During the morning of June 11, 1939, Pope Pius XII granted a special audience to 3,200 of General Franco’s fascist troops. The soldiers were accompanied by the Spanish Minister of the Interior and by senior members of the Spanish Military and Naval Missions. While the Pope was borne on a ceremonial seat into the Hall of the Benedictions, a Spanish military band played a march and the troops broke into enthusiastic cheers. Before taking his seat on the throne the Pope blessed a pile of rosaries that were afterwards distributed amongst those present. In a brief address the Pope described the assembled mass murderers and rapists as the defenders of the faith and the civilization of their country. At the conclusion the Pope imparted the apostolic blessing to the audience and stressed how it was also extended to General Franco and the whole of the faithful of Catholic Spain. Pope Pius XII and his recently-deceased predecessor, Pope Pius XI, as well as the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish clergy had incited, supported and participated in the destruction of Republican Spain. Indeed the Catholic Church operated as an integral part of Franco’s fascist junta. As major landowners and stakeholders in Iberian capitalism and therefore the exploitation of Spanish workers and peasants, the Church was vehemently opposed to socialism and a society free from the age-old backwardness of clerical influence.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 01:45:00 +0000
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