His views changed to opposition after the annexation of Austria and the introduction of Italian racial laws, which prompted vocal criticisms of anti-Christian aspects of Benito Mussolini's regime.

[5] Schuster received his Confirmation on 2 April 1887 from Monsignor Giulio Lenti and made his First Communion on Pentecost 1890 in the church of Sant'Anna in Porta Angelica.

[4] He served as an altar server at the Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici church next to Saint Peter's Basilica.

Schuster received his ordination as a priest on 19 March 1904 at the patriarchal Lateran Basilica in Rome from Cardinal Pietro Respighi (its archpriest).

[5] Either in November or December 1926 he preached the spiritual exercises to Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (the future Pope John XXIII) at Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

[3][5] Pope Pius XI elevated Schuster to the cardinalate in 1929 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti.

[7] After the signing of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, Schuster thought it was possible to christianize Italian society within the framework of the Fascist state, so he considered necessary to collaborate with it only if the scope and prerogatives of the Church were protected.

In June 1929, at the time of his appointment as Archbishop, Minister of Justice Alfredo Rocco described Schuster as a Fascist "regime sympathizer".

On 21 March 1930, in the anniversary of the foundation of the Fasci di Combattimento, Schuster spoke of a "mission of salvation" being entrusted to the Duce, which caused confusion among some Catholics.

[10] Schuster was an enthusiastic supporter of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, compared it to the Crusades, and viewed it as a potential source of converts.

[15] The Italian fascist and German Nazi press attacked Schuster during the war, without his suffering loss of esteem among his own flock in Milan.

On 25 April 1945, the cardinal hosted in the archbishop's residence in Milan a meeting between Italian partisans and Mussolini in an attempt to reach a truce between the two parties.

In the meantime, Mussolini had a conversation with Schuster, who gave him a glass of rosolio to drink and a copy of a book he had written about the life of a saint.

[citation needed] Following the end of the war, the cardinal made frequent attempts to emphasize the danger of totalitarianism that communism and fascism inspired.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center released the documents to the public and asked the Holy See to investigate whether Schuster helped Rauff escape from Italy to Chile in order to evade justice.

Pope John Paul II confirmed that Schuster had led a life of heroic virtue and accorded him the title Venerable on 26 March 1994.