Roman Union

ROMAN UNION. - Association of Roman Catholic voters, active for the administrative elections of the Municipality of Rome from 1872 to 1919.

When the Holy See forbade Italian Catholics to take part in political elections and in the parliamentary mandate, it permitted and indeed recommended active action for the administrations of municipalities and provinces, even in alliance with men of another party who gave assurance of maintaining just and loyal relations between the bodies represented and respect for the religious conscience of the populations. Associations of Catholic voters therefore arose in many cities, and the first alliances with the so-called moderate or conservative party gave excellent results, freeing several municipalities from the domination of the radical party, that is, of a liberalism enslaved to the Masonic sect.

In July 1872 - almost simultaneously with the beginning of the Opera dei Congressi (v.) - L'Osservatore Romano published the appeal of a Catholic electoral Committee for the defense of the moral interests and religious sentiments of the City. The promoters of this R. U. were the directors of the Roman Catholic newspapers (L'Osservatore Romano, La Voce della Verità, Lo Squillo), that is, the Marquis of Bavaria, Pietro Pacelli and Filippo Tolli. There joined them Count Francesco Vespiagani, Msgr. Domenico Iacobini, the lawyer Jacouci, the lawyer Jacometti, Prof. Burri, the lawyer Benucci and others among the leading directors of Catholic Action. The R. U. set out to bring to the Capitol men who would represent the Roman people and protect the interests of the City.

The sectarian newspapers raised the alarm against the so-called "clericals, enemies of the fatherland," but the new organization was excellent and the first result promising. The Catholics elected on the R. U. list formed a minority group in which men of personal authority and great worth stood out such as, besides Vespignani, Tolli and Pacelli, Soderini and Crispolti, De Rossi, Marucchi and Aureli. They were fiercely opposed and labeled as opponents of the constitution of the Kingdom, with Rome as capital, although on many even difficult occasions they had given proof of wise collaboration for civic interests, and also of a keen desire for an equitable agreement between the Holy See and the Italian State. In 1895, in union with the moderate party, they won the majority and wisely maintained their position even in difficult circumstances, especially during the administrations of Ruspoli and Torlonia.

In the general elections of Nov. 1907 a so-called popular bloc was formed between radical socialists and the leading exponents of Freemasonry, with a program of anticlerical policy that overstepped the field of the city's governors, and Ernesto Nathan, head of Freemasonry, was elected mayor of Rome. The R. U. had resolved to abstain from the polls and published a manifesto to explain its reasons to the citizenry, which did not disavow the high moral value and the appropriateness of that act. In fact, after a brief interval, in the partial elections the Catholics returned to the Council in large numbers, with brilliant votes that were then always repeated. In Aug. 1909, to direct and reorganize the R. U., a Commission was appointed composed of Comm. Paolo Pericoli, Dr. Mario Cingolani and Dr. L. Cochetti. In March 1912 Prince don Giovanni Borghese was elected president. When the Italian Popular Party arose, the R. U. dissolved (1919) and was reconstituted in 1924, affiliated with the National Center; but it was short-lived.

Agostino Vian