Non Expedit

Non Expedit
Non Expedit
Words with which the Holy See enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of abstention from parliamentary elections

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Non Expedit
    Non Expedit
     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 MARGOTTI, GIACOMO).
    Civiltà Cattolica (Rome), ser. VIII, IV, 652; VI, 51; VIII, 653; VIII, 3l62; Questioni politico-religiose (Rome, 1905).
    U. BENIGNI
    Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert and St. Mary's Church, Akron, Ohio

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • Non Expedit — (Latin for It is not expedient ) were the words with which the Holy See enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of abstention from the polls in parliamentary elections. History This papal policy was adopted after the promulgation of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Non expedit — (en español: “no conviene”) es una disposición de la Santa Sede con la cual, por primera vez en 1868 se desaconsejó a los católicos italianos que participaran en las elecciones políticas del país y, por extensión, que participaran en la vida… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Non expedit — (Latein für (es ist) nicht angebracht) wird als Bezeichnung für eine am 10. September 1874 von Papst Pius IX. erlassene Bulle verwendet. Der Papst verbot den gläubigen italienischen Katholiken in dieser Bulle vor dem Hintergrund der Entziehung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • non expedit — ▪ Roman Catholicism       (Latin: “it is not expedient”), a late 19th and early 20th century policy of the Roman Catholic church that prohibited its Italian members from participating in politics. The non expedit dramatically emphasized that Pope …   Universalium

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  • non expedit — non ẹxpedit   [lateinisch »es ist nicht angebracht«], katholische Kirchengeschichte: an 1. Korintherbrief 10, 23 angelehnte Formel, mit der die Päpste Pius IX. und Leo XIII. wegen der einseitigen staatlichen Aufhebung kirchlicher Privilegien und …   Universal-Lexikon

  • non expedit — non ex|pe|dit <lat. > es ist nicht angebracht (Formel kath. Päpste im 19. Jh., mit der sie ital. Katholiken die Beteiligung an politischen Wahlen wegen der ↑Säkularisation von Kircheneigentum untersagten) …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

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  • eum qui nocentem infamat, non est aequum et bonum ob earn rem condemnari; delicta enim nocentium nota ease oportet et expedit — /iyam kway nasentam infeymat non est iykwam et Jfejipwnam 6b iyam rem kondemneray; dalikta iynam rmsh(iy)am nowda esiy aportat et ekspadat/ It is not just and proper that he who speaks ill of a bad man should be condemned on that account; for it… …   Black's law dictionary

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