PARTISAN REVIEW
"shameful peace treaty" imposed on her by "the cowardice of the
conquerors." Italy has a right to have her colonies back, and, .also,
to have a new army, whose young soldiers "can again confidently sing
the motherland's songs."
If
the Italians stick by their "two mothers,
the Motherland and the Church," there can be no doubt about "the
final triumph." In his final talk, the speaker was troubled by the
query whether "the devil will not unleash a battle in order to prevent
Italy's rebirth in Christ ... and spill new blood over our soil." "That
blood," the Father reassuringly answered himself, "if it should be
spilled, will spell doom for the men who have committed the crime.
And from that blood Italy will be reborn, more beautiful than ever."
I told Martelli that his remarks reminded me of what Father
Lombardi had been preaching. The general idea seemed to be Na–
tional Catholicism, or was I wrong?
"I can see the logic of it," I said, "but I don't see how your
notion of authority can be made to work.
If
what you have in mind
is straight theocracy, then allow me to say that in my opinion it
hasn't got a chance. Granted that the Italians are by and large still
Catholics, you must admit that their Catholicism is of such a kind
that it excludes precisely the notion that the Church should become
an absolute power. And you are not thinking of a new adventure in
dictatorship, are you?"
"You have been away a long time," he answered, "Apparently
you have remained more of an optimist than I have. You still think
in terms of intellectual alternatives. But, my dear friend, there are
no alternatives. Would to God that theocracy, as you call it, were
today an actual choice.
It
would mean that society had remained
essentially Christian. Harmony between religion and politics would
then still be the generally accepted norm, and· it could always be
achieved through some kind of wise adjustment. Unfortunately, we
don't live in the thirteenth century. We live in a time which is the
negation of any harmony.
If
you were a priest, you would know to
what a horrible extent the moral life of the individual is constantly
yielding ground under the pressure of social disorder. Christian resto–
ration today means Christian reconquest of society. The only question
is 'where should we start from?'
If
by dictatorship you mean emer–
gency power, I can only answer that the present situation is indeed
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