Throughout Italy’s history, there have been prophetic voices that have strengthened the struggle for social and political emancipation. Such voices have denounced the vices of compatriots and urged them toward redemption; they have given meaning to suffering, helping to prevent complete moral surrender; they have spoken with pathos and anger to touch the passions and set into motion the moral imagination which guides the efforts toward redemption; and finally, they have combated the tendency toward submission, thus engendering a determination to endure the efforts and sacrifices that emancipation entails.