| Popis: |
This is a study of the main ideological developments and currents of the Federazione Universitaria Cottolica Italiana (FUCI) between 1925 and 1943. The FUCI was the official organisation of Catholic Action for the university sector. As such, it was an important element of the lay Catholic world within Fascist Italy, as well as having a wider presence within Italian society. At the same lime, the FUCI has a wider significance for the study of Catholic politics and intellectual ideas within Italy, as a large proportion of the future Christian Democrats who would rule the country after the Second World War received their intellectual training in the ranks of the federation. Additionally, in lhe 1925-33 period, the central ecclesiastical assistant was Giovanni Battista Montini, the future pope Paul VI. Broadly speaking, this dissertation is divided into three chapters and an epilogue. They Follow a chronological structure which coincides with the three presidencies that marked the history of the federation during the period under study. Thus, the first chapter extends from 1925 to 1933, when the FUCl was led by Igino Righetti and Giovanni BaUista Montini; the second from 1933 to 1939 when the association was presided over by Giovanni Ambrosetti; and, finally the last chapter is devoted to the years 1939 to 1943, when the federation was ruled by Aldo Moro and Giulio Andreotti. In empirical terms, therefore, this thesis does, I hope, enrich our understanding of the history of an important and influential organisation. In broader terms, however, the thesis is intended as a contribution to the historiography of Italy5 in the Fascist era and of Catholic politics and mentalities in Europe in the mid-decades of the twentieth century. |
