(

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "It is not expedient") were the words with which the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...

from the polls in

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

History

The phrase, "it is not expedient," has long been used by the Roman curia to indicate a negative reply for reasons of opportunity. The papal policy was adopted after the promulgation of the Constitution of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

(1861), and the introduction of laws relating to the Catholic Church and, especially, to the religious orders (1865–66). The Holy Penitentiary made a decree on 29 February 1868, in which it sanctioned the motto; " - Neither elector nor elected". Until then there had been in the young Italian Parliament a few eminent representatives of Catholic interests, e.g. Vito d'Ondes Reggio, Augusto Conti,

Cesare Cantù Cesare Cantù (; December 5, 1804 – March 11, 1895) was an Italian historian. Biography Cantù was born December 5, 1804 at Brivio, in Lombardy. He studied in Milan, at the College of St. Alexander Barnabite, and began his career as a teacher. ...

Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

declared in an audience of 11 October 1874 that 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'. Also, in view of the electoral law of that day, by which the electorate was reduced to 650,000, it would have been hopeless to attempt to prevent the passage of laws the Vatican did not approve of. In parts of Italy (

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, the former

Pontifical States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from ...

and the former

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and al ...

), some Catholics were supporters of the dispossessed princes and they were liable to be denounced as enemies of Italy. They would also have been at variance with the Catholics of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and of the provinces that were part of Habsburg Austria, and this division would have further weakened the Catholic Parliamentary group. This measure did not meet with universal approval; moderates accused the Vatican of failing in its duty to society and to the newly unified country. In 1882, the suffrage having been extended,

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

took into serious consideration the partial abolition of the restrictions established by the , but nothing was actually done. On the contrary, as many people came to the conclusion that the decree was not intended to be absolute, but was only an admonition made to apply upon one particular occasion, the Holy Office declared (30 December 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 The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...

, 14 May 1895; Congregation of Extraordinary Affairs, 27 January 1902;

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

Motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term '' sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a d ...

, 18 December 1903). Later

, by his

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

"" (11 June 1905) modified the , 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

Giacomo Margotti Giacomo Margotti (11 May 1823 – 6 May 1887) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and journalist. Biography He was a native of San Remo, where his father was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and there he studied the classics and philosophy ...

.) The papal policy was cancelled in 1918. In later years, particularly after the establishment of the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

had reassured the papacy of its place within Italy, non-Catholic politicians would complain that the Holy See made too many recommendations to the Italian voters.

Sources

{{Reflist Latin political words and phrases History of the papacy Political history of Italy 1868 establishments in Italy Holy See–Italy relations 20th-century disestablishments in Italy Boycotts