The cure for cults that want to deny others their freedom of speech is more freedom of speech -- Fredric Rice

>I have read a number of articles recently which refer to "clerical facism"
>one in regard to the government of Croatia and another in relation with
>some member of the RR in the US. Does anyone know the history of this term
>or where I can find more information about it? I get the impression it
>originally had to do with a strain of Vatican politics in the Balkans or
>the Berlin Vatican Concordat during WWII.

The history of clerical fascism is fascinating and is an untold part of the beginnings of WW II. Most Catholic conservatives, and many other conservatives as well, saw fascism as a bulwark against godless atheistic communism, not only for its atheism, but because its promise was an upheaval of society, where the privileges of the rich would be lost. For now, it doesn't matter that the promises were lies, the clergy and the rich were opposed to any such change.

The Vatican had no problem making a deal with Mussolini and later with Hitler. The Pope never could bring himself to explicitly condemn Hitler and Germany for their persecution of the Jews. The famous encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge [I've probably blown the German] condemns persecution, but never mentions Germany, or Jews.

It was in Spain that the Church supported Franco's fascism the most. The Church had been behind the aristocracy and was thoroughly hated by the people. When the REpublic came in, the church was disestablished and its priviliges removed. Just like christians hereabouts, they assumed that their privileges are the way things should be and considered them "rights". Well, FRanco promised to restore them, so the church supported Franco and his rebellion against the legitimate government of Spain. Hitler and Mussolini used Spain as a training ground and learned many valuable lessons in tactics and weaponry to be used later.

Conservative Catholics in many countries like France, Britain, the US and elsewhere in Europe no doubt did much to persuade people that there was no need for alarm about Hitler and the Nazis, and greatly contributed to a general lack of preparedness.

The specific country you're looking for is Croatia, which, in the Balkan tradition, used WW II to settle its centuries old scores against the Serbs. The Croatian fascist puppet state enthusiastically cooperated with the Nazi genocide of the Jews, and managed to run its own personal extermination of Serbs on the side. Not only were thousands murdered, but children were forcibly baptised as Roman Catholics. One of the priests who arranged many of the forced baptisms is on the way to sainthood.

I don't want to portray the Serbs as innocent victims, the history of the region is too complex for that. Later, Yugoslavia was mostly run by Serbs, who had the main positions of power in the Communist party, as it had been the Communists who mostly fought against the Nazis. They then took revenge on the Croats, only restrained by Tito, when Tito died it wasn't long until what just happened, happened.

--
Maybe I'm damned if I don't, Greg Erwin
and maybe I'm damned if I do; http://infoweb.magi.com/~godfree/
all I know is if I gotta be damned, ai815@freenet.carleton.ca
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