Romolo Murri

Romolo Murri (Monte San Pietrangeli, 27 August 1870 – Roma, 12 March 1944) was an Italian politician and ecclesiastic. This Catholic priest was suspended for having joined the party Lega Democratica Nazionale and is widely considered in Italy as the precursor of Christian democracy.

In 1894 was a promoter of the FUCI, in 1901 of Democrazia Cristiana Italiana and in 1905 of Lega Democratica Nazionale. He founded the publications ''Vita nova'' (1895), ''Cultura sociale'' (1898), ''Il domani d'Italia'' (1901), ''Rivista di cultura'' (1906), ''Il commento'' (1910).

His activities brought him into controversy with the Holy See, especially after he established the National Democratic League in 1905: the movement was explicitely condemned in 1906 by Pope Pius X in his encyclical ''Pieni l'Animo'', which forbade all priests from joining it, under the penalty of suspension ''a divinis'' ''ipso facto''.

After failing to comply, Murri was suspended ''a divinis'' from his clerical status in 1907. His movement was once again condemned by Pius X in his encyclical ''Pascendi Dominici gregis'', which equated it to modernism, and was finally excommunicated in 1909. On the same year, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the lists of the Italian Radical Party.

In 1912 he married in Rome with Ragnhild Lund, daughter of the former president of Lagting (the upper house of the Norwegian Parliament), with whom he had a son. He failed to be re-elected in 1913, something that was explicitely celebrated by the leader of the ''Azione Cattolica'' Count Ottorino Gentiloni. He supported Italy's entry into World War I.

After the rise of the Fascist regime in Italy, Murri withdrew from active politics and devoted himself to journalism, becoming a contributor for ''Il Resto del Carlino''. He showed a cautious support for Fascism and for the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

In November 1943, he reconciled with the Church and the excommunication was lifted by Pope Pius XII. He died in Rome on 12 March 1944. Provided by Wikipedia