Network Italy (''Rete Italia'') is a

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic i ...

association connected to

Popular Alternative Popular Alternative ( it, Alternativa Popolare, AP) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy that was founded on 18 March 2017 after the dissolution of New Centre-Right (NCD), one of the two parties that emerged at the break-up of The P ...

(AP), a

political party in Italy This article contains a list of political parties in Italy since Italian unification in 1861. Throughout history, numerous political parties have been operating in Italy, and since World War II no party has ever gained enough support to govern ...

, and earlier to

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia ...

. Most of its members, including its long-time leader

Roberto Formigoni Roberto Formigoni (born 30 March 1947) is a former Italian politician born in Lecco, Italy. He was the President of Lombardy from 1995 to 2013. He is the former unofficial political spokesperson of the Communion and Liberation movement. On 21 Fe ...

, are members of the Catholic lay movement

Communion and Liberation Communion and Liberation (Italian: Comunione e Liberazione, often shortened to CL) is an International Catholic movement founded in 1954 by Fr. Luigi Giussani. The official name is the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation. Its aim is to prese ...

(CL).

History

The political involvement of large chunks of CL dates back to the Seventies. In 1975 Formigoni organised the Popular Movement (MP) as a faction within

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

(DC). In January 1994, when the DC was dissolved, its members joined the Italian People's Party (PPI) and, a year later, they founded the

United Christian Democrats The United Christian Democrats ( it, Cristiani Democratici Uniti, CDU) was a minor Christian democratic political party in Italy. The CDU was a member of the European People's Party from 1995 until 2002. History The party was started in 1995 by ...

(CDU), along with

Rocco Buttiglione Rocco Buttiglione (; born 6 June 1948) is an Italian Union of Christian and Centre Democrats politician and an academic. Buttiglione's nomination for a post as European Commissioner with a portfolio that was to include civil liberties, resulted ...

. Formigoni, who had been elected

President of Lombardy The president of Lombardy is the supreme authority of Lombardy, the most populated region of Italy. Election Originally appointed by the Regional Council of Lombardy, since 1995 ''de facto'' and 2000 ''de jure'', the president is elected by pop ...

in April 1995 thanks to the support of

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

(FI), was appointed president of the CDU at the party's founding congress in July. In 1998, when Buttiglione temporarily aligned his party with the centre-left in support of

D'Alema I Cabinet The first D'Alema government was the government of Italy from 21 October 1998 to 22 December 1999. The first Prodi government fell in 1998 when the Communist Refoundation Party withdrew its support to Prodi. This led to the formation of a new go ...

(through the

Democratic Union for the Republic The Democratic Union for the Republic ( it, Unione Democratica per la Repubblica, UDR) was a short-lived Christian-democratic and centrist political party in Italy. It was founded in February 1998 by Francesco Cossiga (former Prime Minister and ...

, UDR), Formigoni and his followers (known as ''Formigoniani'') formed the

Christian Democrats for Freedom Christian Democrats for Freedom ( it, Cristiani Democratici per la Libertà, CDL) was a small christian-democratic political party in Italy. History The party was founded following a split from the United Christian Democrats of Rocco Buttiglione ...

(CDL). When Buttiglione re-established the CDU and re-positioned it in the centre-right, joining the

House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms ( it, Casa delle Libertà, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/ Pole of Good Government and the Pol ...

coalition in 2000, Formigoni, his ''Formigoniani'' and many regional councillors from northern regions had already joined FI. In 2006 Network Italy was organized as an association within Forza Italia. Leading members of the faction, whose powerbase was in Lombardy, have included

Maurizio Lupi Maurizio Lupi (born 3 October 1959) is an Italian politician. He served as minister of infrastructure and transport between 28 April 2013 and 20 March 2015. Early life and education Lupi was born in Milan, Italy, on 3 October 1959. He has a deg ...

Mario Mauro Mario Mauro (born 24 July 1961) is an Italian politician and a university teacher of history. He is the former Minister of Defense, having served in the Letta Cabinet from 2013 to 2014. From 1999 to 2013, he was a member of the European Parliame ...

Giancarlo Abelli Gian Carlo Abelli (11 May 1941 – 24 January 2016) was an Italian politician. Born in Broni, he was a long-time Christian Democrat. He became leader of Forza Italia's group in the regional assembly of Lombardy in 2005. In the 2008 general ele ...

Adriano Paroli Adriano Paroli (born 30 March 1962) is an Italian politician and lawyer, former Mayor of Brescia from 2008 to 2013. Biography Graduated in Law at the University of Milan, Paroli joined Communion and Liberation when he was very young. He has bee ...

Maurizio Bernardo Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''. List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music * Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945), ...

Mario Malossini is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

Raffaello Vignali Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a confe ...

Aldo Brandirali Aldo may refer to: * Aldo (given name), male given name ** Aldo (footballer, born 1977) ** Aldo (footballer, born 1988) * Aldo Group, a worldwide chain of shoe stores * Aldosterone in shorthand * Aldo Bonzi Aldo Bonzi is a town in La Matanza P ...

and

Mario Sala is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the '' Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

. In 2009 the association, along with Forza Italia, joined

(PdL) party. In November 2010, during a convention in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, Formigoni formed an alliance with other two party bigwigs,

Raffaele Fitto Raffaele Fitto (born 28 August 1969) is an Italian politician and a member of the European Parliament. He is serving as the minister of European affairs in the Meloni Cabinet since 2022. Career Born in Maglie, Fitto was elected in 1999 at Euro ...

and

Angelino Alfano Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the g ...

. The aim of the initiative was to reinforce the Catholic image of the party. The ties with

Franco Frattini Franco Frattini (14 March 1957 – 24 December 2022) was an Italian politician and magistrate. From January to December 2022, Frattini served as president of the Council of State. Frattini previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

's ''

Liberamente ''Liberamente'' (which literally means "freely", but is also a play on words meaning "free mind") is a liberal-centrist foundation and think-tank within Forza Italia (FI), a political party in Italy. Its main leader is Mariastella Gelmini and, previ ...

'' and

Gianni Alemanno Giovanni "Gianni" Alemanno (born 3 March 1958) is an Italian politician who from April 2008 until June 2013 was Mayor of Rome for the centre-right People of Freedom. He was the Secretary of the National Movement for Sovereignty from 2017 t ...

's New Italy were reinforced too. In December 2012 Mauro, who had been the FI/PdL leader in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...

since 1999, broke with the PdL and joined

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his polit ...

(SC). In November 2013, upon the transformation of the PdL into a new

, the entire faction joined Alfano's

New Centre-Right New Centre-Right ( it, Nuovo Centrodestra, NCD) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The party was launched on 15 November 2013 by a group of dissidents of The People of Freedom (PdL) who opposed the party's transformation into Forza Ita ...

(NCD). In March 2017 the NCD was dissolved into

(AP).

References

External links

Official website
{{New Centre-Right factions Organisations associated with The People of Freedom