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Hitler won his religious Munichs over Germany's 21,000,000 Catholics and 40,000,000 Protestants in the first six months of his power. The Vatican signed a Concordat (negotiated by Pope Pius XII, who was then Cardinal Pacelli, Papal Secretary of State) with him on July 20, 1933. By it Germany guaranteed the Church full freedom in its faith, property and organizations, in return for the Vatican's pledge that each bishop would "promise to honor the constitutional government and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it." With that escape clause, the Nazis...
Pope Pius XII last week discharged a Christian duty apropos of Christmas. In Vatican City courtiers close to the Apostolic Throne remarked sadly that there has been fighting on the last six Christmas Days - in Ethiopia, Spain and Europe, not to mention the Far East.* But the Pope did not send a circular telegram to Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill and other heads of warring States. He issued a motu proprio or letter of instruction to Roman Catholic Bishops...
...Pius XII went only so far as to say in his motu proprio: "It is fair to hope and trust that at least on that holy night and on that holy day all belligerents will declare a truce...
...ever since Italy entered World War II. The democracies had feared the silence meant tacit approval of the Axis. But the broadcast condemned Naziism in the strongest terms the Vatican had used since the invasion of Poland. Text for the castigation was an editorial from Catholic Spain-which Pius XII is presumably as anxious as U. S. and British Catholics to keep out of the arms of the Axis. The Madrid Alcázar had written: "National Socialism is primarily a religious movement based on Christian principle." Said the Vatican radio in trenchant rebuttal...
Looking on and loving it were: plump, pleasant Archbishop Francis Joseph Spellman of New York; bland, swart Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Pius XII's Apostolic Delegate to the U. S. They were glad to see priests adept at quick comebacks. Said Delegate Cicognani: "The apostles preached in this way. . . . It was in the streets that Our Lord met those who were in bad need...