"Grande Estadista”: a Imagem de Benito Mussolini e o Fascismo Italiano no Jornal O Semeador (1923-1929)

Abstract

This work sought to analyze the first decade of the fascist government led by Benito Mussolini, what brought him to power, the main aspects of the fascist rise and its relationship with the Vatican in the 1920s, presenting how the connection between State and Church was built, until its peak at the end of the decade. The fascist leader would not have reached the position of Italian Prime Minister if it were not for his important alliances with the country's main institutions. At the same time, it was observed how these issues emerged in the Catholic newspaper O Semeador, in the context of the “Primeira República” in Brazil. With the Proclamation of the Republic and the secular state, the catholic Church in Brazil was afraid of losing space and influence. In Italy, Mussolini enhanced the Vatican with many concessions, therefore, an example of a ruler also for Brazilian ecclesiastics who were uncomfortable with the situation of the Catholic institution in Brazil. Therefore, it was of interest to analyze the speeches and publications of O Semeador and other Catholic periodicals, referring to the Italian Prime Minister and his policies that were of interest to the Catholic Church in Brazil.