Transcript Mussolini and the Catholic Church

Mussolini and
the Catholic Church
Mussolini at the Lateran Palace for the signing of the accord with the Vatican. Feb 20, 1929
“A marriage of convenience”?
• Mussolini had to foster
good relations with the
Roman Catholic Church
simply because,
regardless of his
dictatorship, the Roman
Catholic Church was such
a powerful institution in
Italy.
• While Mussolini governed
the political side of Italy,
the Roman Catholic
Church governed the
spiritual side. In this sense,
Mussolini could not afford
to anger the Roman
Catholic Church.
Early opposition
• As a young man, Mussolini had shared his
father’s opinion of the Roman Catholic
Church. Mussolini senior, disliked the power
of the Church and the young Mussolini
referred to priests as "black germs".
• However, once in power after 1922, he had
to be more guided. Mussolini had recognised
this as early as 1920 when the fledgling
future leader of Italy had said that the pope
"represents 400 million men scattered the
world over…….(this was) a colossal force."
• Once leader, Mussolini had to decide on
whether to take on the power of the Roman
Catholic Church in Italy or to work with it. He
chose the latter. In this way, Italians did not
have to have divided loyalties. Therefore,
Mussolini worked to get the Roman Catholic
Church to accept a Fascist state while he
planned to offer the Roman Catholic Church
what it wanted…
Gaining credibility
• To gain credibility with the Roman
Catholic Church, Mussolini had his
children baptised in 1923. In 1926, he
had a religious marriage ceremony to
his wife Rachele. Their first marriage in
1915 had been a civil ceremony.
Mussolini closed down many wine
shops and night clubs. He also made
swearing in public a crime.
“Family values”
• One of the reasons why Mussolini pushed the idea
that women should stay at home and look after the
family while their husbands worked, was because this
was an idea pushed by the Roman Catholic Church.
Mussolini voiced his disapproval at the use of
contraception - an identical stance to the Roman
Catholic Church. Like the Roman Catholic Church,
Mussolini also wanted divorce banned in Italy. By
doing all of this, Mussolini was trying to bring the
Roman Catholic Church onto his side to get its
support and give added credibility to his government.
However, the relationship was not always
harmonious.
Education
• In particular, Mussolini and the Roman
Catholic Church clashed over who should
control education. To ensure that children
grew up as good Fascists, Mussolini wanted
the state to control this - as it did. However,
the Roman Catholic Church felt that it should
have this power. Both sides worked for a
compromise. The attempt to settle this
dispute started in 1926 and it took until 1929
for agreements to be signed. These were the
Lateran Treaties. They covered areas other
than education.
Papal States
• The Papal States (the name given to land
previously owned by the Roman Catholic
Church in Italy) had lost all its land in the
1870 unification of Italy. The Roman Catholic
Church received £30 million in compensation
in 1929 and the Church was given 109 acres
in Rome to create a new papal state - the
Vatican. The pope was allowed a small army,
police force, post office and rail station. The
pope was also given a country retreat called
Castel Gandolfo.
Concordat
• Another part of the treaty was called the
Concordat. This made the Roman Catholic
faith the state religion - this was a fait
accompli anyway. The pope appointed his
bishops, though they had to receive the
government’s blessing. Religion had to be
taught in both primary and secondary
schools. The Roman Catholic Church was
given full control of marriage.
• When these agreements were signed in
1929, Mussolini’s popularity was at its
highest. He had got what he wanted - the
support from the members of the public who
may not have supported the Fascists but who
saw the Roman Catholic Church working with
the Fascist government, and that by itself
created a tacit acceptance of Mussolini’s
government.
Disagreement
• The major disagreement between Mussolini and the
Church was in July 1938, when Mussolini introduced
the Charter of Race which took away the Italian
Jews right of Italian nationality. Italian Jews were not
allowed to teach, they were not allowed to have state
jobs, they were not allowed to be in the Fascist Party
(though a number had since 1922!) and no Jew could
work for a bank or insurance company. Jews were
forbidden from marrying non-Jewish Italians and they
were not allowed to join the army. These laws were
so unpopular that the pope sent a letter of protest to
Mussolini.
What steps did Mussolini take to
secure the support of the Church
in the years 1921–25?
• In this descriptive question you might consider:
– 1. the abandonment of plans to confiscate Church lands,
– 2. anti-socialist rhetoric and activities,
– 3. and after his appointment into government, his
measures on divorce, abortion, religious education,
clerical salaries and the promise of a solution to the
Roman question.
• Candidates can also refer to changes in his
personal life, such as attending Church and the
baptism of his children. In levels 1 and 2
progression will be based on range and depth of
relevant material, but for level 3 there will be
explanatory links about how his actions secured,
or were intended to secure the support of the
Church.