(Published in Corrispondenze Repubblicane, October 6, 1944)
By Anonymous
One of the most significant symptoms of moral confusion that pervades the minds and spirits of Bonomian Italy today are the results of the congress of the so-called "Christian Left", i.e. Catholic ex-communists.
As you know, this movement, which arose during the most turbid waters of Italian life, had its first public demonstration in St. Peter's Square, when an individual wearing clerical garb raised a red rag during the Papal blessing. A harmless scuffle ensued, during which a pontifical gendarme seized the priest, who was justly believed to be an impostor, and took him to jail. But what happened next was surprising: the priest turned out to be a real priest, which is why he was released and absolved.
The incident led to a discussion about so-called "Catholic Communism", two separate ideologies which are the antithesis of each other—or at least are supposed to be the antithesis of each other according to the dictates of the Church, solemnly confirmed by Pope Pius XI in his memorable encyclical.
There was some officious clarification, which logically should have led to the defeat of "Catholic Communism", but in reality there was nothing that could even resemble an outward defeat of that movement. Everything was resolved with an act of pure form: the Catholic Communists merely changed their name to "Christian Left" and, as such, they have now experienced a rechristening in the hodgepodge of parties, currents and ideas that all together constitute the moral and political chaos of "Liberated" Italy under the rule of the Jews, Freemasons and godless atheists under Anglican patronage, all of whom are—without exception—the traditional and irreducible enemies of the Church of Rome.
At this point, the most embarrassing hypocrisy is the characteristic of these collaborationist politicians, all of whom have "legitimacy" under the protection of Anglo-American bayonets; and such a mental form has made possible the most incredible absurdities, as for example the recent servile gesture of that vile wretch De Ruggero, who thanked General Alexander for having "respected" those monuments that the "liberators" had been bombing and hammering for a year, causing everywhere the most sacrilegious destructions. In the framework of such systematic hypocrisy, we must also report the results of the congress of the Christian Left, which has preserved its original substance despite changing its name. In fact, according to these "New Catholics", a certain recipe for rebirth would be a leftist alliance. Therefore they have explicitly called for a close unity of action with the socialist and communist parties. In other words, full union between the devil and holy water, between the sacristy and Comintern, between godless atheists and clerics more or less wandering in search of popular support.
In this regard, we can cite a recent case which further demonstrates the absurdity of this planned alliance: the primate of Lithuania and two bishops were slaughtered by the Bolsheviks. That is how they greeted Catholic Europe. These foolish men who think they can tame the Communists' stance against religion are in for a very bitter awakening to reality. But there is more: these so-called Catholics desire the most energetic and revengeful punishment; they want to drag all Fascists before war tribunals and punish them all without delay; in short, their idea of "Christian charity" is the same as the equally "Christian" Umberto Tupini, who allowed the Fascist policeman Pietro Caruso to be executed following a monstrously illegal trial.
So far we have discussed the negative aspects, which are common to all the divided anti-Fascist parties. But when it comes to their talking points, the Left-Wing Catholics want to fight against the large agricultural estates (latifundia) that Fascism also firmly fought against in Sicily, in the Pontine Marshes and in every plagued area of the peninsula; they intend to support the claims of the working classes which are also the cornerstones of the Italian Social Republic; they likewise repudiate the monarchy as an expression of reactionary interests; and they also feel that every effort will be in vain unless they minimize the control that the Allies exert over the life of the country and change the harsh conditions of the armistice.
On those points we agree with the Left-Wing Christians, who claim to be fighting for freedom and thought they had found it under the banner of the plutocrats and their weapons. But today they are able to confirm that all Italian activity and every possibility of recovery is paralyzed by the tyrannical will of the occupiers and the iniquitous clauses of the infamous capitulation. Yet who was it that signed the armistice? Who endorsed it? Who accepted the ignominious rendition of a people, with its military power almost intact, when the highest and most sacred duty imposed on all citizens, without distinction of party or ideology, was the defense of the soil of the Fatherland? Who delivered our land, our resources and our achievements to our enemy at an incalculable price of labor and blood? And who handed Italy over bound and gagged to the vengeance of the most exasperated capitalism?
The Christian Left even says that it still wants to fight against the enemy. But who is the true and only enemy of Italy, of the people and of the Christian faith, if not their very own accomplices who ruined churches, destroyed homes, sowed death and misery, poisoned consciences, and who today increasingly tighten the chains of servitude around the torn corpse of the nation?
We can admit that these facts are difficult for our opponents to acknowledge, just as it is tragically absurd to chatter about liberty in a land that has lost its independence due to treason. Independence certainly can not and will not be regained by congresses of the Christian Left, even if behind their big and angry words they conceal a posthumous and useless act of contrition.
