TOVINI, GIUSEPPE. – Catholic organizer, lawyer, b. at Cividale Camuno (Brescia) on 14 March 1841, d. at Brescia on 16 January 1897.
His multifaceted activity in the legal profession, Catholic Action, and public offices was always sustained by the Christian virtues he courageously manifested. He practiced law as a social apostolate and with a rigorous Christian conception of justice and morality, refusing to represent cases he considered unjust, even when legally well founded. Because of this exemplary honesty, as well as his knowledge of the law and soundness of judgment, he was admired even by colleagues of opposing principles. He was a member of the Society of Advocates of S. Pietro and of the Central Committee for the Legal Defense of Charitable Institutions; he is regarded as a true authority in ecclesiastical law. He devoted intense and fruitful activity to Catholic Action, and particularly to the CATTOLICITÀ (v.); president of the diocesan committee of Brescia from 1878, he organized the movement through the foundation of parish committees—more than three hundred—and youth sections, promoting social action through rural banks, workers’ societies, and agricultural unions. On his personal initiative, two flourishing Catholic banks came into being: the Banco S. Paolo in the province of Brescia and the Banco Ambrosiano, which, from Milan, expanded beyond Lombardy.
He devoted particular effort to the Conservazione della Fede nelle Scuole d'Italia, approved and recommended by Leo XIII, who enriched it with indulgences. For it he founded the periodical La scuola italiana moderna; and he spread it with an apostle’s spirit through numerous writings and speeches. It was largely due to his efforts that the Collegio ven. Luzzago arose in Brescia; after administrative and judicial disputes, which were successfully overcome, it became the Cesare Arici, still flourishing today. He also devoted himself energetically to founding Catholic university circles, a league of Catholic teachers, and petitions for freedom of education. Having become a member of the General Committee of the Opera dei Congressi and of its governing council as vice-president, he enjoyed the high regard of the bishops with whom he had dealings and of Leo XIII himself.
In relations between Church and State, he championed the rights of the Holy See, while hoping for reconciliation, expressing a true love of country. In the Third Order of St. Francis, the Marian Congregation, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, he left edifying examples of piety and charity.