Share.

    8 Comments

    1. Context: During the rise of Mussolini’s fascists, the Catholic Church ultimately opted to support them out of fear of socialism, which to be fair, at the time was most prominently represented by the USSR.
      This, however, would prove a mistake, as Italian fascism quickly started seeking to supplant all forms of society to service of Mussolini, which inevitably included the church itself. It got the point Pope Pius XI wrote a proclamation condemning fascism only to die before he could publish it.

      [Luigi Sturzo was a Catholic priest who recognized the dangers of fascism](https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/luigi-sturzos-lessons-for-american-christianity/) and tried to rally against it, but the church basically sidestepped him. To quote the above article;

      >Yet, contemporary reports suggested that Pius XI struggled to sleep in the weeks after the Concordat, fearing he may have made a mistake. The conflict between Fascism’s goals and the Church’s mission came to a head in 1931 during the Catholic Action crisis. The regime publicly attacked Catholic Action’s educational and cultural activities, seizing Catholic newspapers and suppressing its circles. In response, Pius XI issued the encyclical [*Non abbiamo bisogno*](https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/it/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19310629_non-abbiamo-bisogno.html)*,* defending the Church’s educational freedom and condemning pagan statolatry, though avoiding an explicit condemnation of Fascism.

      Yeah… this was a pretty big mistake on the church’s part. And also, this was after fascist blackshirts murdered a Jesuit priest for trying to start a boy scouts that wouldn’t answer to Mussolini.

    2. 0Hakuna_Matata0 on

      The Vatican also gave their blessing to Franco during his coup by acknowledging his government

    3. Gaust_Ironheart_Jr on

      “You will know them by the fruit they bear”

      Christians would do well to understand that one little teaching but they keep falling for someone who hates the right people

    4. Also the Italian monarchy too

      The potential drawbacks of crushing fascists with military were way fewer than those of just handing everything out to them

    5. stevica_kurchubicc on

      Are you forgetnig that Vatican became a country during Musolini? Catholic church was always pro fachist.

    Leave A Reply