Fascism and the Catholic Church
A controversial topic is the relationship between fascist movements and the
Catholic Church. As mentioned above, Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, Rerum
Novarum included doctrines that fascists used or admired. Forty years later,
the corporatist tendencies of Rerum Novarum were underscored by Pope Pius
XI's May 25, 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo Anno[14] restated the hostility of
Rerum Novarum to both unbridled competition and class struggle. The criticism
of both socialism and capitalism in these encyclicals was not fascist per se,
but by weakening support for either alternative such writings arguably opened
the door to fascism.

In the early 1920s, the Catholic party in Italy (Partito Popolare) was in the
process of forming a coalition with the Reform Party that could have
stabilized Italian politics and thwarted Mussolini's projected coup. On
October 2, 1922, Pope Pius XI circulated a letter ordering clergy not to
identify themselves with the Partito Popolare, but to remain neutral, an act
that undercut the party and its alliance against Mussolini. Following
Mussolini's rise to power, the Vatican's Secretary of State met Il Duce in
early 1923 and agreed to dissolve the Partito Popolare, which Mussolini saw
as obstacle to fascist rule. In exchange, the fascists made guarantees
regarding Catholic education and institutions.

In 1924, following the murder of the leader of the Socialist Party by
fascists, the Partito Popolare joined with the Socialist Party in demanding
that the King dismiss Mussolini as Prime Minister, and stated their
willingness to form a coalition government. Pius XI responded by warning
against any coalition between Catholics and socialists. The Vatican ordered
all priests to resign from the Partito Popolare and from any positions they
held in it. This led to the party's disintegration in rural areas where it
relied on clerical assistance.

The Vatican subsequently established Catholic Action as a non-political lay
organization under the direct control of bishops. The organization was
forbidden by the Vatican to participate in politics, and thus was not
permitted to oppose the fascist regime. Pius XI ordered all Catholics to join
Catholic Action. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of Catholics
withdrawing from the Partito Popolare, and joining the apolitical Catholic
Action. This caused the Catholic Party's final collapse.[15]

When Mussolini ordered the closure of Catholic Action in May 1931, Pius XI
issued an encyclical, Non abbiamo bisogno. This document stated the Catholic
Church's opposition to the dissolution, and argued that the order "unmasked
the 'pagan' intentions of the Fascist state". Under international pressure,
Mussolini decided to compromise, and Catholic Action was saved. For
Catholics, the encyclical's disapproval of any system that puts the nation
above God or humanity remains doctrine.

Aside from certain ideological similarities, the relationship between the
Church and fascist movements in various countries has often been deemed
close. An early example is Austria which developed a quasi-fascist
authoritarian Catholic regime some call the "Austro-fascist" Ständestaat
between 1934 and 1938. There is little debate over Slovakia, where the
fascist dictator was a Catholic monsignor; and the Independent State of
Croatia, where the fascist Ustashe identified itself as a Catholic movement.
The Iron Guard in Romania identified itself as an Eastern Orthodox movement
(with no connection to Roman Catholicism), and had particularly strong
leanings toward clerical fascism. (See also Involvement of Croatian Catholic
clergy with the Ustaša regime.)

The Vichy regime in France was also deeply influenced by the reactionary
Catholic-influenced ideology of the Action Française. This group had actually
been led by an agnostic and condemned by the Catholic Church in 1926. Many of
its members were reactionary Catholics so this condemnation damaged the
group, but then in 1938 the condemnation was lifted. Conversely, many
Catholic priests were persecuted under the Nazi regime, and many Catholic
laypeople and clergy played notable roles in sheltering Jews during the
Holocaust.

Clerical fascism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Fascist Clerical fascism is an ideological construct that combines the
political and economic doctrines of fascism with theology or religious
tradition. The term has been used to describe organisations and movements
that combine religious elements with fascism, support by religious
organisations for fascism, or fascist regimes in which clergy play a leading
role. For Catholic clerical fascism, the term Catholic integralism is
sometimes used, though Catholic integralism does not necessarily go together
with fascism.

[edit]
Examples of clerical fascism
Examples of dictatorships or political movements involving elements of
clerical fascism include those of Antonio Salazar in Portugal, Maurice
Duplessis of Quebec, Engelbert Dollfuss in Austria, Jozef Tiso in Slovakia,
Ante Pavelic and the Ustashe in Croatia, Miklos Horthy in Hungary, the Iron
Guard movement in Romania, and the government of Vichy France. The regime of
Francisco Franco Bahamonde in Spain had nacionalcatolicismo as part of its
ideology. It has been described by some as clerical fascist, especially after
the decline in influence of the Falange beginning in the mid-1940s. With the
exception of the Croation Ustashe movement, scholars debate which other
examples in this list should be dubbed, without reservation, clerical fascist.

Some scholars consider certain contemporary movements to be forms of clerical
fascism, including Christian Identity and possibly Christian
Reconstructionism in the United States; some militant forms of politicized
Islamic fundamentalism; and militant Hindu nationalism in India (Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh / Bharatiya Janata Party).