Azione Cattolica

The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) for short, is a widespread Roman Catholic lay association in Italy.

History

In Italy in 1905, Azione Cattolica was established as a non-political lay organization under the direct control of bishops. It was established by Pope Pius X after an earlier similar organization, Opera dei Congressi was disbanded in 1904 by the same pope because many of the its members were siding with modernism. The set of events which brought to the foundation of the Azione Cattolica was critical in the excommunication of the modernism in 1907 and a prelude of it. The organization was established as a non-political one because the modernists used Catholic lay organizations to promote a political agenda of siding with Italian parties of the left (even of the extreme as per standards of the time). One of the first main leaders of the Azione Cattolica was count Ottorino Gentiloni.

In 1909 count Gentiloni was appointed by Pope Pius X also as head of UECI, a political Catholic organization, and in such capacity he co-authored in 1912 with Giovanni Giolitti the Patto Gentiloni which won the Italian elections in 1913.

Cattolica

Cattolica is a town and comune in the Province of Rimini, Italy, with 16,233 (2007) inhabitants.

History

Archaeological excavations show that the area was already settled in Roman times.

Cattolica rose as a resting place for pilgrims who traveled the Bologna-Ancona-Rome route, on their way to the sanctuary of Loreto or to St. Peter's in Rome. In 1500 it counted more than twenty taverns and inns. Only from the second half of the 19th century did the fishing industry became relevant in the economy of the town.

One of the first notable visitors to Cattolica's beach was Lucien Bonaparte, brother of the French Emperor, who preferred it to the noisy Rimini, in 1823. The town became an independent commune in 1896.

After the end of World War I the tourism industry became predominant.

Main sights

Notable People