“FOR GOD AND NATION”CATHOLICISM AND THE FAR-RIGHT IN THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN CONTEXT (1918–1945)

The study deals with the somewhat controversial issue of the so-called “clerical fascism”. For this purpose, it summarizes the recent historic-graphical debates on totalitarianism, in particular on “political religions” or rather politicization of religions in the 20th century. The special emphasis is laid on individual clerics who sympathized and collaborated with fascist regimes in Nazi Germany and the Slovak state, respectively. In applying Roger Griffin’s and Thomas Forstner’s typology, two types of attitudes to fascism and National Socialism are discussed: loyalty and active collaboration.