Lisa Nickson

Saving the Soul of Benito Mussolini On 11 February 1929, the Catholic Church and the Kingdom of Italy, represented by the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini, signed the Lateran Pacts. In the years prior, the Catholic Church had undermined the political Catholic Popular Party to achieve this agreement; the same was done in Germany with the Centre Party. The Catholic Church would now be largely removed from direct politics but would gain the independent State of Vatican City, and Catholicism would be recognized as the sole state religion. Adolf Hitler praised the signing of the Lateran Pacts and sought something similar in Germany upon taking power. Pope Pius XI declared that Mussolini was a man sent by Providence. Friction arose almost immediately over youth groups and Catholic education, and the same pattern would later appear in Germany. Rome and Mussolini continued to clash until the end of the war. While imprisoned on the island of Ponza in 1943, Mussolini read a book called Life of Jesus Christ (Vita di Gesù Cristo), written by Father Giuseppe Ricciotti and published in 1941. He read the work enthusiastically and wrote notes comparing Christ’s betrayal with his own situation. Mussolini sent the book, along with his personal notes, to a local parish priest and asked the priest to hold a Mass for the second anniversary of his son Bruno’s death. Bruno Mussolini had died in a plane crash at the age of 23. Mussolini was broken out of prison by the Germans on 12 September 1943. That December he reportedly went to confession and received Communion. He is said to have told a Capuchin friar something to the effect of: “In my youth I was almost a heretic; I then became religious for politics, but now I feel religious in my intimate life as well.” His wife Rachele also said that Mussolini returned to religion, though he continued his affair with Clara Petacci, with whom he was later captured and executed. Three years earlier, Blessed Elena Aiello (image 3), a nun, wrote to Mussolini saying she had received a vision of Jesus. She claimed Jesus told her that Mussolini had been sent to save Italy from the precipice so that it would not end up like Russia, and that he had been shielded from many dangers throughout his life for this reason. However, Jesus warned that if Mussolini did not stay out of the war, he would be punished by divine justice. In a letter to Mussolini’s sister in 1943, Blessed Elena Aiello said that Jesus had told her this war would have no true victory for anyone. A few years after Mussolini’s death, Blessed Edvige Carboni (image 4), a Sardinian lay mystic, claimed to have had a vision of Mussolini in Purgatory. She said Mussolini appeared in flames and asked for her prayers for the next two years to ease his suffering. He reportedly told her: “God’s mercy is infinite, but so is His justice. One cannot enter heaven until one has paid the last penny of the debt owed to divine justice. Purgatory is terrible for me because I waited until the last moment to repent.” Blessed Edvige Carboni later claimed that Jesus told her Mussolini’s soul had entered heaven. Around the same time, another mystic, Blessed Mother Esperanza, said she had seen Mussolini’s soul sparkling in heaven. Mussolini’s wife Rachele is reported to have asked St. Padre Pio whether her husband had saved his soul in the end and entered heaven. He is said to have replied: “Did he not tell you in a dream? Stand up, pious woman, and go in perfect peace. Your husband is safe.” Repent before it is too late.