The Holy See and the Italian fascist regime in 1922-1943

This article examines the cooperation of the Holy See and the fascist regime in Italy in 1922-1943. The relevance of the study is that the issue of the relationship between Catholicism and fascism remains extremely ambiguous to this day. Even though at first glance the ideological foundations of fascism and Catholicism are drastically diff erent from each other and seem incompatible, the Vatican and the Mussolini regime found common ground, which made cooperation beneficial for both sides. Moreover, the topic of relations between the Holy See and fascist Italy in the first half of the XX century is not fully covered in the Russian scientific literature. The aim of the study is to examine the cooperation of fascist Italy and the Holy See in 1922-1943. The following research tasks were identified: to trace the history of relations between the fascist Party and the Vatican at the time of the formation of the Mussolini dictatorship, to study the fact of the solution of the Roman question by the Mussolini government and the conclusion of the Lateran Agreements in 1929, to dwell on foreign policy events that infl uenced the relations of the Vatican and Italy in the 1930s, to consider the religious and ideological question of the correlation of fascism and Catholicism, and also compare the foreign policy of Italy and the Holy See during the Second World War before the overthrow of Mussolini in 1943. The article is based on a comprehensive analysis of various sources and studies of scientists on this topic and is designed to assess the relationship between the Holy See and Italy during this period. The author concludes that the policy of the Vatican in the period 1922-1943 is contradictory. Despite its traditional spiritual role, the Holy See has cooperated with the fascist regime for more than twenty years, despite its cruel and bloody methods. Nevertheless, the Vatican and fascist Italy found common ground, which made their cooperation eff ective and quite fruitful for both sides. It was mutually beneficial and allowed both the Vatican and Italy to achieve their political goals.

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