N. 193
Summary - The name of Rosmini occurs more than once in the writings of Sturzo, in particular in Chiesa e Stato and in the articles of the period 1946-59, and is usually linked with those of Gioberti, Manzoni, Balbo, Ventura, Lacordaire, Montalembert, Balmes, O'Connel and Ketteler. These were the personalities most representative of that "liberal Catholicism" - associated above all with the political events of 1848 - which provided the first evidence of a serious commitment on the part of Catholics in the political struggles for constitutional reform based on the fundamental principles of religious, political and civil freedom. Despite the condemnation of certain of Rosmini's theses by the Vatican in 1888, Sturzo's interest in Rosmini had been very much alive ever since the years of his teaching at the Caltagirone seminar. Sturzo's interest in Rosmini's philosophy, in particular in his gnosiology, implied an awareness of the need to reject neothomism's prohibitions and condemnations of modern society and culture, and the need, in the spirit of Rosmini, for cooperation and dialogue between the Church and the modern world that was to bring about a deep renewal in traditional Catholic culture. This formed the basis for Sturzo's interest in the dynamics of politics and society, and his own perspective of Christian inspired historical realism, which echoed Saint Augustine and Vico. A comparison of Rosmini's conception of the constitutional rule of law and parties and the work of Sturzo in the course of his long political career shows that the latter continued and developed Rosmini's political discourse in the light of the problems of contemporary democracy.