It's very interesting how religious organizations behaved over the course of the 20th century with respect to the rise of communism and fascism and the post WWII Cold War.
One of the more interesting episodes revolves around the Spanish Civil War, involving Franco and the Catholic Church and its strange little subgroup, Opus Dei. That story remains shrouded in mystery (the whole Franco-Pius-Hitler-Mussolini connection is probably why, see "Hitler's Pope" by John Cornwell, 1999).
Other investigations have revealed the following [1]:
> Since World War II, the CIA has:
> Subsidized a Catholic lay organization that served as the political slugging arm of the pope and the Vatican throughout the Cold War;
> Penetrated the American section of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Vatican orders;
> Passed money to a large number of priests and bishops — some of whom became witting agents in CIA covert operations;
> Employed undercover operatives to lobby members of the Curia (the Vatican government) and spy on liberal churchmen on the pope’s staff who challenged the political assumptions of the United States;
> Prepared intelligence briefings that accurately predicted the rise of liberation theology; and
> Collaborated with right-wing Catholic groups to counter the actions of progressive clerics in Latin America.
[1] Mother Jones 1983 Martin A. Lee "The CIA and the Vatican’s Intelligence Apparatus"
This all foreshadows (and is concurrent with) the CIA's dalliance with violent Islamic groups as a counter to the Godless Commies, from involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood as an anti-Nasser force in Egypt (1950s) onwards, most notably in Afghanistan in the 1980s, but it's a common theme. It's a pretty sordid history, with disastrous consequences (i.e. 9/11 etc.).
One of the more interesting episodes revolves around the Spanish Civil War, involving Franco and the Catholic Church and its strange little subgroup, Opus Dei. That story remains shrouded in mystery (the whole Franco-Pius-Hitler-Mussolini connection is probably why, see "Hitler's Pope" by John Cornwell, 1999).
Other investigations have revealed the following [1]:
> Since World War II, the CIA has:
> Subsidized a Catholic lay organization that served as the political slugging arm of the pope and the Vatican throughout the Cold War;
> Penetrated the American section of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Vatican orders;
> Passed money to a large number of priests and bishops — some of whom became witting agents in CIA covert operations;
> Employed undercover operatives to lobby members of the Curia (the Vatican government) and spy on liberal churchmen on the pope’s staff who challenged the political assumptions of the United States;
> Prepared intelligence briefings that accurately predicted the rise of liberation theology; and
> Collaborated with right-wing Catholic groups to counter the actions of progressive clerics in Latin America.
[1] Mother Jones 1983 Martin A. Lee "The CIA and the Vatican’s Intelligence Apparatus"
This all foreshadows (and is concurrent with) the CIA's dalliance with violent Islamic groups as a counter to the Godless Commies, from involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood as an anti-Nasser force in Egypt (1950s) onwards, most notably in Afghanistan in the 1980s, but it's a common theme. It's a pretty sordid history, with disastrous consequences (i.e. 9/11 etc.).