Luigi Sturzo
Encyclopedia
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and politician. Known in his lifetime as a "clerical socialist," Sturzo is considered one of the fathers of Christian democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
. Sturzo was one of the founders of the Partito Popolare Italiano
Italian People's Party (1919–1926)
The Italian People's Party was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy.It was founded in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo, a Catholic priest. The PPI was backed by Pope Benedict XV to oppose the Italian Socialist Party...
in 1919, but was forced into exile in 1924 with the rise of Italian fascism
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
. In exile in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(and later New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
), Sturzo published over 400 articles (published posthumously under the title Miscellanea Londinese) critical of fascism, and later the post-war Christian Democrats in Italy
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
.
Early life
Born in CaltagironeCaltagirone
Caltagirone is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. It is bounded by the comuni of Acate, Gela, Grammichele, Licodia Eubea, Mazzarino, Mazzarrone, Mineo, Mirabella Imbaccari, Niscemi, Piazza Armerina, San Michele di...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Sturzo was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
on 19 May 1894. After his graduation he taught philosophy and theology in his native city. From 1905 to 1920 he was vice-mayor of Caltagirone.
Role in the Partito Popolare Italiano
Sturzo was among the founders of the Italian People's PartyItalian People's Party (1919–1926)
The Italian People's Party was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy.It was founded in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo, a Catholic priest. The PPI was backed by Pope Benedict XV to oppose the Italian Socialist Party...
(Partito Popolare Italiano, PPI) in January 1919. The formation of the PPI, with the permission of Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
, represented a tacit and reluctant reversal of the Vatican’s Non Expedit
Non Expedit
Non Expedit were the words with which the Holy See enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of abstention from the polls in parliamentary elections.-History:...
policy of non-participation in Italian politics, officially abolished before the November 1919 elections, in which the PPI won 20.6% of the vote and 100 seats in the legislature. The PPI was a colossal political force in Italy: between 1919 and 1922, no government could be formed and maintained without the support of the Italian Popular Party. However, a coalition between the Socialists and the PPI was deemed unacceptable within the Vatican, despite being proposed by Prime Minister
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...
in 1914, and later imagined by his progressively powerless successors—Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi was an Italian politician and statesman before and after World War II.Bonomi was born in Mantua. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1909, representing Mantua as a member of the Italian Socialist Party...
(1921-1922) and Facta
Luigi Facta
Luigi Facta was an Italian politician, journalist and last Prime Minister of Italy before the leadership of Benito Mussolini....
(1922)—as the only possible coalition that excluded the Fascist party.
Sturzo was a committed anti-fascist who pontificated on the incompatibility of Catholicism and Fascism in such works as Coscienza cristiana, and criticized what he perceived to be "filo-fascist
Clerical fascism
Clerical fascism is an ideological construct that combines the political and economic doctrines of fascism with theology or religious tradition...
" elements within the Vatican.
Sturzo was not among the 14 PPI members who defected from the party—under pressure from Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
—to approve the Acerbo Law
Acerbo Law
The Acerbo Law was an Italian electoral law proposed by Baron Giacomo Acerbo and passed by the Italian Parliament in 1924. The purpose of it was to give Mussolini's fascist party a majority of deputies.-Background:...
in July 1923. Sturzo was forced to resign as the general secretary of the PPI on 10 July 1923, after being unable to obtain the support of the Vatican to continue to oppose Mussolini. He further resigned from the Party board on 19 May 1924. After the departure of Sturzo, the Vatican endorsed the formation of Unione Nazionale
Unione Nazionale
Unione Nazionale was a pro-fascist Italian Catholic political party during the 1920s, the first of several "Clerico-Fascist" political organizations established within the decade...
, a pro-fascist Catholic political party, which hastened the rupture of the PPI, and provided political cover for its former members to join Mussolini’s inaugural government. Following the Matteoti affair
Giacomo Matteotti
Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes...
(after which Sturzo thought the Aventine Secession should return to Parliament), Cardinal Secretary of State Gaspari
Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...
acceded to the wishes of Mussolini and forced Sturzo to leave Italy before the re-opening of Parliament on the anniversary of the March on Rome
March on Rome
The March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy...
.
In 1924 he started to publish the newspaper Partito Popolare Italiano.
Exile
Sturzo was exiled from Italy for 22 years, first in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1924-1940), then in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(1940-1946). Sturzo left Rome for London on 25 October 1924. Officially, Sturzo was consigned to a 3 month study trip in London; however, the choice of London was likely intended to isolate Sturzo because he did not speak the language and it did not contain a large population of like-minded Catholics. He moved to the residence of the Oblates of St. Charles in Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
, and then in January 1925 to the Servites at the Priory of St. Mary in Fulham Road
Fulham Road
Fulham Road is a street in London, England, that runs from the A219 road in right in the centre of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, through Chelsea to Brompton Road Knightsbridge and the A4 in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.Fulham Road runs parallel...
, where he was asked to leave in early 1926. That year Sturzo refused an offer from the Vatican, communicated through the Cardinal of Westminster Francis Bourne
Francis Bourne
Francis Alphonsus Bourne was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.-Early life:...
, of a chaplaincy in a convent in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
and lodging for his twin sister, Nelina, in exchange for ending his journalistic activity and issuing a "spontaneous declaration" that he was completely retired from politics. After the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, Sturzo was offered an appointment as a Canon of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
in Rome, again, in exchange for his permanent renunciation of politics.
In September 1940, Sturzo boarded the Samaria in Liverpool bound for New York, hoping for an academic appointment. However, he was sent to St. Vincent's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, which was filled with dying priests. Beginning in 1941, he cooperated with agents from the British Security Co-ordination, the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, and the Office of War Information, providing them with his assessments of the political forces with the Italian resistance movement
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
and radio broadcasts to Italy. Sturzo returned to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in April 1944, but his return to Italy was vetoed by the Vatican and Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics...
(who differed with Sturzo on the scope of the constituency of Christian democracy and a referendum to abolish the monarchy) in October 1945 and May 1946.
Later life
Sturzo returned to Italy on the Vulcania in August 1946 (after the June Referendum had abolished the monarchy), but did not play a dominant role in Italian politics, retiring to the outskirts of Rome after landing in Naples. He was, however, made Senator in 1952 and Senator for lifeSenator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , 7 Italian Senators out of 322, 4 out of the 47 Burundian Senators and all members of the British House of Lords have lifetime tenure...
in 1953 by President Luigi Einaudi
Luigi Einaudi
Luigi Einaudi , Cavaliere di Gran Croce decorato di Gran Cordone OMRI was an Italian politician and economist. He served as the second President of the Italian Republic between 1948 and 1955.-Early life:...
. Sturzo died in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1959 at the age of 87.