MEN'S UNION OF CATHOLIC ACTION. - It is the men's organization of adult militants in Italian Catholic Action (v.). According to the current Statute (Oct. 11, 1946), it is formed by
"married men or those who have completed their 30th year of age."
The history of the U. U. of A. C. is intertwined with, and for the most part identical to, that of the Catholic lay organizations in Italy from 1868, the year of the founding of the Italian Catholic Youth, to the present day. Already not a few adults were entering or remaining, especially as leaders, in its ranks; in any case, adults were most of the Catholic militants who in 1874 and 1875 held the Catholic Congresses of Venice and Florence, giving rise, the following year, to the Opera dei Congressi e dei Comitati Cattolici (v.). The Opera soon assumed first-rate importance in the life of the country and in 1891 was divided into 5 sections, later called groups. A new organization of the Catholic militants was established in 1906 by Bl. Pius X. Apart from the Society of Catholic Youth and the University Federation, there were created: the Popular Union (v.), the Economic-Social Union (v.), the Catholic Electoral Union (v.). Finally in 1922, a few months after his elevation to the pontificate, Pius XI gave Italian Catholic Action those structures that it substantially retains to this day, emphasizing its bond with the hierarchy and its character of collaboration in its apostolate. And since to the young men and university students there had been added in 1908 the women and in 1918 the young women, the Pope in Nov. 1922 entrusted A. Ciriaci with organizing the adults, which was officially born, by decision of the Central Board of Catholic Action, on Dec. 13.
The organization took the name Italian Federation of Catholic Men; its first president was Augusto Ciriaci and its first ecclesiastical assistant Msgr. Domenico Tardini, currently pro-secretary of State of His Holiness. The Federation established itself rapidly, grouping numerous already existing adult associations, gradually creating others, clarifying and deepening its purposes, organizing its organizational structures, training its cadres, acting vigorously in the most diverse fields, especially in those of the spread of culture and religious practice, of the family, of morality, of the press, of social action.
The most important stages in the life of the Federation are to be considered the following: the Milan Meeting of Dec. 21, 1922; the constitution of the National Council, on March 7, 1923; the first Meeting of Diocesan Presidents held in Genoa on Sept. 8, 1923, to which the Holy Father sent, through the future Card. Giuseppe Pizzardo, then substitute of the Secretariat of State of His Holiness, a programmatic document of the highest value, calling, among other things, the Federation of Men "the backbone and the fulcrum of all Catholic Action"; the National Assembly of Diocesan Presidents in Rome, on Oct. 28-31, 1926, during which Pius XI gave precise and lofty directives on the burning theme of politics, affirming that "while not engaging in party politics, Catholic Action wishes to prepare men to engage in good politics, in great politics"; the appointment as ecclesiastical assistant, in 1929, of Msgr. Ferdinando Roveda, who until Dec. 8, 1947 was to be the wise and unforgettable "father" of the Union; the celebration, in 1932, of the organization's tenth anniversary, which demonstrated its admirable development; the appointment as central president, on Nov. 7, 1936, following the death of A. Ciriaci, of Piero Panighi, who for ten years gave the great family of the Men of Catholic Action an exceptional impulse; the celebration of the twentieth anniversary with the offering to the Pope, among other things, of innumerable gifts for the missions, collected in an exhibition, in the Vatican, which Pius XII defined as "extraordinarily great and beautiful"; the life of the U. U. of A. C. (such is the official name of the Organization since Dec. 31, 1931) during the last war, with the north dependent on Piero Panighi and the center-south led by the central vice-president Urbano Cioccetti; the appointment as central president, following the death of Panighi, of Luigi Gedda, who gave the organization admirable development, a high awareness of its mission and a vigorous rhythm of action; the grand National Meeting of Sept. 7, 1947, when, in celebration of the Union's twenty-fifth anniversary, overcoming difficulties of every ki-
of every kind and in a climate of extraordinary enthusiasm, more than 70,000 men of Catholic Action from all over Italy carried out in Rome a demonstration that L'Osservatore Romano did not hesitate to call "the greatest that religious history remembers," closed in St. Peter's Square by a memorable pontifical address; the appointment, on Dec. 8 of the same year, of Msgr. Fiorenzo Angelini as central ecclesiastical assistant; the rise, in Feb. 1948, under the impulse of the presidency of the U. U. of A. C., of the Civic Committees, which, presided over by Luigi Gedda, immediately and subsequently brought precious fruits for the Christian and civic good of the country; the establishment at Lourdes, on Sept. 20 of the same year, on the initiative of the U. U. of A. C., of the International Federation of Catholic Men; the passage of Luigi Gedda to organizational direction (and then to the general presidency of Italian Catholic Action) and, consequently, the appointment of the fourth central president of the Union in the person of Agostino Maltarello, in Oct. 1949; the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the organization, which saw 150,000 organized members gather in Rome on Oct. 12, 1952, who offered as a gift to the Pontiff the parish complex of S. Leone I (church, rectory, hall for the associations, cinema-theater, clinic), built in the Prenestino district in memory of the great date; the solemn closing of the thirtieth anniversary in Genoa, on Oct. 25, 1953.
These schematic data evidently give but a pale idea of the structure and life of the U. U. of A. C.; they need to be completed with some indications on the structures and activities of the organization. First of all, articles 63 and 64 of the Statute of Italian Catholic Action deserve to be quoted verbatim; art. 63: "the U. U. of A. C. has as its particular aims: a) the apostolate in public life and in the social environment; b) the defense of the family; c) the Christian education of youth; d) the protection of public morality." Art. 64: "To this end the U.: a) gives special attention to preparing its members for the exercise of public functions; b) instructs and keeps its members up to date on the religious, moral and social problems that require the attention and action of Catholics; c) together with the Union of Women of A. C. promotes the Family Front; d) engages its activity in a particular way in the field of Christian education, public morality and social life. These aims and these activities correspond almost to the letter to what the Italian Federation of Catholic Men already set for itself at the Milan Convention of 1922.
Particular mention should be made of the annual religion courses in all the associations; the countless "religious weeks" carried out throughout Italy "for the return of men to God"; the vigorous battles waged in defense of the family, for the observance of the day of rest, against the vice of blasphemy, for the education of the young, for the rescue of abandoned or needy children, for "the great return" of the social-communists to the Church, for a truly Christian way of life, for the spread of the Catholic press, particularly the daily press. These activities were always supported by a lively and relentless propaganda, carried out through the visits of the assistants and central leaders to the periphery, as well as by the publication of volumes, pamphlets and, above all, the periodicals of the organization: Noi Uomini, a fortnightly that goes to all members; Prospettive, a monthly that goes to all diocesan centers; Sussidi, a monthly that goes to all the associations.
The organization reaches almost (Oct. 1953) 300,000 members, distributed in more than 12,000 associations and in some thousands of "nuclei," small groups that represent nascent associations. In the last 6 years, after a certain decline due to the events of the last period of the war and the first post-war period, the U. U. of A. C. has increased by more than 100,000 members; its activities have multiplied in quantity and effectiveness; the members have become ever more aware of the importance of their organization and, conscious of their responsibility before God and men, they work even in the highest positions of national life with a dedication that gives excellent hopes for the future.
Bibliography
Carlo Carbone