 3rd: Famille, profession, cité (Dijon 1906); the 4th: L'économie chrétienne (Amiens 1907); the 5th: Justice et économie sociale (Marseilles 1908); the 6th: La grève et le droit (Bordeaux 1909); the 7th: Le travail et la famille (Rouen 1910); the 8th: La personne humaine en régime économique (St-Etienne 1911); the 9th: La société familiale et la doctrine coth. (Limoges 1912); the 10th: L'idée de la responsabilité en sociologie (Versailles 1913). Because of the European war, there was an interruption of six years, and the Semaine resumed with the 11th: Famille, profession, cité (Metz 1919); the 12th: La crise de la probité publique (Toulouse 1920); the 13th: La crise de la production et la sociologie catholique (Caen 1921); the 14th: Le rôle économique de l'état (Strasbourg 1922); the 15th: Le problème de la population (Grenoble 1923); the 16th: Les problèmes agricoles et l'économie chrétienne (Rennes 1924); the 17th: La crise de l'autorité (Lyons 1925); the 18th: Le problème de la vie internationale (Le Havre 1926); the 19th: La femme dans la sociologie chrétienne (Nancy 1927); the 20th: La loi de la charité, principe de vie sociale (Paris 1928); the 21st: Nouvelles conditions de la vie industrielle (Besançon 1929); the 22nd: Le problème social aux colonies (Marseilles 1930); the 23rd: La morale chrétienne et les affaires (Mulhouse 1931); the 24th: Le désordre international et la pensée chrétienne (Lille 1932); the 25th: La société politique et la pensée chrétienne (Reims 1933); the 26th: Ordre social et éducation (Nice 1934); the 27th: L'organisation corporative (Angers 1935); the 28th: Les conflits de civilisation (Versailles 1936); the 29th: La personne humaine en péril (Clermont Ferrand 1937); the 30th: La liberté et les libertés dans la vie sociale (Rouen 1938); the 31st: Le problème des classes (Bordeaux 1939).
Suspended once again because of the Second European War, they resumed in 1948 in Lyons with the theme Peuples d'outre-mer et civilisation occidentale. These were followed by the Lille weeks on Réalisme économique et progrès social (1949); those of Nantes on Le monde rural dans l'économie moderne (1950); those of Montpellier on Santé et société (1951); and those of Dijon on Richesse et misère (1952).
II. THE ITALIAN S. S. - Soon and successfully imitated in nearly all the Christian nations of Europe and America, the s. s. were instituted in Italy following the reorganization of Catholic Action, initiated by b. Pius X through the encyc. Il fermo proposito (1906), on Unione popolare (v.), which had
precisely the task of providing for works of propaganda and culture.
Unlike the French Semaines, however, the Italian ones (initially called Congressi di studi sociali) took the form of Reports on various subjects, oriented toward a central idea: free discussions followed, often very animated, after which the rapporteur summarized, replied, and concluded. The final result consisted of solemn declarations (orders of the day, resolutions, motions, etc.), in which the opinions prevailing among the weekly participants on the various topics discussed were condensed and organized. Subsequently, the s. s. drew closer to the French model, following the reform of Catholic Action desired by Pius XI.
Begun in Italy in 1907, eighteen were held up to 1935: the first ten organized by the Unione popolare, and the others by the Central Committee of Catholic Action. It was the golden age of social Catholicism, in which the intellects shone and the hearts of teachers such as Giuseppe Toniolo, Vico Necchi, Filippo Crispolti, Angelo Mauri, Nicolò Rezzara, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Mario Chiri, mons. Pottier, mons. F. Olgiati, Fr. Gemelli, Fr. Cordovani, Fr. Brucculeri, Fr. Oddone, and many others beat fervently. The 1st s. s. in Italy, held at Pistoia (1907), was presided over by Card. Maffi and dealt with various subjects: cooperation, labor leagues, professional organization, emigration, social legislation, etc.; the 2nd followed at Brescia (1908) and, presided over by Giorgio Montini and Rezzara, dealt with the historical genesis of agricultural contracts, workers’ housing, the social action of the clergy, freedom of teaching and the technical problems of the school, Catholic women and their duties; the 3rd took place at Palermo (1909), presided over by Antonio Boggiano, on Sicilian problems, occupational diseases, religion among the people, Church and State, Society and State; the 4th (1910) at Florence, presided over by Gennaro De Simone, likewise addressed various themes, from sharecropping contracts to women’s work at home, and from the problem of morality in Italy to school mutual-aid societies and the popular press.
After a period of suspension, the s. s. resumed: the 11th, presided over by Minoretti, was held at Turin in 1924 on the theme Autorità sociale. They were followed by: the 12th at Naples (1925) on Problemi sociali, economici e scolastici; the 13th at Genoa (1926), pres. Minoretti, on the Famiglia cristiana; the 14th at Florence (1927), pres. G. Dalla Torre, on L'educazione; the 15th at Milan, pres. G. Dalla Torre (1928), on L'unità della Chiesa; the 16th at Rome (1929), pres. G. Dalla Torre, to illustrate L'opera di Pio X; the 17th s. s. resumed at Rome, pres. Adriano Bernareggi, in 1933, on the subject La carità; followed by the 18th at Padua (1934) with the theme La professione; but the one announced for 1935 on Il valore etico del lavoro once again had to be suspended because of the Ethiopian war. After a decade-long interruption, due first to political causes and then to the Second World War, the weeks resumed with the 19th at Florence, in 1945, pres. A. Bernareggi, on the theme Costituzione e Costituente (1945); the 20th at Venice, under the presidency of the same A. Bernareggi, on the theme Il lavoro (1946); the 21st at Naples, pres. Antonio Lanza, on the theme I problemi della vita rurale (1947); the 22nd at Milan, pres. A. Bernareggi, on the theme La comunità internazionale (1948); the 23rd at Bologna, pres. A. Bernareggi, on the theme Sicurezza sociale (1949); the 24th at Genoa, on the theme L'organizzazione professionale (1951),
(phot. Alinari)
pres. A. Siri; the 25th in Turin, presided over by Mons. Giuseppe Siri, on the theme: The enterprise in the contemporary economy (1952).
There have been very numerous abbreviated editions of the s. s.: provincial, regional, or even diocesan (the predominant type being the so-called “three-day” meeting), which bring together, with considerable benefit, scholars, leaders and activists of Catholic Action, young people, and even those who are indifferent. From this now lengthy experience there has emerged a fairly unified and continually updated Catholic social culture which, although still affected by a doctrinalism that is, however, conscious and accepted, is penetrating deeply into the active strata and the inert substratum of Christian society. The results could be still better when the s. s. succeed in setting themselves aims and adopting attitudes of more evident practicality, pursuing original paths, and inviting to teach, alongside the distinguished figures of the organizational, university, political, and trade-union life of Catholics, experts in economic, entrepreneurial, and labor realities. Full and fruitful success can only follow, as always, from the felicitous integration of academic culture with applied science and living experience.
The declared present purpose of the s. s. is not to exert a direct influence upon institutions, but upon the inner life of individuals, in order to outline objectives within it, arouse or consolidate convictions, and give rise to resolutions concerning the social problems of greatest topicality and widest scope. At present, the s. s. in Italy are organized by a special Permanent Committee in Rome, chaired by Card. Giuseppe Siri, archbishop of Genoa, of which Mons. Pietro Pavan is secretary.
III. THE S. S. ABROAD. — Abroad, the initiative was launched and continues to be carried out with great success and resonance in the cultural world, especially in Belgium and Canada, where, however, the s. s. do not follow initiatives, rules, and a precise schedule as they do in France and Italy.