R
Roy5
Guest
Complex issues, like so many others. Italy wanted more of Africa, as France, England, Belgium and Portugal had. So, it did what imperialists do - it invaded Ethiopia with modern weapons, while the Ethiopians had little to fight them with. The whole thing was outrageous. Sadly, the League of Nations was too weak to do much about it.
** Now, the role of the Vatican seems ambiguous.** There is some evidence that the Pope blessed the adventure, declaring that the Italians would bring Christian civilization to Ethiopia. Of course, most Ethiopians already were Christians of the Coptic variety. On the other hand, Avro Manhattan has produced much of the evidence, and he was an out-and-out anti-Catholic, and his writings have to be questioned.
** In fact, the role of the Vatican was ambiguous throughout that era,** The Popes were in a bind. They were Italians, and some natural patriotism was likely. Mussolini, by the way, was hailed even among some progressive Americans in the 20s. That changed in the 30s, when he became a buddy of Hitler and Franco.
** I’m not sure the Pope should apologize re Ethiopia**. We probably need a careful and objective study of what happened. It is true that various Italian bishops supported the invasion. They were swept into the war fever that enveloped most Italians at the time. Patriotism can do that even though Bishops should be immune. They’re not.
** I am not a serious stamp collector, but as a young child I became very interested in the only two countries in Africa that we not basically controlled by European powers**. One was Ethiopia. The other was Liberia, though it could be argued that that country was run by an alliance of American investors (rubber, in particular) with Americo-Liberians, descendants of those freed slaves who returned to Africa. The capital, Monrovia, tells who was US president when this venture was undertaken.
** The Vatican made some major bloopers over the centuries.** One of the worst was when the Pope ordered a Te Deum mass sung to celebrate the massacre of St. Bartholomew, when thousands of French Huguenots who had gathered for a wedding were slaughtered.
** Now, the role of the Vatican seems ambiguous.** There is some evidence that the Pope blessed the adventure, declaring that the Italians would bring Christian civilization to Ethiopia. Of course, most Ethiopians already were Christians of the Coptic variety. On the other hand, Avro Manhattan has produced much of the evidence, and he was an out-and-out anti-Catholic, and his writings have to be questioned.
** In fact, the role of the Vatican was ambiguous throughout that era,** The Popes were in a bind. They were Italians, and some natural patriotism was likely. Mussolini, by the way, was hailed even among some progressive Americans in the 20s. That changed in the 30s, when he became a buddy of Hitler and Franco.
Code:
** The Popes had so many things to consider.** One of them was the spectre of communism in an aggressive USSR, a deadly enemy of the Church. I suspect that this is one reason that the Vatican did not speak out more against Mussolini and Hitler. Perhaps as important, Franco in Spain became a darling of the Vatican, largely because the Loyalists in the civil war there were bitterly anti-Church as well as supported by the Communists. It was during this period that Opus Dei began, led by a Spaniard. Etc.** I am not a serious stamp collector, but as a young child I became very interested in the only two countries in Africa that we not basically controlled by European powers**. One was Ethiopia. The other was Liberia, though it could be argued that that country was run by an alliance of American investors (rubber, in particular) with Americo-Liberians, descendants of those freed slaves who returned to Africa. The capital, Monrovia, tells who was US president when this venture was undertaken.
** The Vatican made some major bloopers over the centuries.** One of the worst was when the Pope ordered a Te Deum mass sung to celebrate the massacre of St. Bartholomew, when thousands of French Huguenots who had gathered for a wedding were slaughtered.
**No one is perfect, not even the Pope.** God bless him and good people of every creed, color, culture and country. Let's make religion a cridge and not a barrier.
Either it is true or it is not.