How Did The Catholic Church Influence Italian Politics

This essay endeavours to discuss the importance of the Catholic Church in influencing Italian politics post 1945. It is therefore important to look into the role of the Church up until this point and how it progressed past the form it had taken at this time. Furthermore, when discussing the importance of the political influence of the Catholic Church in Italy, it is first important to look into the Church itself, the role it played in the everyday lives of the Italian people. The main argument of this essay is that whilst the Catholic Church had an infinitely important influence on politics at different times throughout this post-war period. The influence on politics also arguably fell into the hands of other causes, such as the Communist Party
Whilst his point of view called for the relationship between Church and state to be more spiritual, the five year papacy has an important impact on politics in Italy. His influence on the shaping of Italian politics is important as he brought the left back into the political fray. In terms of the Pope himself, it appeared as though he was more of a man of the peoples and was able to converse and work with Italians better than his predecessor. Seen as one of the centuries most loved Popes, it therefore important that his views were widely accepted and saw the expansion of the Italian political system. The papacy of John XXIII, according to Hebblethwaite, was completely different to what had been before. The new relationship alluded to between Church and State saw the “disengagement from national politics” of the Church. Whilst John XXIII stressed this did not mean a lack of interaction between the Church and state, it meant that he was going to take less of a heavy line than that of Pope Pius before him. Whilst he was arguably against anything that may harm the nation, the pontificate had no political leanings or affiliations. John XXIII did not overtly renounce the Holy See’s support for the Christian Democrats who at this point were going through issues of support and leadership and needed support from the Left. The papacy did, as mentioned, bring the Communists and the
The main actions of the papacy was completing the work of the Second Vatican Council called upon by his predecessor in 1962. However, in terms of politics this saw the secularization of the nation and the increased rebellion of the nation’s teens. Rebellion could be seen through the ‘swinging Sixties’ movement in America, or the migration of people for work and this arguably characterised the papacy. This therefore highlights a lack of control over politics in Italy at the time. In this period the Catholic Church and the Social Democrats began to lose their control over the nation, nowhere is this more evident than in the student revolts of 1967-1968. The nation was failing its students and saw the baby boom generation enter a malfunctioning system, with populations in the universities up to twelve times bigger than designed for. The origins of the revolt stem from these problems and arguably have ideological reasoning, they embrace consumerism and the ability to move around and experience life differently however, they were staunchly anti-Capitalist and anti-Communist. With no real renouncement of Church it continued to appear relevant, especially after the “new ferment of ideas and activites” that had been accepted by John XXIII. However, secularization of the nation presented through the student