The Catholic Church stood against the Italian Social Republic led by the socialists Benito Mussolini and Nicola Bombacci

The Catholic Church stood against the Italian Social Republic led by the socialists Benito Mussolini and Nicola Bombacci

After the National Socialists liberated Benito Mussolini during Operation Oak, he joined Nicola Bombacci to proclaim the Italian Social Republic in the north of the Italian Peninsula, where he intended to implement socialism through the socialization of the economy.
For this reason, it is not surprising that the Vatican refused to recognize the new republic, as the Popes had always condemned socialism in their encyclicals.
The Vatican’s refusal to establish diplomatic relations with the Italian Social Republic became evident in the note of September 27, 1943, issued by the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, Luigi Maglione.
In it, it was reiterated that the Geneva Convention stipulated that a neutral country should not recognize states that had arisen during wartime—a decision that was likely also motivated by the perception that the Italian Social Republic was, in practice, a puppet state of the Third Reich.
Pope Pius XII also opposed the new republic:
He refused to receive General Rodolfo Graziani, appointed apostolic administrators instead of bishops to avoid the need for government approval, supported bishops in conflict with fascism, and asked Father Agostino Gemelli, rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, to avoid recognizing the powers granted by the state in the conferral of academic degrees.
All these actions demonstrate that the Catholic Church did not recognize the legitimacy of the Italian Social Republic.
The hostility of the Vatican was deeply felt by the fascists. “Today the Vatican behaves toward us like an enemy,” wrote Vittorio Ricci on January 18, 1944, in the fascist weekly L'Orizzonte.
In response to the Church’s opposition, fascist leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Roberto Farinacci encouraged the schism of the weekly La Crociata Italica, which began to advocate for the creation of a national church to replace the Catholic Church in Italy.
Mussolini also planned to denounce and revise the Lateran Treaty, aiming to reduce the Church’s privileges and suspend the congrua pro clero—the salary the state paid to poor priests in Italy.
REFERENCES:
https://www.ildialogo.org/stor....ia/Analisi_124076118
https://www.uccronline.it/2013..../11/25/la-chiesa-si-