Mussolini and the Relationship with the Catholic Church

Question 1

What were the views of the Fasci di Combattimento towards the church in 1919? 1920?

Answer 1

• They called for the confiscation of all church property in 1919
• However, by 1920, Mussolini had realised that anticlericalism wasn’t conducive to taking power in a majority Catholic country like Italy
• He therefore presented the Catholic Church positively at the fascist party congress in 1920

Question 2

List 3 reasons why having the Church’s support was important to Mussolini.

Answer 2

• It would help him win the support of conservative elites, as he would come across as less radical
• The Church influenced public life
• The Church was in charge of a large network of welfare, financial and educational institutions

Question 3

How did some fascists react to the move away from anticlericalism?

Answer 3

• Original fascists in particular were angered by Mussolini’s change in attitude towards the Church

Question 4

Who was the Pope when Mussolini rose to power, and how did he feel about fascism?

Answer 4

• Pope Pius XI (from 1922)
• He viewed fascism positively as he saw it as the only way of protecting Italy from left-wing revolution

Question 5

List 5 early policies Mussolini had to improve his standing with the Church.

Answer 5

• In 1923 Mussolini used a lot of state funds to save the Bank of Rome (where the Vatican had stored its assets) from bankruptcy
• The salary of the clergy was increased
• Religious education was reintroduced into state secondary schools
• Crucifixes were restored in public buildings
• Freemasonry was banned

Question 6

What were 2 changes Mussolini himself made in order to have a better relationship with the Church?

Answer 6

• He had his children baptised
• He married his wife again in a Church (they had been married in a civil ceremony)

Question 7

What 2 benefits did Mussoliniʼs initial policies to please the Church have?

Answer 7

• In 1923 the Pope told Luigi Sturzo, the leader of the PPI, to resign, and for the party to support the PNF
• Pius XI strongly backed Mussolini during the Matteotti crisis

Question 8

What were the Lateran Pacts? Give 2 details about them.

Answer 8

• A treaty between the Catholic Church and the Italian government
• They were signed in 1929, after 3 years of negotiations
• They included a treaty, financial convention and a Concordat

Question 9

What did the treaty stipulate? Give 3 details.

Answer 9

• Vatican City would become its own state
• The Pope would be the head of this state
• Catholicism would become the official religion of Italy

Question 10

What financial agreement had been reached?

Answer 10

• To compensate for the loss of the Papal States in 1870, the Church was paid 750 million lire, and a further 1 billion in state bonds

Question 11

What is a Concordat?

Answer 11

• An agreement between the Catholic Church and a country that sets out the rights of the Catholic Church in that country

Question 12

Give 6 aspects of the Concordat.

Answer 12

• Church institutions would stay separate from those of the state
• It confirmed that religious education was compulsory in primary and secondary schools
• Church marriages now counted as legal marriages
• Catholic youth groups were allowed to continue as long as they did not carry out any political activities (these were the only non-fascist youth groups allowed to survive)
• The Pope had the power to appoint all bishops, but Mussolini had the power to veto any who were enemies of fascism
• The Pope agreed that the clergy would not join political parties

Question 13

List 3 benefits of the Lateran Pacts for Mussolini.

Answer 13

• He gained more support from the population
• It reduced Catholic anti-fascist activity
• It gained Mussolini prestige

Question 14

Give an example of the support given to Mussolini by the Vatican after the Lateran Pacts.

Answer 14

• They encouraged the population to vote in favour of the fascist list of deputies in the 1929 plebiscite

Question 15

What were relations like between the Church and the Vatican in the 1930s? Give an example.

Answer 15

• Tensions grew as Mussolini tried to make the population more fascist
• In 1931, the government tried to suppress Catholic Actionʼs youth organisations
• The Pope criticised this in his encyclical ʼWe have no needʼ

Question 16

How did the Vatican and Mussolini compromise over the issue of youth groups?

Answer 16

• They agreed that these youth groups could continue to exist, but they could not organise sports and PPI members could not lead the groups

Question 17

What other issue did Mussolini and the Church clash over?

Answer 17

• Mussolini’s introduction of anti-Semitic decrees

Question 18

When did Mussolini introduce anti-Semitic decrees?

Answer 18

• 1938

Question 19

Give 4 examples of anti-Semitic decrees that were introduced, and what limits were there to them?

Answer 19

• Jewish people were banned from state schools
• Jewish people weren’t allowed to own large companies or estates
• Jewish people weren’t allowed to marry non-Jewish people
• Foreign Jewish people were expelled
• There were exemptions for Jews who had served Italy in WW1

Question 20

Had Italy had a history of anti-Semitism? Give 3 pieces of evidence.

Answer 20

• While some people were anti-Semitic (such as Farinacci), this wasn’t the norm
• In 1939 there were 10,000 Jewish members of the PNF
• Mussolini had a Jewish mistress, Margherita Sarfatti
• In 1937, the government had even allowed 3000 German Jews to come to Italy as refugees from the Nazi regime

Question 21

What is thought of by historians as not being a reason why Mussolini introduced anti-Semitic decrees?

Answer 21

• Influence from Hitler

Question 22

What were 2 reasons why Mussolini introduced these decrees?

Answer 22

• Mussolini hoped that by creating both external and internal enemies (in this case Jews) he would create a more radical and military society through giving Italians a sense of racial superiority
• Many of Mussolini’s vocal critics were Jewish (the French prime minister, vocal critics of the attack on Abyssinia)

Question 23

How popular were the decrees? Give 3 details.

Answer 23

• Most Italians resented them and were concerned by how radical the regime was becoming
• Mussolini lost support from elites within the Church, business and the judiciary
• Government officials didn’t always apply the laws as they disagreed with them

Question 24

What were the 2 most concerning aspects of the anti-Semitic decrees for the Catholic Church?

Answer 24

• The racism
• It went against the Concordat; for example, it was agreed that Jews could become Catholic upon marriage to a Catholic

Question 25

What did the pope do in response to the anti-Semitic decrees, and how successful was this?

Answer 25

• He wrote an letter against racism and the persecution of Jews, but he died in February 1939, before it could be published
• His successor, Pius XII, decided to not publish the letter

Question 26

Describe 2 aspects of Pius XII’s attitude to antisemitism.

Answer 26

• He did less than Pius XI when it came to criticising the anti-Semitic policies
• He didn’t openly criticise the deportation of Italian Jews during WW2