How a Catholic Nazi Became an Anti-Fascist Martyr: Blessed Teresio Olivelli
Fully Human with Eliza MontsShow Notes
Blessed Teresio Olivelli was a practicing Catholic who attended daily Mass, prayed the rosary, and supported Hitler and the Nazi movement.
Eventually, something changed. Teresio recognized the profound contradiction between the Catholic faith he professed and the political ideology he supported. He left Germany, fought against fascism, helped found the Catholic underground resistance newspaper Il Ribelle, and was eventually captured and sent to a concentration camp. At only 29 years old, he died after throwing himself over another prisoner to protect him from a guard's brutal beating.
In this episode of Fully Human, I explore Teresio's remarkable transformation from Nazi sympathizer to anti-fascist Catholic martyr, and what his life can teach us about cognitive dissonance, political tribalism, integrity, and the danger of assuming that outward religious practice necessarily means our beliefs and actions are aligned with Christ.
00:00 Nazi To Blessed 00:53 Saints And Politics 02:52 Early Life In Italy 03:33 Catholic Nazi Dissonance 06:05 Breaking With Nazism 07:07 Underground Paper Il Ribelle 08:32 Capture And Martyrdom 08:58 How Martyrs Are Formed 10:27 Prayer Lord Set Us Free 11:10 Reading The Prayer 14:16 Integrity And Survival 16:51 Warning And Benediction
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