UNIONE DI FRIBURGO. — Association of European Catholics studying social issues, established at the end of the last century, which, through periodic conferences held at Friburg, sought to unite and direct their social tendencies in a convergent sense.
In Rome, chiefly on the initiative of Msgr. GIACOBBI (v.) and Msgr. MERMILLOD, GASPARD (v.), some other scholars of social economics joined together, initially for the purpose of research and discussion. Through Mermillod, a learned and vigorous polemicist, in 1883 they established relations with a group of French sociologists who directed the Oeuvre des cercles catholiques d'ouvriers, and with another group of German Catholics who, under the Löwenstein (v.), were promoting their first congresses in Germany. This exchange of studies and rudimentary organization was the origin of the Union de Fribourg, which in 1884 began its periodic international conferences, hosted favourably by the government of that Catholic Canton. Italian Catholics could not be absent from these meetings, de Mun (v.) recounted in masterly pages. Among them were: Marchese Lorenzo Bottini, Count Cesare Sardi, Msgr. Jacobini, Msgr. Talamo (v.), and Count Edoardo Soderini.
The important part played by Count Medolago-Albani and Toniolo among the Italians in the work of the U. di F. is noteworthy. Medolago (v.) was a member of the Union’s governing council and national correspondent; moreover, in 1886 he was president of the Commission for the study of the rural property regime, LÉRINS (v.); in 1887 he was rapporteur on the state of social legislation in Italy and one of the most active members of the Commission for the corporative regime. Toniolo (v.) brought to the discussions and votes the fruits of his profound scientific preparation, especially concerning the programme for the organization and representation of the working classes and the obligation of the State to intervene through appropriate legislation. These international gatherings continued for several years, and each concluded with an address to the Holy Father, presenting the theses elaborated in the sessions and appealing to him for an authoritative directive. Mermillod, who had meanwhile become bishop of Geneva and cardinal, acted as intermediary between Friburg and the Vatican and kept Leo XIII informed, as he followed the Union’s work with great attention. Similar appeals reached the Pope in those years from the International Scientific Congresses of Paris and from the Congresses of Social Works of Liège. So many hopes and prayers were not disappointed, and on 15 May 1891 Leo XIII issued the encyclical De conditione opificum (Rerum novarum [v.]), which, condemning the theories of socialism and liberalism, set forth a new and complete Christian social programme.