Download or read book The Pope's Battalions written by Ross Fitzgerald and published by Univ. of Queensland Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A prophet whose confident prophecies were frequently proved wrong, B.A. Santamaria profoundly affected 20th century Australian political life. Although he rarely gave interviews and never held elected office, Santamaria became widely known through his regular commentaries in the "Australian" and in his magazine "News Weekly".Building on his battle against Communist influence in the trade unions, Santamaria boldly attempted to capture the ALP and transform it into a European-style Christian Democrat party. The ensuing split was disastrous, demoralising the ALP, and casting Santamaria out of the Labor fold for all time.