The Community Democratic League (''Lega Democratica Comunitaria'', LDC) was a Venetist and

Christian-socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capitalism to be idolatr ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

active in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

. The party was founded in July 2011 by some splinters of

Liga Veneta Liga Veneta (; ; abbr. LV), whose complete name is (), is a regionalist political party active in Veneto. The LV, whose ideology combines Venetian nationalism and support for fiscal federalism, was established in 1979 under the slogan "farthe ...

–

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

(LV–LN) led by Davide Lovat. Lovat had been an activist of Liga Veneta in the

province of Vicenza The province of Vicenza (; ) is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza. The province has an area of 2,722.53 km2, and a total population of 865,082 (as of 2017). There are 113 ''comuni'' (municipalities) in th ...

for 18 years before becoming a leading voice against the party leadership. A keen Venetist and left-winger, in February 2011 he was expelled from the party. Some months on, along with other splinters from LV–LN, Lovat started organizing the LDC. The name "Community Democratic League" was chosen by Lovat, who has studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, as a reference both to the "National Democratic League" of

Romolo Murri Romolo Murri (27 August 1870 – 12 March 1944) was an Italian politician anecclesiastic A Catholic priest, he was suspended and later excommunicated for having joined the Lega Democratica Nazionale. For his political activism, he is considered ...

, a radical priest, and the

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

. Lovat set the party in the tradition of

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a Religious philosophy, religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

and early Venetian nationalism. According to its manifesto, the LDC supported regionalism, the reform of the

Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...

following the

German model The term German model is most often used in economics to describe post-World War II West Germany's means of using (according to University College London Professor Wendy Carlin) innovative industrial relations, vocational training, and closer re ...

, restrictions to

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

on economic grounds, and

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

in the form of the

Gaullist Gaullism ( ) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withdrew French forces from t ...

"Europe of Peoples and Nations". The party opposed

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

neo-liberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

, the exploitation of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

s for political purposes, and the influence of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

over

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. As soon as in September the LDC became an associate party of

Magdi Allam Magdi Cristiano Allam ( Majdī ʿAllām; born 22 April 1952), is an Egyptian-Italian journalist and politician, noted for his criticism of Islam and his articles on the relations between Western culture and the Islamic world. Allam converted ...

I Love Italy I Love Italy (''Io amo l'Italia'', ALI), originally Protagonists for Christian Europe (''Protagonisti per l'Europa Cristiana''), was a Christian democracy, Christian-democratic, national conservatism, national-conservative and Euroscepticism, Eur ...

party, while in October the party was integrated in the larger Venetian Project, including other small Venetist, autonomist, independentist and traditionalist parties and cultural associations. In December 2012 the LDC was integrated into

Veneto State Veneto State (''Veneto Stato'', VS) was a Venetian nationalism, Venetist List of political parties in Veneto, political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party's goal to achieve full political separatism, independence for the former ...

(VS) and Lovat was chosen as the party's candidate for mayor of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Venetian Project
Christian socialist organizations Political parties established in 2011 Political parties in Veneto Venetian nationalism Italian leagues