Un’officina di politica sociale «cristiana». Il contributo della Fondazione Zancan allo sviluppo del Terzo settore in Italia

This paper aims at reconstructing the contribution provided by the Emanuela Zancan Foundation of Padua to the development of the Third Sector in Italy. In particular, it analyses the Foundation’s theoretical, social and political commitment in tracing the Italian non-profit sector along a Christian cultural pattern, evaluating its ethical significance in relation to the thrusts towards a participatory and democratic extension of assistance, social and institutional pluralism, planning policies, governmental spheres, papal magisterium and the question of secularity.