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84-600: Agostino Gemelli O.F.M. Cap (18 January 1878 – 15 July 1959) was an Italian Capuchin friar , physician and psychologist , who was also the founder and first Rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) of Milan . Gemelli's Institute of Psychology was the most prominent institution of its kind in Italy. In 1959 he founded a teaching hospital for

168-650: A tunic , with the distinctive large, pointed hood reaching to the waist attached to it, girdled by the traditional woolen cord with three knots. By visual analogy, the Capuchin monkey and the cappuccino style of coffee are both named after the shade of brown used for their habit. Besides the canonical choral celebration of the Divine Office , a portion of which was recited at midnight, there were two hours of private prayer daily. The fasts and disciplines were rigorous and frequent. Their main external work

252-542: A church commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in 1626. The pope's brother, Cardinal Antonio Barberini , who was of the Capuchin Order, in 1631 ordered the remains of thousands of Capuchin friars exhumed and transferred from the friary on the Via dei Lucchesi to the crypt. The bones were arranged along the walls in varied designs, and the friars began to bury their own dead here, as well as the bodies of poor Romans whose tomb

336-591: A college was founded in Rome for the purpose of preparing their members for foreign missions. Due to this strong missionary thrust, a large number of Capuchins have suffered martyrdom over the centuries. Activity in Europe and elsewhere continued until the close of the 18th century, when the number of Capuchin friars was estimated at 31,000. The crypt is located just under the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome,

420-786: A community serving in the Middle East . The Capuchin Poor Clares are cloistered nuns of the Order of St. Clare , who form the female branch of the Capuchin Order. They were founded in 1538 in Naples by the Venerable Maria Laurentia Longo , who was Abbess of the Poor Clare monastery of that city. She and the other nuns of that community embraced the then-new Capuchin reform movement, and so austere

504-537: A future Catholic state. This religiously motivated political goal was intended to counteract the anti-clerical state established by the unifiers of modern Italy in 1860. In 1929 the Holy See signed a Concordat with the government of Benito Mussolini , which made the Catholic Church the state religion of Italy. At that point, the university became a laboratory for Catholic social policies through which

588-559: A greater commitment, under his guidance, Barelli joined with other Franciscan tertiaries to form this group. In 1928, he guided the establishment of a men's branch of the institute, led by Giorgio La Pira who was a member of the Italian Senate . Gemelli founded the Catholic University in 1921, and soon gained the patronage of Pope Benedict XV . It was founded as an instrument of forming a new leadership class for

672-522: A hermit and to go about everywhere preaching to the poor. These permissions were not only for himself, but for all such as might join him in the attempt to restore the most literal observance possible of the Rule of St. Francis . Matteo and the original band were soon joined by others. Matteo and his companions were formed into a separate province , called the Hermit Friars Minor, as a branch of

756-537: A hospital, that brought him into contact with a chaplain there who impressed him deeply. This led him to join the Order of Friars Minor in 1903, at which time he took the name Agostino. He was professed in the Order on 23 December 1904, and ordained on 14 March 1908. As members of religious orders were barred by the Catholic Church from practising medicine then, he continued his medical research, moving into

840-611: A new party called Christian Democratic Centre and form an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi 's new party, Forza Italia (FI). The left-wing factions stayed within the new PPI, though a minority would form the Social Christians in 1993 and would join forces with the post-communist Democratic Party of the Left (DPS). Some right-wingers, feeling Casini was still too moderate, joined the National Alliance . In 1995,

924-462: A progressive, led the party and Andreotti the government. This custom, in clear contrast with the principles of a Westminster system , deeply weakened DC-led governments, so that even with broad majorities they were unable to resolve differences between the several factions of the party, and ultimately turning the Italian political system into a de facto particracy ( partitocrazia ). From the 1980s

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1008-529: A result, the whole province came under the suspicion of heretical tendencies and the Pope resolved to suppress it. He was dissuaded with difficulty, but the Capuchins were forbidden to preach. Despite earlier setbacks, the authorities were eventually satisfied as to the soundness of the general body of Capuchin friars and the permission to preach was restored. The movement then began to multiply rapidly, and by

1092-531: A school that is still owned and operated by the Capuchin Order. One of the friars of this province, Solanus Casey , was noted for the holiness of his life, serving as the porter of several Capuchin friaries both in Michigan and New York City for decades. As a miraculous healing attributed to him was approved by Pope Francis in mid-2017, he was beatified in Detroit at Ford Field on November 18, 2017. This

1176-647: A short-lived government led by Fernando Tambroni relying on parliamentary support from the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the post-fascist party. In 1963 the party, under Prime Minister Aldo Moro , formed a coalition with the PSI, which returned to ministerial roles after 16 years, the PSDI and the PRI. Similar " Organic Centre-left " governments became usual through the 1960s and the 1970s. From 1976 to 1979

1260-574: Is a foundation of the monastery in Amarillo. Together they form the Federation of Our Lady of the Angels . The Capuchins are unique for a Catholic religious order in that the growing of natural, untrimmed beards features as part of its first Constitution, which states as the reason, the beard is "manly, austere, natural, an imitation of Christ and the saints of our Order, and despised." This makes

1344-520: Is believed to have been instrumental in moving the Vatican to take various measures in censuring Padre Pio, including a prohibition on celebrating Mass in public. Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order arose in 1525 when Matteo da Bascio , an Observant Franciscan friar native to the Italian region of Marche , said he had been inspired by God with the idea that the manner of life led by

1428-552: Is considered as a supporter of Mussolinian state antisemitism: Gemelli died in Milan on 15 July 1959. Gemelli is also considered one of the 20th century's most prominent Franciscans . He worked to reconcile Christian faith and modern culture, though questions have arisen about his political legacy in recent times. Despite his many administrative duties as University Rector (which he performed until his death), Gemelli's endeavours involved both scientific and philosophical studies. At

1512-729: Is significant because Casey could become the first male American-born Saint in the history of the Catholic Church. He had previously been declared Venerable in 1995 by Pope John Paul II . His tomb is in St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, and is visited by thousands every year. As of 2011 , the province has 23 communities spread throughout the American Midwest , reaching from Michigan to Arizona . Additionally, there are friars of this province working in Central America , with

1596-776: The 1948 general election the party had its best result ever (48.5%) and an absolute majority in the Italian Parliament . The party won 66.8% in eastern Lombardy (73.6% in the Province of Bergamo ), 60.5% in Veneto (71.9% in the Province of Vicenza ), 69.6% in Trentino and 57.8% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , that is to say where the late Italian People's Party had its strongholds. In the Centre-South

1680-721: The 2001 election . DL would be formed as an official political party in 2002, succeeding the PPI and its three allies. In 2007, DL would merge with the Democrats of the Left , the successor of the DPS, to form the Democratic Party , which is today the largest centre-left political party in Italy. The party's ideology drew on the Christian democratic doctrines developed from the 19th century referred to as Catholic social teaching ,

1764-472: The Camaldolese monks, in gratitude for which they later adopted the hood (or cappuccio , capuche ) worn by that Order—which was the mark of a hermit in that region of Italy—and the practise of wearing a beard. The popular name of their Order originates from this feature of their religious habit . In 1528, Friar Matteo obtained the approval of Pope Clement VII and was given permission to live as

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1848-799: The Christian Democratic Centre (CCD), while others directly joined Forza Italia . A split from the PPI, the United Christian Democrats (CDU), joined Forza Italia and the CCD in the centre-right Pole of Freedoms coalition (later becoming the Pole for Freedoms ), while the PPI was a founding member of The Olive Tree centre-left coalition in 1996. In its early years, the party was stronger in Northern Italy (especially in eastern Lombardy and Veneto ), due to

1932-678: The Conventual Franciscans , but with a Vicar Provincial of their own, subject to the jurisdiction of the Minister General of the Conventuals. The Observants, the other branch of the Franciscan Order at that time, continued to oppose the movement. In 1529, they had four houses and held their first General Chapter , at which their particular rules were drawn up. The eremitical idea was abandoned, but

2016-727: The European colonization of India as missionaries and founded the community of Bettiah Christians . Bernini was invited by Maharaja Dhurup Singh of the Bettiah Raj , an appointment that was approved by Pope Benedict XIV on 1 May 1742. The United States has six provinces throughout the country. Together with the two provinces in Canada, the province of Australia and the Custody of the Mariana Islands/Hawaii they form

2100-759: The Italian Communist Party was the largest opposition party. From 1946 until 1994, the DC was the largest party in the Italian Parliament , governing in successive coalitions, including the Pentapartito system. It originally supported liberal-conservative governments, along with the moderate Italian Democratic Socialist Party , the Italian Liberal Party , and the Italian Republican Party , before moving towards

2184-549: The Italian Communist Party , DC members had ample opportunity to abuse their power, and some did. In the 1960s, scandals involved frauds such as huge illegal profits in the administration of banana import quotas and preferential allocation of purposely misprinted and therefore rare postage stamps. Giovanni Leone was forced to resign as President of the Italian Republic in 1978 after the Lockheed bribery scandals . He

2268-540: The Italian Parliament , De Gasperi continued to govern at the head of the centrist coalition, which was successively abandoned by the Liberals, who hoped for more right-wing policies, in 1950 and the Democratic Socialists, who hoped for more leftist policies, in 1951. Under De Gasperi, major land reforms were carried out in the poorer rural regions in the early postwar years, with farms appropriated from

2352-533: The Marxist idea of class struggle . The party thus advocated collaboration between social classes and was basically a catch-all party which aimed to represent both right-wing and left-wing Italian Catholics under the principle of the "political unity of Catholics" against socialism , communism and anarchism . It ultimately represented the majority of Italians who were opposed to the Italian Communist Party . The party was, however, originally equidistant between

2436-594: The Masonic movement. In his youth, his commitment to social causes led him to become a member of the Italian Socialist Party . He went to Ghislieri College for his education. After his training as a physician, he carried out neurophysiological and psychological experiments, some with the famed physiologist Camillo Golgi . Gemelli, who had been an agnostic from his upbringing, had a religious conversion from his experience of military service in

2520-755: The Medical School of the university, located in Rome , the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic , which is now named after him. He has become notorious in historical analyses for some racist statements leading up to the Second World War and his rabid support for Benito Mussolini . He focused some of his research on the psychology of the workplace. He was born Edoardo Gemelli in 1878 to an irreligious prosperous bourgeois milanese family, who were members of

2604-601: The Organic Centre-left involving the Italian Socialist Party . The party was succeeded by a string of smaller parties, including the Italian People's Party , the Christian Democratic Centre , the United Christian Democrats , and the still active Union of the Centre . Former DC members are also spread among other parties, including the centre-right Forza Italia and the centre-left Democratic Party . It

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2688-466: The Segni Pact , and contemporary polling suggested heavy losses for the DC in the upcoming 1994 general election . In hopes of changing the party's image, the DC's last secretary, Mino Martinazzoli decided to change the name of the party into the Italian People's Party (PPI). Pier Ferdinando Casini , representing the right-wing faction of the party (previously led by Forlani) decided to launch

2772-562: The 1980s, the Italian economy was being undermined by a constant devaluation of the Italian lira and the issuing of large amounts of high-interest treasury bonds, so that, between 1982 and 1992, the excessive budget deficit built a significant proportion of the debt that would plague the country well into the 21st century. In 1992 the Mani pulite investigation was started in Milan , uncovering

2856-674: The Capuchin friars stand out in particular from the secular clergy of the Latin Church, who have no rule on such matters. In more recent times, since the Second Vatican Council , the beard has no longer been mandatory but is still common. Like other Franciscans , the friars wear a plain brown tunic with a hood, a cord fastened around the waist, and sandals (or shoes). Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy ( Italian : Democrazia Cristiana , DC )

2940-424: The Capuchins suffered severely from the secularizations and revolutions of the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th; but they survived the strain, and during the latter part of the 19th century rapidly recovered ground. At the beginning of the 20th century there were fifty provinces with some 500 friaries and 300 hospices or lesser houses; and the number of Capuchin friars, including lay brothers ,

3024-546: The Communists and the hard right represented by the Italian Social Movement . As a catch-all party, the DC differed from other European Christian Democratic parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , that were mainly conservative political groupings. The DC, which included conservative as well as social-democratic and liberal elements was characterised by factionalism and by

3108-420: The DC gained more than 50% of the vote in Lazio (51.9%), Abruzzo (53.7%) and Campania (50.5%). From the late 1950s, the DC's support started to move South and by the 1980s it was stronger in the South than in the North, with the exception of Veneto, which remained one of the party's strongholds. In the 1983 general election the party suffered a dramatic decrease in term of votes and its electoral geography

3192-433: The DC governed with the external support of the PCI, through the Historic Compromise . Moro, who was the party main leader and who had inspired the Compromise, was abducted and murdered by the Red Brigades . The event was a shock for the party. When Moro was abducted, the government, at the time led by Giulio Andreotti , immediately took a hardline position stating that the "State must not bend" on terrorist demands. This

3276-454: The DC played a dominant role in the politics of Italy for fifty years, and had been part of the government from soon after its inception until its final demise on 16 January 1994 amid the Tangentopoli scandals. Christian Democrats led the Italian government continuously from 1946 until 1981. The party was nicknamed the "White Whale" ( Italian : Balena bianca ) due to its huge organisation and official colour. During its time in government,

3360-430: The North American-Pacific Capuchin Conference (NAPCC). The Province of St. Joseph , originally the province of Calvary, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan , was one of the first two Capuchin Provinces to be established in the country in 1882. It was founded by Francis Haas (1826–1895) and Bonaventure Frey (1831–1912), two Swiss diocesan priests who arrived in the United States in September 1856, and were received into

3444-484: The PPI would ally with the DPS and several smaller centre-left parties to form The Olive Tree . The alliance, whose primary components were two legal successors to the two major political forces of pre-1990s Italy, won the election. Romano Prodi , an independent former PPI member, led the list and became prime minister. Faced with flagging poll numbers, the PPI formed Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (DL) after allying three other smaller, social liberal parties to contest

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3528-452: The beginning of the 1980s, the DC had lost part of its support among Italian voters. In 1981, Giovanni Spadolini of the PRI was the first non-Christian Democrat to lead a government since 1944, at the head of a coalition comprising the DC, the PSI, the PSDI, the PRI and the PLI, the so-called Pentapartito . In the successive 1983 general election , the DC suffered one of its largest declines in votes up to that point, receiving only 32.5% of

3612-423: The centre-left) and Giulio Andreotti (closer to the centre-right). Moreover, it was often the case that if the government was led by a centre-right Christian Democrat, the party was led by a left-winger and vice versa. This was what happened in the 1950s when Fanfani was party secretary and the government was led by centre-right figures such as Scelba and Segni, as well as in the late 1970s when Benigno Zaccagnini ,

3696-505: The centre-right United Christian Democrats , which were led by Rocco Buttiglione , split off from the PPI and also entered in alliance with FI. In the following years, most Christian Democrats joined FI, which became the party with the most ex-DC members in absolute terms. In December 1999, Forza Italia gained full membership in the European People's Party . The PPI would continue in a rump fashion, usually finding itself in left of centre political coalitions. In 1996 , under Franco Marini ,

3780-416: The church might bring the Fascist state in line with canon law and papal teachings. Gemelli taught as a professor of Applied Psychology at the university. Despite Gemelli's accommodations to the state, he maintained relative autonomy for his university. This allowed the left wing of the Christian Democratic Party to organize and develop at the Università Cattolica during Mussolini's peak years. Gemelli's

3864-541: The double adherence of members to the party and to factions which were often identified with individual leaders. The DC's factions spanned the political spectrum from left to right and continually evolved over time. In the early years, centrists and liberal-conservatives such as Alcide De Gasperi , Giuseppe Pella , Ezio Vanoni and Mario Scelba led the party. After them, progressives led by Amintore Fanfani were in charge, though opposed by right wing led by Antonio Segni . The party's left wing, with its roots in

3948-400: The end of the 16th century the Capuchins had spread all over the Catholic parts of Europe, so that in 1619 they were freed from their dependence on the Conventual Franciscans and became an independent Order. They are said to have had at that time 1500 houses divided into fifty provinces. They were one of the chief tools in the Catholic Counter-reformation, the aim of the order being to work among

4032-446: The fact that DC's share of the vote was always between 38 and 43% from 1953 to 1979 , the party was more and more fractured. As a result, Prime Ministers changed more frequently. From 1954 the DC was led by progressive Christian Democrats, such as Amintore Fanfani , Aldo Moro and Benigno Zaccagnini , supported by the influential left-wing factions. In the 1950s the party formed centrist or moderately centre-left coalitions, and even

4116-437: The field of neuropsychology , where he was dissatisfied with many of the theories regarding the central nervous system held at the time. At the same time, Gemelli undertook many spiritual activities, helping to found the secular institute of the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ , established by Armida Barelli , a Christian social activist. He first led her to join the Third Order of St. Francis , and in 1919, seeking

4200-470: The friars of his day was not the one which their founder, St. Francis of Assisi , had envisaged. He sought to return to the primitive way of life of solitude and penance, as practised by the founder of their Order. His religious superiors tried to suppress these innovations and Friar Matteo and his first companions were forced into hiding from Church authorities, who sought to arrest them for having abandoned their religious duties. They were given refuge by

4284-421: The large landowners and parcelled out to the peasants. In addition, during its years in office, Christian Democrats passed a number of laws safeguarding employees from exploitation, established a national health service, and initiated low-cost housing in Italy's major cities. De Gasperi served as prime minister until 1953 and died a year later. No Christian Democrat would match his longevity in office and, despite

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4368-426: The left of the late Italian People's Party ( Giovanni Gronchi , Achille Grandi and controversial Fernando Tambroni ), was reinforced by new leaders such as Giuseppe Dossetti , Giorgio La Pira , Giuseppe Lazzati and Fanfani himself. Most of them were social democrats by European standards. The party was often led by centrist figures unaffiliated to any faction such as Aldo Moro , Mariano Rumor (both closer to

4452-413: The life was to be one of extreme austerity, simplicity and poverty—in all things as near an approach to St Francis' ideals as was practicable. Neither the monasteries nor the Province should possess anything, nor were any loopholes left for evading this law. No large provision against temporal wants should be made, and the supplies in the house should never exceed what was necessary for a few days. Everything

4536-525: The office of Vicar Provincial, became so insubordinate that he had to be expelled from the Order. Even more scandalously, the third Vicar General, Bernardino Ochino , left the Catholic faith in 1543 after fleeing to Switzerland , where he was welcomed by John Calvin , became a Calvinist pastor in Zürich , and married. Years later, claims that he had written in favor of polygamy and Unitarianism caused him to be exiled from that city and he fled again, first to Poland and then to Moravia, where he died. As

4620-483: The party was divided between the centre-right led by Arnaldo Forlani (supported also by the party's right wing) and the centre-left led by Ciriaco De Mita (whose supporters included trade unionists and the internal left), with Andreotti holding the balance. De Mita, who led the party from 1982 to 1989, tried to transform the party into a mainstream "conservative party" in line with the European People's Party to preserve party unity. He became prime minister in 1988 but

4704-449: The political thought of Romolo Murri and Luigi Sturzo , and ultimately the tradition of the defunct Italian People's Party . Two Papal encyclicals , Rerum novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII , and Quadragesimo anno (1931) of Pope Pius XI , offered a further basis for the DC's social and political doctrine. In economics , the DC preferred competition to cooperation , supported the model of social market economy , and rejected

4788-401: The poor, impressing the minds of the common people by the poverty and austerity of their life, and sometimes with sensationalist preaching such as their use of the supposedly possessed Marthe Brossier to arouse Paris against the Huguenots . The activities of the Capuchins were not confined to Europe. From an early date they undertook missions to non-Catholics in America, Asia and Africa, and

4872-497: The remains, depicting various religious themes. Some of the skeletons are intact and draped with Franciscan habits , but for the most part, individual bones are used to create the elaborate ornamental designs. A plaque in the chapel reads: What you are now, we used to be. What we are now, you will be. Mark Twain visited the crypt in the summer of 1867, and begins Volume 2, Chapter 1, of The Innocents Abroad with five pages of his observations. Like all other Orders,

4956-472: The request of Pope Pius XI , he also served as the first President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (1937). In addition, he wrote extensively on the contemporary meaning of Franciscan spirituality and was a pioneer in actively engaging the laity in the mission of the church. Agostino Gemelli was a harsh critic of Padre Pio ; calling him, "an ignorant and self-mutilating psychopath who exploited people's credulity" with his stigmata . Gemelli's criticism

5040-407: The so-called Tangentopoli scandals (endemic corruption practices at the highest levels), and causing numerous, often controversial, arrests and resignations. After the dismal result in the 1992 general election (29.7%), also due to the rise of Lega Nord in northern Italy and two years of mounting scandals (which included several Mafia investigations which notably touched Andreotti), the party

5124-416: The strong Catholic roots of those areas, than it was in the South . There, the Liberal establishment that had governed Italy for decades before the rise of Benito Mussolini still had grip on voters, as well as the Monarchist National Party and the Common Man's Front . The DC was very weak in Emilia-Romagna and Central Italy , where the Italian Communist Party was the dominant political force. In

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5208-408: The successor parties of the DC continued to be key political actors only in the South, where the clientelistic way of government practised by the Christian Democrats and their allies had left a mark. In the 1996 general election the League gained 7 out of 8 single-seat constituencies in the Province of Bergamo and 5 out of 6 in the Province of Vicenza, winning well over 40%, while the combined score of

5292-445: The then- Diocese of Milwaukee by Bishop John Henni , also a Swiss immigrant, and given charge of St. Nicholas Parish which they renamed Mount Calvary. They were later admitted to the Capuchin Order on December 2, 1857, by Antoine Gauchet of the Swiss Province who had been sent to admit them in order to establish the Order in the United States. The friars started St. Lawrence Seminary High School in 1861 at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin ,

5376-408: The three main post-DC parties (the new PPI , the CCD and the CDU ) was highest in Campania (22.3%). In the 1996 Sicilian regional election the combined score of those parties was 26.4%. The electoral results of the DC in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1946 are shown in the chart below. Having ruled Italy for over 40 years with no alternative other than

5460-456: The vote cast (a decline of -5.8% relative to 1981). Subsequently, Bettino Craxi (leader of the rising PSI) reclaimed for himself the post of prime minister, again at the head of a Pentapartito government. DC re-gained the post of prime minister in 1987, after a modest recovery in the 1987 general election (34.2%), and the Pentapartito coalition governed Italy almost continuously until 1993. While Italy experienced steady economic progress in

5544-418: The way for a centrist coalition that included the Italian Workers' Socialist Party (PSLI), a centrist break-away from the PSI, as well as its usual allies, the PLI and the PRI. In the 1948 general election the DC went on to win a decisive victory, with the support of the Catholic Church and the United States , and obtained 48.5% of the vote, its best result ever. Despite his party's absolute majority in

5628-540: The world: Africa: 1,357; South America: 1,657; North America: 664; Asia-Oceania: 2,339; Western Europe: 3,500; Central-Eastern Europe: 769. In Great Britain there are currently five Capuchin friaries, and eight in Ireland . The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General , is currently Friar Roberto Genuin. The Capuchin order, under the leadership of two Italian Capuchin priests Dr.Giuseppe Maria Bernini also known as Friar.Joseph and Dr.Massimo Alfredo Antonio Mancini also known as Friar.Alfred , took part in

5712-425: Was preaching and spiritual ministrations among the poor. In theology the Capuchins abandoned the later Franciscan School of Scotus and returned to the earlier school of St. Bonaventure . At the outset of its history, the Capuchins underwent a series of severe blows. Two of the founders left it: Matteo Serafini of Bascio ( Matteo Bassi ) returning to the Observants, while his first companion, on being replaced in

5796-403: Was a Christian democratic political party in Italy . The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the nominal successor of the Italian People's Party , which had the same symbol, a crusader shield ( scudo crociato ). As a Catholic -inspired, centrist , catch-all party comprising both centre-right and centre-left political factions,

5880-496: Was a Capuchin friar. In the Imperial Crypt , underneath the Church of the Capuchins in Vienna , over 140 members of the Habsburg dynasty are buried. The most recent burial in the crypt was in 2011 for Otto von Habsburg , the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary and eldest son of the last Austrian Emperor , the Blessed Charles of Austria . As of June 2018 , there were 10,480 Capuchins worldwide, of whom 7,070 were priests , living and working in 108 countries around

5964-458: Was a founding member of the European People's Party in 1976. The party was founded as the revival of the Italian People's Party (PPI), a political party created in 1919 by Luigi Sturzo , a Catholic priest. The PPI won over 20% of the votes in the 1919 and 1921 general elections , but was declared illegal by the Fascist dictatorship in 1926 despite the presence of some Popolari in Benito Mussolini 's first government. As World War II

6048-590: Was a very different position from the one taken in similar cases before and after (such as the kidnapping of Ciro Cirillo , a Campanian DC member for whom a ransom was paid thanks to the local ties of the party with the Camorra ). It was however supported by all the mainstream parties, including the PCI, with the two notable exceptions of the PSI and the Radicals . In the trial for Mafia allegations against Andreotti, it

6132-487: Was appointed Prime Minister of Italy . The Christian Democracy party was opposed to both Fascism and Communism. In elections Italians were voting based on a way of life, not just a political party. Christian ideals were usually paired with the idea of freedom. In the 1946 general election the DC won 35.2% of the vote. In May 1947 De Gasperi broke decisively with his Communist and Socialist coalition partners under pressure from U.S. President Harry Truman . This opened

6216-423: Was disbanded in 1994. In the 1990s most of the politicians prosecuted during those investigations were acquitted, sometimes however on the basis of legal formalities or on the basis of statutory time limit rules. In 1992, Mario Segni led a breakaway faction called Populars for Reform (PR). The DC suffered heavy defeats in the 1993 provincial and municipal elections. Subsequently, Segni's PR would be reformed as

6300-610: Was ending, the Christian Democrats started organising post-Fascist Italy in coalition with all the other mainstream parties, including the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), the Italian Liberal Party (PLI), the Italian Republican Party (PRI), the Action Party (Pd'A) and the Labour Democratic Party (PDL). In December 1945 Christian Democrat Alcide De Gasperi

6384-585: Was later acquitted. Like the other parties of the Pentapartito coalition, the DC was invested in the Tangentopoli scandals and in the subsequent Mani pulite . Moreover, as Southern Italy had become the party's stronghold in the 1970s and the 1980s, it was likely that the Sicilian Mafia and dishonest politicians tried to collaborate. The DC was the party most associated with Mafia among

6468-473: Was reckoned at 9,500. The Capuchins still keep up their missionary work and have some 200 missionary stations in all parts of the world—notably India , Ethiopia , and parts of the former Ottoman Empire . Though "the poorest of all Orders", it has attracted into its ranks an extraordinary number of the highest nobility and even of royalty. The celebrated Theobald Mathew , the apostle of Temperance in Ireland,

6552-566: Was replaced by Forlani in 1989. Disagreements between de Mita and Forlani brought Andreotti back to the prime-ministership from 1989 to 1992. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the great Cold War ideological conflict, and ultimately the Tangentopoli scandals, the heterogeneous nature of the party led it to its collapse. The bulk of the DC's membership joined the new Italian People's Party (PPI), but immediately several centre-right elements led by Pier Ferdinando Casini joined

6636-480: Was said that he took the chance of getting rid of a dangerous political competitor by sabotaging all of the rescue options and ultimately leaving the captors with no option but killing him. During his captivity Moro wrote a series of letters, at times very critical of Andreotti. . Later the memorial written by Moro during his imprisonment was subject to several plots, including the assassination of journalist Mino Pecorelli and general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa . At

6720-660: Was stronger precisely in the traditional Christian Democratic heartlands, the DC was reduced to 21.0% in Piedmont (with the League at 16.3%), 32.1% in western Lombardy (League at 25.2%), 31.7% in Veneto (League at 17.3%) and 28.0% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (League at 17.0%). As the DC's role was reduced, the 1919 PPI strongholds and the DC's traditional heartlands would become the Lega Nord's power base. Meanwhile,

6804-874: Was the life that they were called "Sisters of Suffering". The Order soon spread to France , Spain and beyond. They live according to the same rules and regulations as the Capuchin friars, and are held as members of the friars' provinces. In the United States, as of 2012, there are five monasteries of this Order. There are about 50 nuns in these communities, which are located in: Denver and Pueblo in Colorado , Alamo and Amarillo (the first, founded 1981) in Texas , and Wilmington, Delaware . The monasteries were almost all founded from Mexico , where there are some 1,350 Capuchin nuns in 73 monasteries. The monastery in Pueblo

6888-471: Was to be obtained by begging, and the friars were not allowed even to touch money. The communities were to be small, eight being fixed as the normal number and twelve as the limit. In furniture and clothing extreme simplicity was enjoined and the friars were discalced , required to go bare-footed—without even sandals. Like the Observants, the Capuchins wore a brown habit but of most simple form, i.e. only

6972-588: Was under the floor of the present Mass chapel. Here the Capuchins would come to pray and reflect each evening before retiring for the night. The crypt , or ossuary , now contains the remains of 4,000 friars buried between 1500 and 1870, during which time the Roman Catholic Church permitted burial in and under churches. The underground crypt is divided into five chapels , lit only by dim natural light seeping in through cracks, and small fluorescent lamps . The crypt walls are decorated extensively with

7056-641: Was very different from 30 or even 10 years before, as the region where it obtained the best result was Apulia (46.0%). In the 1992 general election the shift was even more evident as the party was over the 40% mark only in some Southern regions (41.1% in Campania , 44.5 in Basilicata and 41.2% in Sicily ), while it barely reached 20-25% of the vote in the North. As a result of the rise of Lega Nord , which

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