Father Pietro Pappagallo’s story merits retelling today, in part because it captures the entire drama of the early 20th century birth of “social Catholicism” in miniature.
Father Pietro Pappagallo: The priest who died a martyr in Italy 80 years ago to this day catholicherald.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from catholicherald.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This is the story of several thousand resistance fighters in Rome who were organised as the Movement Communists of Italy (MCd'I), sometimes better known by the name of their publication, Bandiera Rossa (Red Flag). They criticised Togliatti's PCI (Italian Communist Party) for its policy of national unity with liberals and Christian Democrat forces which effectively blocked a strategy of turning the anti-fascist struggle into an insurrection for socialism. The PCI used all its resources and some unsavoury sectarian tactics to defeat this left organisation.