ALBERTARIO, DAVIDE

Priest, editor; b. Filighera (Pavia), Italy, Feb. 16, 1846; d. Carenno (Bergamo), Italy, Sept. 21, 1902. Albertario became a journalist the year he was ordained (1868), after earning his doctorate in theology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1872, he became part owner and associate editor, then editor, of the daily Osservatore Cattolico, of Milan and of the weekly Il Popolo Cattolico. He defended zealously, if not always temperately, the principles of the syllabus of errors and of vatican council i, and opposed not only liberal intolerance and "irreligious tyranny" but also the "liberal Catholicism" of some priests and bishops. This position set him against men of outstanding reputation such as Bishop bonomelli of Cremona and Bishop scalabrini of Piacenza, and well-known priests such as the noted geologist, Antonio Stoppani.

In 1894, at a time when relations between Church and State had become less stormy, Albertario invited to the osservatore cattolico Filippo Meda, who was to succeed him as editor and give a new impetus to public action by Catholics. During this period the paper continually advised its readers to prepare for the time when the Holy See might permit Italian Catholics to reenter political life (see margotti, giacomo).

In 1898, during a disproportionate reaction of the government to certain social movements which led to the temporary dissolution of Catholic organizations, Albertario, who had bravely defended the poorer classes, was arrested. Together with certain Syndicalist Socialists, he was tried and condemned to three years in prison, a sentence generally regarded as unjust. After one year he was released following the lively agitation that the sentence had aroused among Italian Catholics. He told the story of his imprisonment in two volumes titled Un anno di carcere (1900).

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