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by the archbishopric and those well-disposed towards them... and, of course,
by Hitler who, later on at Sigmaringen, gave him full power.
Doriot was the rising star; but, for the immediate future and to treat
cautiously the transition after the foreseen and wanted defeat, another man
was needed, a highly respected military chief who would be able to dress
up
(96) Franz von Papen: "Memoires" (Flammarion, Paris 1953, p.91). (97) Andre
Guerber: "Himmler et ses crimes" (Les Documents Nuit et Jour, Paris, 1981)
158 THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE JESUITS
the disaster and present it as a "national recovery".
In 1936 already, Canon Coube wrote: "The Lord who brought forth
Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades can still raise up saviours...
Amongst us, there must be men whom He has marked with His seal and who
will be revealed when his time has come... Amongst us, there must be men of
the cloth who are the workmen in the great national restorations. But what
are the necessary conditions they need to accomplish this mission? Natural
qualities of intelligence and character; also supernatural qualities that is to
say obedience to God and His Law is just as indispensable, as this political
work is moral and religious before anything else. These saviours are men with
generous hearts who work only for the glory of God..."(98)
When the disciple of Loyola expounded these political and religious
thoughts, he knew who this pious "saviour" would be, as his name was not a
secret amongst clerics and fascists; this is told us by M. Francois Ternand:
"A clever and persistant propaganda campaign began in favour of a
"Petain dictatorship"...
"In 1935, Gustave Herve published a pamphlet which we are going to
examine... The tract is entitled "We need Petain"... its foreword is an
enthusiastic apology of the "Italian recovery" and "the even more amazing
recovery of Germany", also an exaltation of the wonderful chiefs who were the
authors of these recoveries. Now what about our own French people?... There
is a man around whom we could gather... We also have a providential
man... Do you want to know his name? It is Petain".
"We need Petain", for the homeland is in a dangerous position; and not
only the homeland, but Catholicism also: "Christian civilisation is
condemned to death if a dictatorial regime is not set up in every country"...
"Listen: "In peace time, a regime can only be swept away by a coup d'Etat if it
is willing or if it has no support from the army and administrations. The
operation can be a success only through a war and especially a defeat".(99)
So, the path to follow was already made clear in 1935 to "re-christianise"
France, the regime had to be swept away, and the best way to attain this was to
suffer a military defeat which would place us under the German yoke. In 1943,
this was confirmed by Pierre Laval, the pope's count and president of the Vichy
government:
"I hope Germany will be victorious. It may seem strange to hear the one
who is defeated wish for the victor's victory. It is because this war is not like
previous ones. It is a true war of religion! Yes, a war of religion".(100)
(98) Canon Coube: "Sainte Therese de l'Enfant Jesus et les crises du temps present",
(Flammarion, Paris 1936, pp.165 ss). Imprimatur: 11th of January 1936.
(99) Francois Tenand: "L'Ascension politique du Marechal Petain", (Ed. du livre francais,
Paris 1946, pp.40 ss).
(100) National Radio, 2nd of January 1943.
JESUIT MOVEMENT IN FRANCE BEFORE AND DURING THE 1939-1945 WAR 159
This indeed was what the Church wanted, even though unpleasant for the
forgetful Jesuit Fessard, whom we mentioned earlier on, who doesn't want to
know any more what was said on the American radio for the 20 million
listeners of the "Christian Front", by his Loyolan brother Father Coughlin:
"The German war is a battle for Christianity".(101)
But during the same period, in occupied France, Cardinal Baudrillart,
rector of the Catholic Institute in Paris, was saying the same thing. Listen to
him:
"Hitler's war is a noble enterprise undertaken for the defence of
European culture".(102)
So, on both sides of the Atlantic, as indeed all over the world, the clerical
voices were singing the praises of victorious Nazism.
In France, Cardinal Suhard, archbishop of Paris, set the example to all the
episcopate by "collaborating" fully, and so did the Jesuit nuncio Monseigneur
Valerio Valeri.
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