Contents
Transition to Ordered Religion
When the state of Italy was created in 1870, its goal was the civil and moral renewal of the Italian people; this would be achieved through faith of the “national religion.” Beginning in the late 1800s and extending into the early 1900s, Italy underwent a combination of nationalism and religion. Because nationalism was based on the principle of national divinity, the two were deeply intertwined. Many believed that a nation could not rely on the dedication of the individual without a faith that united the people as a whole. By combining such a moral unity with political power, Italy wanted to create a “civil religion” that would continue well into the twentieth century.
This, however, led to conflicts with the Catholic Church. The attempts to reconcile national patriotism and Catholicism were shattered by the Catholic Church’s opposition to such a revolutionary movement of creating a new nation state. The result was a strong feeling of alienation of Catholics from the “new Italy.” Their opposition to the new Italian religion made the transition much more difficult and intense.
In the late 1800s, Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician, laid the groundwork for the new religious movement that would last through the period of Italian Fascism. It was called Mazzinianism, or political mysticism, and its goal was evident: to prepare the advent of a humanity of free nations, all brothers of a “universal harmony”. Mazzini believed that political unity could only exist with a moral unity; and both of these depended on the common faith of the people. His Third Italy was a democratic theocracy based on the religious conception of the state and the unified belief of the people. Mazzinianism attempted to achieve the same goals as Fascism: “to create a collective, unitary consciousness; to strengthen the new Italy in its confrontation with the church; and to affirm its modern national identity before the great nations of Europe.” (Gentile)
In 1914, “a new religious spirit would arise that would regenerate—with violence if necessary—a society that they considered materialistic and decadent.” (Gentile) With the arrival of World War I, Italy found itself in the midst of a great regeneration. It was believed that the war would yield a new Italy—war was regeneration. People now had a chance to reveal their religious feeling in support for the soldiers who were fighting in the war. It was a matter of religious duty to unite against oppression and for the assertion of the Italian national identity.
Political propaganda greatly encouraged this unity and the development of the civic religion—but there was something missing. Marinetti expressed this sentiment quite well, “There is a desperate need for one religion. There is a generalized feeling of religiosity…but the religion itself is missing.” (Gentile) This occurred because of the controversy between the church and the supporters of the revolution and the new Italy. And because war gave fresh life to the myth of revolution as regeneration, the Catholic Church was greatly opposed to the prospect of a new religion. The war was, in fact, a direct reflection of Mazzini’s revolution, in that it sparked the national community to unite in the spirit of the war.
When the Italian Fascists began asserting power, they considered themselves the fathers of the patriotic religion, toward which Italy had been moving for the past forty-five years. The fascist religion was quickly advertised around the country through propaganda, “Almost immediately, religious beliefs are made concrete by material objects, by symbols.” (Gentile) In the case of Italy, these symbols were displayed all over the country, influencing many.
During the fascist regime, Catholicism was believed to be “the only universal idea surviving in the Rome of today,” and would eventually lead to national expansion. Mussolini stated that the church was of crucial importance to the success of fascism; it was the “sacred patrimony of peoples.” (Gentile) In addition, Fascism’s religious principles drew from and influenced two different religions. For example, Fascism utilized Christianity and traditional religion to lead a group of people who were mostly Catholic. The similarities Fascism had with Christianity were explained by Mussolini, “Fascism is a civil and political faith, but also a religion, a militia, a spiritual discipline that has, like Christianity, its saints, confessors and witnesses.” (Gentile)
One of Fascism’s biggest strengths was its position as the national religion—the religion of the “fatherland.” Those who were opposed to it immediately became enemies; Fascist leaders felt it was their right, if not their duty to persecute and banish those who were opposed. The support they received was also very high, because people did not want the religion of the fatherland endangered. In a 1923 edition of a Fascist newspaper, Critica Fascista, it was said that “Fascism is a closed party, not politically but religiously. It can accept only those who believe in the truth of its faith. As the church has its religious dogmas, so Fascism has its own dogmas of national faith.” The tolerance of Fascism decreased, until only those who had complete loyalty were accepted.
Initially, Fascist religion was based on spontaneity and an emotional response. The church, on the other hand, was by far more disciplined and structured. But when Fascism gained power, it needed to utilize its old feelings of aggression, but also add structure. The religion underwent a period of reconstruction, “from religion as something lived in the immediate, to religion as a system of beliefs, as a faith defined and regulated according to the dogmas of a codified political theology. It was at this point that Fascism became a valid and powerful form of religion. Its youth and unity appealed to the masses, and it possessed a structure that advocated discipline and order.
The Fascist state did not have a theology or set of ethical principles. It did, however, gain the right to define the meaning of human existence through its own totalitarian conception of politics, thus rivaling the Catholic Church’s own rights. But it was not a heated rivalry. In fact, Fascism attempted to establish a form of cohabitation, “…looking to associate Catholicism with its own totalitarian project.” (Gentile) This was done as a direct result of the strength of the Church, as stated by Mussolini, “There is no need to get all tied up with antireligiousness and give Catholics reason for unease. A fight…between Church and State, the State would lose.”
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http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/dpf/Fascism/Downfall.html
Benito Mussolini
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