British Catholics and Fascism : Religious Identity and Political Extremism Between the Wars

Drawing substantially on the thoughts and words of Catholic writers and cultural commentators, Villis sheds new light on religious identity and political extremism in early twentieth-century Britain. The book constitutes a comprehensive study of the way in which British Catholic communities reacted to fascism both at home and abroad. "British Catholics and Fascism" is a comprehensive study of the way in which British Catholic communities reacted to fascism both at home and abroad. Drawing on substantial primary research, Tom Villis sheds new light on religious identity and political extremism in early twentieth-century Britain. He examines the careers and thought of numerous prominent Catholic writers and cultural commentators as well as the role of the Catholic press more generally, the views of the hierarchy and the overtures which the British Union of Fascists made to the Catholic communities. Debates about fascism became symbolic of the wider difficulties in articulating a religious political critique in an increasingly secular political culture. For many Catholics, pro-fascism became a way of expressing their own distinct political and social identity in a society which largely held different views Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-8 Catholic Fascists?....Pages 9-26 The Hierarchy....Pages 27-40 The Press....Pages 41-76 The Chesterbelloc....Pages 77-98 Campbell, Dawson, Burns and Wall: Catholic Writers and the Crisis of Liberalism....Pages 99-135 The Catholic Literary Right....Pages 136-174 Literary Catholicism and Fascism in Wales....Pages 175-195 Catholic Anti-Fascism....Pages 196-214 Conclusion....Pages 215-218 Back Matter....Pages 219-280