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Non Expedit

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Pope Pius IX issued non expedit declarations on several occasions.

Non expedit (/nɔn ˈɛkspedit/; Latin for "it is not appropriate") was a provision of the Holy See declaring it inappropriate for Italian Catholics to participate in political elections in the Kingdom of Italy and, by extension, in Italian national political life.

The expression, which drew on Catholic opposition to the unification of Italy and capture of the Papal States, was first used by the Extraordinary Congregation in Charge of Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Catholic World during the papacy of Pope Pius IX on January 30, 1868. It was effectively revoked by Pope Benedict XV in 1919 to allow Catholics to join the Italian People's Party founded by Don Luigi Sturzo.

The declaration did not apply to local or administrative elections.

History

The phrase, "it is not expedient," has long been used by the Roman Curia to indicate a negative reply for reasons of opportunity.

Origins

In 1861, the newly unified Kingdom of Italy held its first political elections. Although the Holy See neither officially imposed or discouraged abstention,[1] Don Giacomo Margotti, director of the daily newspaper L'Armonia, publicly endorsed abstention on 7 January 1861 by signing his editorial, "Nè eletti, nè elettori" ("Be neither elected nor electors."). L'Armonia had a circulation of over 60,000, and Margotti thereby popularized the axiom among Italian Catholics.[2]

The principle was criticized by political moderates, who accused Catholics of failing in their duty to society and to the newly unified Italy. Prior to the declaration of non expedit, there had been a few eminent representatives of Catholic interests in the Italian Parliament, such as Augusto Conti, Vito d'Ondes Reggio, and Cesare Cantù.

However, the electoral laws of Italy at the time limited the electorate to fewer than 700,000 people, and the government manipulated the elections, making the passage of anti-Catholic laws appear unpreventable. The principle also had the genuine support of many Catholics, who opposed parliamentary government and (particularly in the former states of Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) remained supporters of the dispossessed Catholic princes. The principle also suspended inter-Catholic political conflicts between the Catholics of the former Kingdom of Sardinia and Austrian provinces, which division could have weakened Catholic political power.

Formalization

In the years following unification, various bodies of the Holy See made several official pronouncements in favor of abstention.[3][4] In June and September 1864 and February and March 1865, the Apostolic Penitentiary declined requests for clarifications regarding the participation of Catholics in elections. On December 1, 1866, however, the dicastery broke with this practice to affirm that a Catholic could accept a seat in parliament "on condition of publicly declaring his intention never to approve laws contrary to the Church."[5] This declaration gave rise to various interpretations and disagreements, leading to the first official intervention in January 1868. Over the following years, a series of clarifications and declarations were issued, culminating in a ban on participation in Italian political life in 1886:

The most famous exposition of the principle came Pius IX's speech of 11 October 1874:

And since I have received a question from some Italian city about the permissibility of sitting in that chamber [Parliament], while I advise prayer, I respond to the question with just two observations. I say, first, that the choice is not free, because political passions face too many powerful obstacles. And even if it were free, there would remain an even greater obstacle to overcome: that of the oath that everyone is obliged to take without any restriction. This oath, note well, should be taken in Rome, here in the capital of Catholicism, here under the eyes of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. And one should swear to observe, protect, and uphold the laws of the State: that is, one must swear to sanction the plundering of the Church, the sacrileges committed, and anti-Catholic teaching...[8]

Rapprochement and repeal

Efforts to withdraw the declaration within the Holy See began as early as 1882, during the papacy of Pope Leo XIII, when suffrage was extended to most Italian Catholics. Although considerations were made for abolishing its restrictions, no action was taken.[10] On December 30, 1886, however, the Inquisition declared it to be a grave precept, a stance which would be repeated on several subsequent occasions through 1903.

In the twentieth century, the successive pontificates of Pius X and Benedict XV were marked by a phase of gradual rapprochement with the secular institutions of the Kingdom of Italy. In response to the electoral successes of the socialists, Catholics allied with moderate liberals, led by Giovanni Giolitti, in many local administrative elections.

In 1904, Pope Pius X modified the non expedit in the encyclical "Il fermo proposito", declaring ahead of the upcoming general elections that bishops could request a suspension of the rule when there was question of preventing the election of a "subversive" candidate and invite Catholics to hold themselves in readiness to go to the polls. The decision came following a hearing granted to the lawyer Paolo Bonomi of Bergamo, appealing the principle.[11]

In the 1913 general election, the informal clerical-moderate alliance at the local level was made national in the form of the Gentiloni Pact. The alliance triumphed in the general elections, with Catholics voting for liberals who had endorsed certain doctrinal programs, including freedom of education and opposition to divorce, and the liberals voting for some Catholic candidates.

In 1919, Don Luigi Sturzo and other Catholics formed the Italian People's Party with the permission of Pope Benedict XV. The foundation of the party was taken as a tacit and reluctant reversal of the principle of non expedit, which was made formal later the same year. The party won 20.6 percent of the vote in the 1919 Italian general election, participating in every government between 1919 and 1922.

In the 2016 television series The Young Pope, the fictional titular character Pope Pius XIII (Jude Law) threatens to restore the non expedit in a meeting with the Italian prime minister, depriving his government of legitimacy.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Non Expedit — ("It is not expedient").

Words with which the Holy See enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of abstention from the polls in parliamentary elections. This policy was adopted after a period of uncertainty and of controversy which followed the promulgation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy (1861), and which was intensified by laws hostile to the Church and, especially, to the religious orders (1865-66). To this uncertainty the Holy Penitentiary put an end by its decree of 29 February, 1868, in which, in the above words, it sanctioned the motto; "Neither elector nor elected". Until then there had been in the Italian Parliament a few eminent representatives of Catholic interests-Vito d'Ondes Reggio, Augusto Conti, Cesare Cantù, and others. The principal motive of this decree was that the oath taken by deputies might be interpreted as an approval of the spoliation of the Holy See, as Pius IX declared in an audience of 11 October, 1874. A practical reason for it, also, was that, in view of the electoral law of that day, by which the electorate was reduced to 650,000, and as the Government manipulated the elections to suit its own purposes, it would have been hopeless to attempt to prevent the passage of anti-Catholic laws. On the other hand, the masses seemed unprepared for parliamentary government, and as, in the greater portion of Italy (Parma, Modena, Tuscany, the Pontifical States, and the Kingdom of Naples), nearly all sincere Catholics were partizans of the dispossessed princes, they were liable to be denounced as enemies of Italy; they would also have been at variance with the Catholics of Piedmont and of the provinces wrested from Austria, and this division would have further weakened the Catholic Parliamentary group.

As might be expected, this measure did not meet with universal approval; the so-called Moderates accused the Catholics of failing in their duty to society and to their country. In 1882, the suffrage having been extended, Leo XIII took into serious consideration the partial abolition of the restrictions established by the Non Expedit, but nothing was actually done (cf. "Archiv für kathol. Kirchenrecht", 1904, p. 396). On the contrary, as many people came to the conclusion that the decree Non Expedit was not intended to be absolute, but was only an admonition made to apply upon one particular occasion, the Holy Office declared (30 Dec., 1886) that the rule in question implied a grave precept, and emphasis was given to this fact on several subsequent occasions (Letter of Leo XIII to the Cardinal Secretary of State, 14 May, 1895; Congregation of Extraordinary Affairs, 27 January, 1902; Pius X, Motu proprio, 18 Dec., 1903). Later Pius X, by his encyclical "Il fermo proposito" (11 June, 1905) modified the Non Expedit, declaring that, when there was question of preventing the election of a "subversive" candidate, the bishops could ask for a suspension of the rule, and invite the Catholics to hold themselves in readiness to go to the polls. (See ).

Civiltà Cattolica (Rome), ser. VIII, IV, 652; VI, 51; VIII, 653; VIII, 3l62; Questioni politico-religiose (Rome, 1905).

References

  1. Back to citation Bessone 2006, p. 408.
  2. Back to citation Marotta 2011.
  3. Back to citation Martina 1985, pp. 105–06.
  4. Back to citation Martina 1990, pp. 273–77.
  5. Back to citation Martina 1985, p. 106.
  6. Back to citation Martina 1990, p. 274.
  7. Back to citation Marotta 2014, p. 120.
  8. Back to citation occurrence 8.0 Back to citation occurrence 8.1 Martina 1990, p. 275.
  9. Back to citation Fonzi 1953.
  10. Back to citation Archiv Für Katholisches Kirchenrecht vol. 84 (in German). 1904. p. 396.
  11. Back to citation Spadolini 1960, p. 68.

Bibliography

  • Bessone, Angelo Bessone (2006). Giovanni Pietro Losana. Biella: Savings Bank Foundation of Biella.
  • Carocci, Giampiero (1975). History of Italy from Unification to Today (in Italian). Milan: Feltrinelli.
  • Fonzi, Faustino (1953). Catholics and Italian Society after Unification (in Italian). Rome: Studium.
  • Jemolo, Arturo Carlo (1955). Church and State in Italy in the Last Hundred Years (in Italian). Turin: Einaudi.
  • Marongiu Buonaiuti, Cesare (1971). Non Expedit: A Political History (1866-1919). Milan: Giuffrè.
  • Marotta, Saretta (2011). "The Non Expedit". In Alberto Melloni (ed.). Christians in Italy: Churches, Society, and the State (1861-2011) (in Italian). Vol. 1. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana (Treccani). pp. 215–235 – via academia.edu.
  • — (2014). "The Evolution of the Debate on "Non Expedit" within the Roman Curia from 1860 to 1889". Journal of the History of the Church in Italy (in Italian) (1): 95–164 – via academia.edu.
  • — (2017). "The Agony of the Non Expedit". In G. Cavagnini; G. Grossi (eds.). Pope Benedict XV: Giacomo Della Chiesa in the World of "Useless Slaughter" (in Italian). directed by A. Melloni. Bologna: Il Mulino. pp. 667–679 – via academia.edu.
  • Martina, Giacomo (1985). Pius IX (1851-1866) (in Italian). Rome. ISBN 978-88-7652-543-8.
  • — (1990). Pius IX (1867-1878) (in Italian). Rome.
  • Mellano, Maria Franca (1982). Catholics and the Political Vote in Italy (in Italian). Casale Monferrato: Marietti.
  • Monticone, A. (2010). "Benedict XV and the Non Expedit". In A. D'Angelo; P. Trionfini; R. Violi (eds.). Democracy and Religious Conscience in Twentieth-Century History (in Italian). Rome: Ave. pp. 13–38.
  • Spadolini, Giovanni (1960). Giolitti and the Catholics (in Italian). Florence: Le Monnier.
  • Tamburini, Filippo (1987). "The Non Expedit in the Acts of the Apostolic Penitentiary". Journal of the History of the Church in Italy (in Italian). 41: 128–151.
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