[crashryan]

It's difficult not to remember that while this was circulating the book's hero (which was the organization, not the Man Upstairs) was quashing complaints of sexual abuse of children and quietly sending outed perpetrators to new postings instead of punishing them. Meanwhile it was also running a campaign to convince the world that they'd bravely resisted the Fascists when in fact they collaborated with Mussolini for years. Somebody said something once about casting the first stone.

Link to the book: If the Devil Would Talk

[Captain Audio]

Meanwhile it was also running a campaign to convince the world that they'd bravely resisted the Fascists when in fact they collaborated with Mussolini for years.

I'd not heard of any particular collaboration of the Church with the Italian Fascist . The Catholic Church was bound by terms of a Concordiat  to stay out of politics all together. They had to reach these agreements with any nation they operated in.
The NAZIs held the Pope a virtual prisoner inside the Vatican , a hostage to dissuade priests and laymen from actively working against them. Something like 7,000 Catholic clergy were held in concentration camps for years and hundreds were murdered by the NAZIs.
Many were beheaded for revealing that the Euthanasia programs had been expanded to get rid of disabled WW1 veterans.

Most claims of Catholic collaboration with the NAZIs are based on ignorance of the actual conditions under which any religious organization had to operate under in Europe.
An example is the "Church Tax" which was not a tax levied by the Church, it was a government tax levied to repay the Catholic Church for government use of millions of acres of Church owned property confiscated by the government for state run farms.
Its often claimed that Hitler faithfully paid his Church Tax, when in fact it was not voluntary and not paid to the church. Also since Hitler had to be granted a pardon for tax evasion, to the tune of 400,000 marks, before he could assume office its unlikely that he ever actually paid that or any other taxes.

[The Australian Panther]

The Catholic Church was bound by terms of a Concordiat  to stay out of politics all together. They had to reach these agreements with any nation they operated in.
The NAZIs held the Pope a virtual prisoner inside the Vatican , a hostage to dissuade priests and laymen from actively working against them.

I'm not a Catholic. But I believe the above is correct. I also believe that there were those in the Catholic Church who actively worked against the Nazi's behind the scenes in secret.
Here is some of the story of Pope John Paul II when a priest in WW2

  On 29 February 1944, Wojtyła was hit by a German truck. German Wehrmacht officers tended to him and sent him to a hospital. He spent two weeks there recovering from a severe concussion and a shoulder injury. It seemed to him that this accident and his survival was a confirmation of his vocation. On 6 August 1944, a day known as "Black Sunday",[41] the Gestapo rounded up young men in Krak?w to curtail the uprising there, [41] similar to the recent uprising in Warsaw.[42][43] Wojtyła escaped by hiding in the basement of his uncle's house at 10 Tyniecka Street, while the German troops searched above.[40][42][43] More than eight thousand men and boys were taken that day, while Wojtyła escaped to the Archbishop's residence,[40][41][42] where he remained until after the Germans had left.[26][40][42]

On the night of 17 January 1945, the Germans fled the city, and the students reclaimed the ruined seminary. Wojtyła and another seminarian volunteered for the task of clearing away piles of frozen excrement from the toilets.[44] Wojtyła also helped a 14-year-old Jewish refugee girl named Edith Zierer,[45] who had escaped from a Nazi labour camp in Częstochowa.[45] Edith had collapsed on a railway platform, so Wojtyła carried her to a train and stayed with her throughout the journey to Krak?w. She later credited Wojtyła with saving her life that day.[46][47][48] B'nai B'rith and other authorities have said that Wojtyła helped protect many other Polish Jews from the Nazis. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, a Jewish family sent their son, Stanley Berger, to be hidden by a Gentile Polish family. Berger's biological Jewish parents died during the Holocaust, and after the war Berger's new Christian parents asked Karol Wojtyła to baptise the boy. Wojtyła refused, saying that the child should be raised in the Jewish faith of his birth parents and nation, not as a Catholic.[49] He did everything he could to ensure that Berger leave Poland to be raised by his Jewish relatives in the United States.[50] In April 2005, shortly after John Paul II's death, the Israeli government created a commission to honour the legacy of John Paul II. One of the honorifics proposed by a head of Italy's Jewish community, Emmanuele Pacifici was the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations.[51] In Wojtyła's last book, Memory and Identity, he described the 12 years of the Nazi r?gime as "bestiality",[52] quoting from the Polish theologian and philosopher Konstanty Michalski.[53]

 
From Wikipedia. 
Hitler personally hated the JudeoChristian Belief WorldView.
If he had irradicated the Jews, Christians were next on his list. He wanted Germany to revert to an ancient classial paganism. As is evident by the nature of the funerals held for the High Ranking Nazi's during the Regime. Under the NAZI's Asylums were emptied of their inmates who were euthenased, Apart from Jews, Non-conforming Christians, Gypsies, Jehovah's witnesses [ who refused to serve Militarily.] non- German Nationals and others were also imprisoned and were victims of concentration camps.   
Opposing Military totalitarianisms openly is almost impossible, Just ask the Chinese, The Burmese, The North Koreans - to name a few.           

[paw broon]

As far as I know, Mussolini worked with the church to get it to accept a fascist state.  That is what happened.  Despite small disagreements between state an church, the 2 entities went along with each other.  There was  a big disagreement over the treatment of jews, but not enough to have the church rebel against the state. That in itself speaks to a complete abdication of Christian values, and dereliction of duty of pastoral care. As for the pope being a prisoner, it was, I believe, at Castel Gandolfo, not exactly Barlinnie.

While the topic has been prompted by this awful rag of a comic, I am sure none of us wish this topic to become a problem for our friendly forum.  Keep going if you wish but be careful not to antagonize others.  Po-faced? Moi?

[Captain Audio]

but not enough to have the church rebel against the state.

Too bad, it would have made a great netflix series. All those valiant Swiss pikemen charging the ranks of Mussolini's army ,led of course by the thirties version of the Popemobile with it's holy water dispensers going full blast.

An unrealistic view of history seems to be commonplace these days. Too many video games I suspect.

[paw broon]

  If  by the slightest chance you addressed this to me, I've never played a video game in my puff.
Wouldn't know where or how to start. Nor do I have any inclination to try.

This has been interesting   but back to comics for me.