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Ruler / statesman · Contemporary

Alcide De Gasperi

1881–1954 · Christian Democracy

Servant of God Latin

Prime Minister of Italy 1945–1953; founder of Christian Democracy; cause opened 1993.

A Trentino Catholic who sat in the Austrian parliament, was imprisoned by Mussolini and sheltered in the Vatican Library, founded the Democrazia Cristiana, led Italy's post-war reconstruction, chose the Atlantic alliance over communism, and with Schuman and Adenauer built the first European institutions. He insisted on the Church's freedom and the state's lay autonomy within a Christian inspiration, resisting Pius XII's pressure for a clerical-monarchist alliance in 1952.

Why he matters: The statesman who kept Italy Catholic and democratic after Fascism and communism, and a founder of Europe; his cause shows the Church's esteem for lay political vocation lived in prudence and integrity.

Reading

  • Letters from Prison and other writings (Lettere dalla prigione)
    Alcide De Gasperi · His faith under Fascist imprisonment.
    Journal
  • Alcide De Gasperi: A Biography
    Maria Romana De Gasperi (his daughter) · The family's account of his life and faith.
    Journal
  • Centesimus Annus
    St. John Paul II, 1991 · The Church's mature assessment of democracy and the market that his politics anticipated.
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Person and community Between
Individualism Collectivism
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
VI

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Between
Laicism Social kingship of Christ
The economic order Between
Socialism Laissez-faire capitalism
Where does authority come from? Authority from God
Social contract Authority from God
Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition
Remake by reason Guided by tradition
The nation and the Church Nation does not matter
Nation or race first Nation does not matter
May the state restrain false religion? Civil liberty for every religion
The confessional state: error has no rights Civil liberty for every religion
Which form of government best suits a Christian people? Democracy and participation
Monarchy and hierarchy Democracy and participation
May a Christian take up the sword? Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence
Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

When the Pope speaks Every word binds
Resist and judge Every word binds
Contemplation or action? Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy
Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.