The '' Brigate Fiamme Verdi '' (Green Flame Brigade) was an

Italian Partisan The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italy, Italian Resistance during World War II, resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic ...

Resistance Group, of predominantly

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

orientation, which operated in Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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-und ...

wrote that, by early 1944, some 20,000 partisans had emerged from

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

. 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 Ar ...

, 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 and

Lombardia The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. 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 admi ...

, who later served as a prominent Italian and European Commissioner.Governo italiano - ''Lionello Levi Sandri''
at www.funzionepubblica.gov.it

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

See also

References

External links