Christian Front (United States)

The Christian Front was an American organization active primarily in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was associated with the Catholic Radio Priest Father Charles Coughlin, and its members often engaged in anti-communist, anti-Semitic, and pro-fascist activities. The group held rallies, distributed propaganda, and sometimes engaged in violence and intimidation against Jewish people and those perceived as communists or leftists.

Inspired by Coughlin's broadcasts and publications, the Christian Front sought to promote a particular brand of Catholic social teaching that was highly critical of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, which Coughlin claimed were influenced by communists and Jewish financiers. The organization saw itself as defending Christian values and American traditions against perceived threats from foreign ideologies and minority groups.

The Christian Front's activities were controversial and drew criticism from mainstream Catholic leaders and civil rights organizations. In 1940, the FBI arrested several members of the Christian Front in New York City on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. While some of the accused were initially convicted, the convictions were later overturned on appeal due to prosecutorial misconduct. The arrests and subsequent trials significantly weakened the organization, and it largely faded from prominence after the United States entered World War II. The Christian Front remains a significant example of the intersection of religion, politics, and extremism in American history.