Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic

Christian Democracy

Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...

 party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield (scudo crociato).

The DC, a catch-all party

Big tent

In politics, a big tent party or catch-all party is a political party seeking to attract people with diverse viewpoints. The party does not require adherence to some ideology as a criterion for membership...

 comprising both right-wing

Right-wing politics

In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...

 and left-wing

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 factions, dominated the politics of Italy

Politics of Italy

The politics of Italy is conducted through a parliamentary, democratic republic with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised collectively by the Council of Ministers, which is led by the President of the Council of Ministers, referred to as "Presidente del Consiglio" in Italian...

 for almost 50 years from 1944 until its demise amid a welter of corruption allegations in 1992–1994.

It was succeeded by several parties, including the Italian People's Party, the Christian Democratic Centre, the United Christian Democrats

United Christian Democrats

The United Christian Democrats was a Christian democratic party in Italy.-History:It began in 1995 by a split of those members of the Italian People's Party who wanted to enter into an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia...

 and the current Union of Christian and Centre Democrats.