EDOARDO CLERICI: ‘FEDE’ DEMOCRATICO-CRISTIANA E VOCAZIONE ANTIFASCISTA

Abstract

Edoardo Clerici (Como 1898-1975), a lawyer, among the first members to join the Italian Popular Party and prominent figure of Lombard political Catholicism, immediately took anti-fascist and intransigent positions towards any ‘right-wing’ idea that he judged incompatible with Christian values. In 1933, close to the ‘Guelfo’ movement, he defended Malvestiti, who was accused of conspiracy «against national sentiment», before the Special Tribunal. In 1942, he was secretly among the founders of the DC. The paper starts from the analysis of the idea of democracy of Christian inspiration that distinguished the thought of Edoardo Clerici and highlights his commitment to build the Italian Republic and improve the cultural and civil renewal of the country.