Holy See–Soviet Union relations
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Holy See–Soviet Union relations were marked by long-standing ideological disagreements between the
Heightened tensions: 1917 to 1958
Benedict XV
The end of
Pius XI
Worried by the persecution of Christians in the
The "harsh persecution short of total annihilation of the clergy, monks, and nuns and other people associated with the Church"[3] continued well into the 1930s. In addition to executing and exiling many clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of Church implements "for victims of famine" and the closing of churches were common.[4] However, according to an official report based on the 1936 census, some 55 percent of Soviet citizens identified themselves openly as religious, and others possibly concealed their belief.[4]
Pius XI described the lack of reaction to the persecution of Christians in such countries as the Soviet Union, Mexico,
Pius XII
According to Winston Churchill, the French PM Pierre Laval asked Joseph Stalin, "Can't you do something to encourage religion and the Catholics in Russia? It would help me so much with the Pope." Stalin replied, "The Pope? How many divisions has he got?"[5]
Two months after his election on May 12, 1939, in , prayed for those who suffered in their country and awaited with their tears the hour of the coming of the Lord.
Persecution began at once as large parts of Poland and the Baltic States were incorporated into the Soviet Union. Almost immediately, the United Catholic Churches of Armenia, Ukraine and Ruthenia were attacked. While most Oriental Christians belong to an Orthodox Church, some, such as the Armenian Catholic Church, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, are united with Rome, which allowed them to keep their own Oriental liturgy and Church laws.
After World War II, the Russian Orthodox Church was given some freedom by the government of Joseph Stalin, but not the Eastern Catholic Churches, which were united with Rome. Leaders of those Churches faced intense pressure to break with Rome and to unite with Moscow. Pope Pius addressed specifically the Ruthenian Catholic Church in Ukraine. The encyclical Orientales omnes Ecclesias is a summary of the relations between the Eastern churches and Rome until the persecutions in 1945.[6]
Some Ruthenians, resisting
Dialogue: 1958 to 1978
John XXIII
The brief papacy of
Paul VI
Pope
John Paul II and Soviet collapse: 1978 to 1991
On October 16, 1978, Karol Wojtyla was elected to the papacy. As the first-ever Polish pope and the first non-Italian to be elected to the papacy in over four centuries, his election came as somewhat of a surprise to many Catholic scholars worldwide. Wojtyla chose to take the name John Paul II, after his predecessor,
Having lived under both the Nazi and the Soviet regimes, the new pope was unwavering in his opposition to both
Despite warnings from
The trade Union
In January 1981, Walesa visited Rome, met with the pope for the first time, and received his official recognition and support.[15]
On May 13, 1981, in
Initially, the Polish communists resisted the Solidarity rebels and imprisoned many of the movement's leaders between 1981 and 1983, but throughout the 1980s, the movement gained more power and thus more legitimacy. Consequently, in 1989, round-table talks were held between the leaders of Solidarity, the Soviet communists, and the Catholic Church. In 1990, Walesa was elected president of Poland and began large-scale capitalistic reforms. By 1992, Soviet troops had begun to leave Poland.[17] That trend was paralleled by demonstrations and revolts in several other Soviet-controlled states.
There has been much speculation by historians about the relationship between Pope John Paul II and US President Ronald Reagan.[18] Both leaders kept a regular letter correspondence and met in Rome in June 1982 and 1987. That interaction has caused many historians to believe that both leaders' cooperation strengthened the anticommunist cause.[19] However, other historians, like George Weigel, have argued that both men were able to make their political achievements. According to that view, the United States, under the leadership of Reagan, presented an economic challenge to the Soviet Union, which was entirely independent of Vatican influence.[20] Therefore, Reagan's role in the collapse of the Soviet economy may have been more influential than that of Pope John Paul II.
On December 1, 1989, the pope met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It was the first time a Catholic pope met with a Soviet leader. Both leaders agreed to establish diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the Soviet Union. Gorbachev also pledged to allow greater religious freedom within the Soviet Union. Many saw the meeting as a symbolic end to the philosophical conflict between the Soviet Union and the Vatican.[21] It certainly showed a growing willingness on both sides to cooperate.
Even though the pope was primarily a religious leader, his leadership also had significant political consequences.[22] John Paul II used his Polish identity and connections to bring about the collapse of the nation's socialist regime.[23] While the intervention of John Paul II was undoubtedly an essential factor in the ending of communist rule in Poland, how significant the pope's leadership was in the rest of Eastern Europe and within the Soviet Union itself is less clear.[12] The efforts of anti-communist leaders such as Pope John Paul II and US President Ronald Reagan did not make the fall of the Soviet Union inevitable. However, both leaders hastened the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism, particularly in Eastern Europe.[24]
See also
- Michel d'Herbigny S.J.
- Holy See–Russia relations
- Religion in the Soviet Union
- Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
- Persecution of Christians in Warsaw Pact countries
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Soviet Union
- Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania
References
- Notes
- ^ Schmidlin III, 308
- ^ (Hansjakob Stehle, Die Ostpolitik des Vatikans, Piper, München, 1975, p.139-141
- ^ Riasanovsky 617
- ^ a b Riasanovsky 634
- ISBN 978-0-395-41055-4.
- ^ Giovannetti, 112
- ^ Dennis J. Dunn, "The Vatican's Ostpolitik: Past and Present." Journal of International Affairs (1982) 36#2 : 247-255. online
- ^ Constantine Pleshakov, There Is No Freedom Without Bread! 1989 and the Civil War That Brought Down Communism, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009), 82–85.
- ^ Pleshakov, 85–86.
- ^ Pleshakov, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Arragon Perrone, "Pope John Paul II’s Role in the Collapse of Poland's Communist Regime: Examining a Religious Leader's Impact on International Relations," University of Connecticut (2012), http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1244&context=srhonors_theses (accessed May 10, 2014), pp. 34–36.
- ^ a b Perrone, 13.
- ^ Pleshakov, 103-07.
- ^ Pleshakov, 110.
- ^ Pleshakov, 112.
- ^ Perrone, 36–37.
- ^ BBC News, "Poland Timeline". January 18, 2012. Accessed May 10, 2014.
- ^ Perrone, 14–15.
- ^ Perrone, 15.
- ^ Perrone, pp. 14–16.
- ^ Haberman, Clyde. "THE KREMLIN AND THE VATICAN; GORBACHEV VISITS POPE AT VATICAN; TIES ARE FORGED." New York Times, December 2, 1989.
- ^ Perrone, 16.
- ^ Perrone, 17.
- ^ Perrone, 18.
External links
- Vatican Diplomacy after the Cuban Missile Crisis: New Light on the Release of Josyf Slipyj at Catholic Historical Review