(

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

from the polls in

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General 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 (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

(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 sanctioning the . Until then, there had been in the young Italian Parliament a few eminent representatives of Catholic interests, like Augusto Conti and

Cesare Cantù Cesare Cantù (; December 5, 1804March 11, 1895) was an Italians, Italian historian, writer, archivist and politician. An immensely prolific writer, Cantù was one of Italy's best-known and most important Romanticism, Romantic scholars. Biograph ...

. In 1870 the Kingdom of Italy extinguished the Pope's temporal rule, leaving him a "

prisoner in the Vatican A prisoner in the Vatican (; ) or prisoner of the Vatican described the situation of the pope with respect to the Kingdom of Italy during the period from the capture of Rome by the Royal Italian Army on 20 September 1870 until the Lateran Treaty ...

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

declared in an audience of 11 October 1874 that the principal motive of the decree was that the oath taken by deputies might be interpreted as an approval of the 'spoliation of the Holy See'. In parts of Italy (

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) 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. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, the former

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, and the former

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

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

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and of the provinces ruled by Habsburg Austria, and this division would have further weakened the Catholic Parliamentary group. The decree 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 (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

considered abolishing the restrictions established by the , but nothing was done. On the contrary, to quell the growing opinion that the decree was not general or absolute, on 30 December 1886 the Holy Office declared it to be a grave precept, repeated on several subsequent occasions (Letter of Leo XIII to the

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (; ), also known as the Cardinal Secretary of State or the Vatican Secretary of State, presides over the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. Th ...

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

Pius X Pope Pius 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 Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

Motu proprio In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on h ...

, 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 Catholics to hold themselves in readiness to go to the polls. (See Giacomo Margotti.) The policy was abrogated in 1918.

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