“Study him better”, Montini told us

But we also got some advice from Monsignor Montini, “Study Toniolo better”. And we began to study, amongst ourselves, and also in other arenas. And what struck us right away? We were struck by this culturally important need, namely that of building a system, developing a body of thought not so much against anyone, but forward-looking

Giulio Andreotti

Giuseppe Toniolo, on the left, a Venetian Catholic economist (1845-1918), with Giorgio Montini, father of Giovanni Battista, the future Paul VI, in Brescia in 1908
[© Archivie of the Istituto per la storia dell’Azione cattolica e del movimento cattolico in Italia Paolo VI]

Let me start here: in the war years there was great ferment – I’m thinking of the university milieu, which I knew first-hand and in which I lived. In the sense that one had the feeling that many things were about to change and one had the feeling that a certain form of maximalism was the right strategy. So much so that a group, not large, but not irrelevant, of young Catholic university students ended up joining Christian socialist, even Christian communist movements, in the belief that the answer to injustice would be provided precisely by those movements. I had the idea, which then proved to be completely mistaken, of opening up a debate in Azione Fucina [the Catholic university students’ magazine ed.] One had, in effect, to admit that between Marx’s Manifesto and Rerum Novarum a number of decades had passed, but what did that matter? And above all, in what direction did we want to move? We opened up the debate in Azione Fucina. Immediately we got the red light, and the order through our assistant not to open the debate in any way. But we also got some advice from Monsignor Montini, “Study Toniolo better”. And we began to study, amongst ourselves, and also in other arenas. And what struck us right away? We were struck by this culturally important need, namely that of building a system, developing a body of thought not so much against anyone, but forward-looking. When one surveys the history of Giuseppe Toniolo before he engaged in politics, there is obviously a painful story. Those of us in politics, whether in active service or in the reserves, should thank the Lord every day that we were born when we were. So many generations have gone before us fraught with the difficulty of fitting together their conscience as Catholics and their conscience as Italians. Looking at Toniolo before his engagement in politics there is what we might call on the one hand his organizational skills, namely the Opera dei Congressi [a body promoting Catholic ideas and works ed.], unions, relations with international activities. Making a visit to Fribourg (Switzerland) was at that time a very important thing... And all this with Toniolo’s character, so particular that he was considered moderate, a term that is often badly misused, ignoring, among other things, that moderation is a virtue. It’s worth remembering that when the Opera dei Congressi was in crisis, the Pope asked Toniolo to outline an organizational scheme of what could be done to recreate a little order. His pre-political phase is important in another sense, namely that the bringing in of the concept of ethics was not a smokescreen or a restriction but an inspiration: that of setting people at the center of political concern – in the best sense of that word. Of course, with intellectual honesty, because otherwise it’s just too easy to make populist appeals, and no one should forget that they can’t give what they don’t have. Otherwise the statements remain mere vague aspirations. Toniolo’s merit lies not so much in having created an “applicative” doctrine but the direction he pointed out. The seriousness of introducing this factor of ethics – which is then the factor of humanitarianism. Something that does not take away the need to be able to handle certain situations. Finally, one of the things that struck me most – and I believe it to be true because it occurs in all the biographies of Toniolo – struck me because it settles the long conflict and relates to the difficulty of being good citizens and good Catholics, and settles it well. And those who visit Rome can find wonderful proof of how things then worked out by going to San Lorenzo in Campo Verano. There lies buried Pius IX (non expedit [the Vatican decree forbidding Catholics to vote in Italian elections, ed.]) and buried in the atrium is also De Gasperi (certainly expedit, because he lived political life and also in an important way). But what struck me about Toniolo, I repeat, was something I hope true and that is splendid: when he was three, his father – it was the day of the Austrian defeat at Goito and the fall of Peschiera – gave him a little future Italian flag and said: “Remember this is very important!”