Postwar Italian leader is exemplar of Christian politics, cardinal says

ROME (CNS) — At a time when politics “appears devoid of values and ideals,” the figure of Alcide De Gasperi provides an “example of integrity, service and commitment to the common good,” said the papal vicar of Rome.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the papal vicar, spoke about the need for a truly Christian vision of politics and public service Feb. 28 as he officially closed the diocesan phase of the sainthood cause of De Gasperi, who founded Italy’s Christian Democrat party and served as prime minister of Italy from 1945 to 1953.

De Gasperi’s work for justice, peace and democracy “remains a benchmark for contemporary society,” the cardinal said.

Born in 1881 in Pieve Tesino in a region of northern Italy that was then part of Austria-Hungary, he studied in Vienna before becoming editor of a local Catholic newspaper. In 1911 he was elected to the Austrian parliament.

“With the end of World War I and the annexation of his land to Italy,” Cardinal Reina said, “De Gasperi found himself having to redefine his political role within a new national context, with the Italian Popular Party, and he fought for the recognition of the political participation of Catholics and for a vision of the state based on pluralism and social justice.”

“With the advent of fascism, the Popular Party was dissolved and De Gasperi was persecuted by the regime,” the cardinal said. “Arrested in 1927 and sentenced to four years in prison, he was later pardoned, but lived for years in precarious economic conditions,” finally finding employment as a cataloger in the Vatican Library.

“During this period,” Cardinal Reina said, “he refined his political and social reflections, laying the groundwork for the rebirth of political Catholicism after World War II.”

“De Gasperi has been recognized as a man of great faith and moral integrity,” and one moved by “a deep spirituality and a Christian vision of life and public service,” the cardinal said. “His rock-solid faith was a constant guide for him, inspiring his every political choice and action. He did not merely profess it in private but translated it into a concrete commitment to building a just and inclusive society.”

De Gasperi was one of the early supporters and key players in creating a united Europe, promoting cooperation while respecting cultures and traditions. His position, Cardinal Reina said, “reflected an inclusive and forward-looking approach, in sharp contrast to the nationalistic divisions that had marked the continent in previous decades.”

“For him, a border was not a dividing barrier, but a bridge between different cultures,” the cardinal said.

“He never sought power for self-interest but understood it as service to the nation,” the cardinal said. “His concern for the weakest and his commitment to the common good show how Christian charity was not an abstract principle for him but a concrete virtue to be embodied in political life.”

The sainthood cause of De Gasperi, who died in 1954, was to proceed to the Vatican for study by historians, theologians and members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

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