muz_3

=Mussolini and the Church=

Personal Beliefs:
Mussolini personally did not like the Church, and called priests "black germs." However, once in power, he recognised that he would need the help of the Church in order to stay in power and be on good terms with the Italian people. Mussolini stated that the Pope represented "400 million men scattered the world over...(this was) a colossal force."

**Actions**
To gain the support of the Church, Mussolini married within a Church and closed down many wine shops and night clubs. He also made swearing in public a crime. Mussolini also showed disapproval for the use of contraception, and tried to ban divorce, in line with the Church's beliefs.

In order to greatly improve relations between the Church and Italy, Mussolinin created and signed the LATERAN TREATY. Signed on February 11, 1929, between Mussolini and Pope Pius XI, the Lateran Treaty was used by Mussolini to gain popular support from the Church and regular citizens who were not Fascists. There were three main provisions in the Lateran Treaty:
 * Lateran Treaty**
 * 1) THE HOLY SEE - Created The State of Vatican City, an independent country run by the Pope which is home to the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope was allowed a small army (the Swiss Guard), a post office, and a railway station. Also, according to Article 24, "The Vatican City shall, therefore, be invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory." Vatican City still exists and is still a neutral, independant country.
 * 2) FINANCIAL COMPENSATION---Because the Church had lost territory when Italy became a united Kingdom in 1870, it was decided that 750,000,000 Lira be paid as compensation to the Church.
 * 3) STATE RELIGION---Made Roman Catholicism the State Religion. Catholicism was to be taught in both primary and secondary schools. This was abolished in 1984.

Assessment:
From a strictly religious viewpoint, Mussolini was a success. Mussolini benefited from the Treaty because it gave him more support from both the Church and religious citizens. The Church benefited from the treaty because it finally had a permanent home. However, after the Treaty was signed, Mussolini tried to make it illegal for Jews to marry Christians (The Charter of Race), but this went too far. The Church wanted the final say over who could marry who, and the Pope wrote a personal letter of disapproval to Mussolini.

Weblinks
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/treaty.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-LateranT.html http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mussolini_roman_catholic.htm