New idols: Catholicism in the face of Fascist totalitarianism

Author: Gentile, Emilio¹

Source: Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Volume 11, Number 2, June 2006 , pp. 143-170(28)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

This article explores the attitudes of the Vatican and Catholic culture towards Fascism and Fascism's political religion during the pontificate of Pius XI, in the context of the Catholic church's rejection of modernity as a new epoch of paganism that took the form of political mysticism. It shows that despite the Concordat of 1929, the papacy reacted with growing alarm to the Fascist regime's `sacralization of politics' that threatened to make Catholic religion a handmaid of the totalitarian state.

Keywords: Catholicism; totalitarianism; antifascism; neo-paganism; political religion

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/13545710600658479

Affiliations: 1: University of Rome – `La Sapienza'

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