The movement of Catholic Communists, 1937–45

This article examines the movement of Catholic Communists (cattocomunisti), who emerged in 1937 and 1938 among a group of young Catholics in Rome. These Catholics maintained that the only way to defeat the Fascist dictatorship was to forge an alliance with the Communists. Marxism was, for these young Catholics, a canon to interpret reality, not a political philosophy. Thus they embraced historical materialism, but rejected dialectical materialism. During the war years, the church tolerated them as long as they remained a minority representing a minimal threat. However, from 1944 the ecclesiastical institution made them the target of criticism and censorship. The group disbanded in 1945 and most of its members decided to join the Communist Party.