Sacrario dei Caduti, Siena, 1934 (Photo: www.artefascista.it)
hungry peasant something aspirational. His followers venerated poverty in as much as they felt that money and riches corrupted the soul. Catherine, a Dominican tertiary and mystic who “married” Christ, was one of the few to receive the stigmata. She was an important advocate of clerical reform and in turn proved an important role model for what were to be self-sacrificing Fascist women. She fasted, cut her hair so as not to appear vain, and gave away her clothing to the poor. Her prolific mother gave birth to 25 children. Her declaration as a national patron saint was the culmination of decades of lobbying by various Sienese officials. Already by the 1930s she was the patron saint of various organizations. In St. Catherine as well as Saint Francis we see Fascism’s successful coercion and manipulation of Catholicism. Fascism was eager to become a cult. Already by 1929 Mussolini had signed the Lateran Accord with Pope Pius XI ensuring that the Catholic church would support the PNF. Both Francis and Catherine were charismatic — boasting many followers. When they were