Brigate Fiamme Verdi
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The '' Brigate Fiamme Verdi '' (Green Flame Brigade) was an
Italian Partisan The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
Resistance Group, of predominantly
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
orientation, which operated in Italy during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The armed Italian Resistance comprised a number of contingents of differing ideological orientation - the largest being the Communist
Brigate Garibaldi The ''Brigate Garibaldi'' or Garibaldi Brigades were partisan units aligned with the Italian Communist Party active in the armed resistance against both German and Italian fascist forces during World War II. The Brigades were mostly made up of ...
.''Left Catholicism 1943-1955: Catholics and Society in Western Europe at the point of Liberation''; edited by Gerd-Rainer Horn & Emmanuel Gerard; Leuven University Press; p.178 Tensions between Catholics and anarchists, Communists and socialists in the movement led Catholics to form the ''Fiamme Verdi'' as a separate brigade of Christian Democrats in Northern Italy.
Peter Hebblethwaite Peter Hebblethwaite (30 September 1930 – 18 December 1994) was a British Jesuit priest and writer. After leaving the priesthood, he became an editor, journalist ('Vaticanologist') and biographer. Life Hebblethwaite was born in Ashton-under ...
wrote that, by early 1944, some 20,000 partisans had emerged from
Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...
. Known as the "Green Flames", they were supported by sympathetic provincial clergy in the North, who pronounced the Germans to be "unjust invaders", whom it was lawful and meritorious to repel. "Bishops tended to be more cautious", wrote Hebblethwaite,
Maurilio Fossati Maurilio Fossati, O.SS.G.C.N., (24 May 1876 – 30 March 1965) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Turin from 1930 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933. Biography Born in Arona ...
, the Cardinal Archbishop of Turin "visited partisan units in the mountains, heard their confessions and said Mass for them." The ''Fiamme Verdi'' did not belong to the approximately 4% of Italian Resistance groups that were formal Catholic organisations, but instead was classed in the 21% of resistance groups that were "independent", in which, like the ''Osoppo'' group and others, the ''Fiamme Verdi'' was not formally a Catholic group, but had a very strong Catholic presence. Nevertheless, just as there were militant Catholics within the Garibaldi Brigade, so there were non-Catholics within the ''Fiamme Verdi''. 191 priests were killed by fascists and 125 by the Germans, while 109 were killed by partisans. Though some priests joined pro-fascist bands, the Vatican backed the so-called anti-Fascist 'partisan chaplains' and 'red priests' fighting with the partisans, hoping that they would provide religious guidance to partisans being exposed to Communist propaganda. The ''Fiamme Verdi'' was sometimes associated with the Democrazia Cristiana Party and was particularly active in
Emilia Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...
and
Lombardia (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...
. Notable members included
Lionello Levi Sandri Lionello Levi Sandri (5 October 1910 in Milan – 14 April 1991 in Rome) was an Italian politician and European Commissioner. Upon completing his education in 1932, Levi Sandri entered a career as a civil servant in the Italian employment admin ...
, who later served as a prominent Italian and
European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...
.Governo italiano - ''Lionello Levi Sandri''
at www.funzionepubblica.gov.it


See also

*
Anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
*
Catholic Church and Nazi Germany Popes Pius XI (1922–1939) and Pius XII (1939–1958) led the Catholic Church during the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. Around a third of Germans were Catholic in the 1930s, most of them lived in Southern Germany; Protestants dominated the no ...
*
Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy ( it, Democrazia Cristiana, DC) was a Christian democratic political party in Italy. The DC was founded on 15 December 1943 in the Italian Social Republic (Nazi-occupied Italy) as the ideal successor of the Italian People' ...
*
Italian Civil War The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
*
National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...
*
Rovetta massacre The Rovetta massacre is the name given to the summary execution of 43 Italian soldiers that took place in Rovetta on the night of 27–28 April 1945. The soldiers were of the 1ª Divisione d'Assalto "M" della Legione Tagliamento, part of the N ...


References


External links


Associazione Fiamme Verdi
website (Italian language)
Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia - ''Fiamme Verdi''
website (Italian language). Modern history of Italy Italian resistance movement World War II resistance movements Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany Anti-fascist organisations in Italy {{National Liberation Committee