In 1787, Father Pio Brunone Lanteri traveled to Switzerland. As he prepared to leave, Turin’s Aa advised the Chambéry Aa that he would pass through their city. The available sources do not disclose the reason for his trip. However, the Servant of God likely traveled to Switzerland to meet with Father Nicholas … Read more

Father Pio Brunone Lanteri took charge of Amicizia Cristiana’s general direction in Italy in 1785. However, he counted on several early collaborators taken from the men Father Nicholas Diessbach had recruited. Two of them were especially active in those early years—Father Giuseppe Sineo della Torre and Father Pietro Rigoletti. Father Giuseppe Sineo … Read more

Father Luigi Virginio’s 1785 trip to Milan occurred under very different conditions than the one in 1784. He now had an enthusiastic supporter of Father Nicholas Diessbach in that city. Count Francesco Pertusati dedicated himself entirely to establishing a “colony” of Amicizia there. The Count’s fortune, social position, and influence greatly facilitated … Read more

By 1784, the organization of Turin’s Amicizia was nearly complete, thanks mainly to the cohesion between Father Luigi Virginio and Father Pio Brunone Lanteri. Although living in Vienna, Father Nicholas Diessbach often visited them and helped with advice. At the same time, he let his two disciples organize the association’s work in … Read more

On April 1, 1783, Father Luigi Virginio wrote to Father Nicholas Diessbach from Milan. In his letter, Father Virginio described the religious situation in the city and the concerns of people in contact with him. His curious testimony revealed the Italian Catholics’ dominant state of mind on the eve of the French … Read more

When he left for Austria with Pio Brunone Lanteri, Father Nicholas Diessbach had already helped the Turin Amicizia (Christian Friends) take its initial steps. Finding good prospects for the apostolate in Vienna, he decided to stay there. From this base, he would direct his entire plan to combat impiety. Pio Brunone Lanteri … Read more

The organization Amicizia Cristiana (Christian Friendship) referred to its local groups as colonies because each new one was founded by members of an already existing group. These colonies met twice weekly, and their “assemblies” lasted a maximum of two hours. Each session began with a religious lecture, followed by a discussion about … Read more

The Catholic secret association known as Aa spread throughout France in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Many Catholic institutions, either directly or indirectly, owe their origins to it. Among them is the Foreign Missions Seminary in Paris, which famously accomplished the vital work of propagating the Faith. In 1781, a churchman … Read more