Pope Pius XII and Poland
Pope Pius XII and Poland includes Church relations from 1939 to 1958.
In Poland, Pius XII made "one of his most controversial decisions" regarding the
Background
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Catholicism had a presence in Poland stretching back almost 1,000 years. By 1939, around 65% of Poles professed to be Catholic.
First months of the papacy
Pope
Consequently, he tried to mediate, not by engaging in border or other disputes, but by creating a readiness to communicate and negotiate on all sides. The Pope himself attempted to invoke a conference of five belligerents, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, excluding the Soviet Union.[6] Italy was willing, Germany showed little interest, France and the UK were open but hesitant. Poland felt safe and informed the Holy See, that she managed to keep the Soviet Union disinterested in the dispute with Germany, thus strengthening the Polish position.[6] The Vatican disagreed with this optimistic assessment, and urged communication and caution. After the media reports of a surprising arrangement between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Polish Ambassador Kazimierz Papée informed the Vatican, that the Hitler-Stalin Pact actually strengthened the Polish position, because the Soviet Union showed no more interest in European conflicts.[6]
World War Two
Nazi–Soviet invasion of Poland
Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the West on 1 September 1939 and a period of brutal occupation commenced. Racist Nazi ideology targeted the Jews of Poland for extermination and categorized ethnic Poles (mostly Catholics) as an inferior race. Jews were rounded up into Ghettos or sent to extermination camps. The ethnic Polish intelligentsia were also targeted for elimination, with priests and politicians alike murdered in a campaign of terror. Forced labour was also extensively used. The Red Army invaded Poland from the East on 17 September 1939.[7] The Soviets were also responsible for repression of Polish Catholics and clergy, with an emphasis on "class enemies". Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union was launched in June 1941, shattering the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, and bringing Eastern Poland under Nazi domination.[8] Norman Davies wrote:[9] The Nazi plan for Poland entailed the destruction of the Polish nation. This necessarily required attacking the Polish Church, particularly in those areas annexed to Germany.[2] According to Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw, in his scheme for the Germanization of Eastern Europe, Hitler made clear that there would be "no place in this utopia for the Christian Churches".[10]
Policy of Pope Pius XII
Pius XII lobbied world leaders to avoid war and then sought to negotiate a peace, but was ignored by the belligerents, as Germany and Russia began to treat Catholic Poland as their colony.[5] In his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus of 20 October 1939, Pius stated that all races and cultures are of equal value, because the creator did not create inequality,[11] and responded to the invasion. The encyclical attacked Hitler's war as "unchristian" and offered these words for Poland:[12][13]
[This is an] "Hour of Darkness"... in which the spirit of violence and of discord brings indescribable suffering on mankind... The nations swept into the tragic whirlpool of war are perhaps as yet only at the "beginnings of sorrows"... but even now there reigns in thousands of families death and desolation, lamentation and misery. The blood of countless human beings, even noncombatants, raises a piteous dirge over a nation such as Our dear Poland, which, for its fidelity to the Church, for its services in the defense of Christian civilization, written in indelible characters in the annals of history, has a right to the generous and brotherly sympathy of the whole world, while it awaits, relying on the powerful intercession of Mary, Help of Christians, the hour of a resurrection in harmony with the principles of justice and true peace.
— Summi Pontificatus – Pope Pius XII, Oct. 1939
The Polish episcopate led by Cardinal August Hlond, who had repeatedly urged the Holy See to issue protests, warnings, or condemnations, was "deeply grateful".[14] Still, the papal protest, radio reports, L'Osservatore Romano documentaries and other protests issued later did little or nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Polish people and clergy in the following war years under German and Soviet occupation. In fact the persecutions got worse.[14] The Pope therefore chose his words carefully, because of his basic belief, expressed later that became his policy during the war:
Every word from Us should be carefully considered and weighted in the very interest of those who suffer, as not to make their position even more difficult and more intolerable than previously, even though inadvertently and unwillingly."[15]
Though Pius had assisted with the drafting of the anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge, which remained binding through the war, he did not repeat it during the war, and, wrote Garlinski, he was conscious that Hitler's expansion brought 150 million Catholics under the control of the Third Reich, and that conditions for Catholics outside of Poland could be adversely affected by his pronouncements.[16] This "restrained and reasoned stance", wrote Garlinski, though justified in the long term, "did not suit the Poles" who expected more forthright language against the Nazis.[17] The Holy See refused German requests to fill the bishoprics of the annexed territories with German bishops, claiming that it would not recognise the new boundaries until a peace treaty was signed. But these diplomatic actions were not considered sufficient on the ground in Poland, where more forthright statements were expected.[18]
France and other countries beseeched the
German and Polish bishops urged condemnations, arguing, that the enemies of the Church insinuated that the Vatican had given up on Poland.
These reports should be stopped at once. They only incite local occupation authorities and hurt the persecuted Church in great measure. We know what our situation is like, what we need is news from the Catholic world and Catholic teachings."[23]
Unknown at the time were the extensive diplomatic activities of the Holy See on behalf of Poland. During World War II, the Vatican spent more political and diplomatic efforts on Polish matters, than any on other nation in the world: The eleven volumes of the
They have not made public so that the faithful are not subjected to even more fierce persecutions. Isn't this what has to be done? Should the father of Christianity increase the misfortunes suffered by the Poles in their very own country."[25]
On 30 September 1939 the L'Osservatore Romano reported that the Pope had spoken to the Polish community in Rome:
- Thousands hundred of thousands of people are suffering at this very moment and a great many have already been sacrificed in this war, which, as you know, we have tried to prevent with all possible means.
- A vision of deep senseless horror and dark despair passes before our eyes, a multitude of fugitives and wanderers who have no motherland, no home anymore. We hear the heart-rending cry of mothers and brides, weeping for their loved ones, slain on the battlefield. We hear the desperate complaints of those of old age, and those who are weak in health, deprived of all help and nursing.
- We hear the children weep for their parents, who are no more, the cry for help of the wounded and the death rattle of the dying, many of whom never belonged to the fighting forces. We feel their sufferings, their misery and their mourning as our own.
- The love of the Pope for his children knows no restriction or borders. He wishes that all children of the Church feel at home with the father who loves all equally. This paternal love cares for he afflicted and wishes to care too, for each one of you. This is however not the only comfort. In the eyes of God, of his Vicar, of all decent men, you possess other treasures, which are not kept in steel safes but in your heart and in your soul, first of all, the glory of military courage,....
- Moreover, in the darkness now hanging over Poland, there still remains the brilliant light of happy memories of your great national past. ... In your history, people have known hours of agony and apparent death, but also of revival and resurrection. ... We do not say, wipe away your tears, Christ who wept over the death of Lazarus and the ruins of his own land, gathers the tears now, shed for your dead and for Poland in order to reward them later. Tears for Poland, that will never die. —L'Osservatore Romano, 1 October 1939
In April 1940, the Holy See advised the US government of
The Catholic Associations in the General Government also have been dissolved, the Catholic educational institutions have been closed down, and Catholic professors and teachers have been reduced to a state of extreme need or have been sent to concentration camps. The Catholic press has been rendered impotent. In the part incorporated into the Reich, and especially in Posnania, the representatives of the Catholic priests and orders have been shut up in concentration camps. In other dioceses the priests have been put in prison. Entire areas of the country have been deprived of all spiritual ministrations and the church seminaries have been dispersed.
— Vatican Radio, November 1940
During the war,
If sometimes news about Poland were scarce and tragic moments were passed over in silence, this was done only on the request of Polish circles, who had discovered, that the Germans took revenge on our prisoners for programs about their exploits in Poland."[30]
The Pope according to Wyszynski, never ceased to recognize Polish sovereignty and did not make any personal or territorial changes, while the frequent Vatican press reports continued to report about Poland "as a country standing with the free states fighting for a better future".
Polish losses
It is estimated that, despite all public and private protests and numerous diplomatic initiatives, two-thousand and three hundred and fifty-one (2.351) members of the clergy and religious were murdered (four bishops, 1996 priests, 113 clerics, and 238 female religious). Sent to concentration camps were 5.490 Polish clergy and religious, (3642 priests, 389 clerics, 342 lay brothers and 1117 female religious) a majority of which perished there.[33] In addition the Germans occupiers decreed, that the Church in the Polish territories annexed immediately to the Reich lose all legal standing as an entity and thus all legal recourse.[34] All Church organizations were disbanded, and, Germany outlawed: All baptisms for persons under 21 years, religious education, confessions in Polish, male and female religious orders, schools, Church charities, Church collections, Catholic cemeteries and Sunday school.[35] The Papal nuncio was appointed as Nuncio to Poland as well, a step which the German government could not object to, since he was already accredited. However, his protests notes and interventions, were not even accepted by the German Secretary of State Ernst von Weizsäcker, an SS officer, who informed the nuncio, that Poland is outside the geographical area of the Reichskonkordat, and therefore not his business.[36] Attempts by German clerics to improve the Polish situation by including the annexed Polish territory into German hierarchical jurisdiction,[37] and thus make it de facto subject to the protective measures of the Reichskonkordat, were rejected by both the Vatican and the Polish government in exile as a de facto recognition of the German annexation.[34] The Vatican did however, at the request of desperate Polish clergy appoint temporary German administrators in two Polish dioceses, after the occupation authorities killed the local bishops, blocked the nomination of any Polish national for the vacancies and refused to negotiate with any Polish bishop.[38]
Soviet occupation[39]
With the
In 1950, the new Primate of Poland, archbishop
The war being over, Pope Pius XII, faced with a long term problem, discontinued his war-time policy of neutrality. His policies continued to be pragmatic rather than ideological. He condemned the beginning persecution but, as in the case of Nazis before, did not name persons or political parties.
- The love which burns in you to her, is unparalleled. We received clear proof, during the last war, when Polish soldiers erected an altar in her honour in the smoking ruins of Loreto from burning and destruction, risking their own lives. But the struggle continues.[48]
In honour of
In 1957, Pope Pius addressed in strong words the Polish episcopate, which celebrated the 300th. Anniversary of the martyrdom of
Act boldly, but with that Christian promptness of soul, which goes hand in hand with prudence, knowledge, and wisdom. Keep Catholic faith and unity."[57]
The last episcopal appointment of Pope Pius XII
One of the last
Some twenty years later,
Pope Pius XII on Poland
For the war years 1939–1945, twenty-five communications of
- Le Saint Siege et la Situation Religieuse en Pologne et dans les pays Baltes, 1939–1945, in Actes et Documents Du Saint Siege Relatifs a la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1967
- 1945–1958
- Per Hos Postremos Annos, Apostolic Letter, 29 June 1945, [60]
- Czestochoviensis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Apostolic Letter, 16 January 1946, [61]
- Immaculato Deiparae Cordi, Apostolic Letter, 23 December 1946, [62]
- Flagranti semper animi, Apostolic Letter, 18 January 1948 [47]
- Decennium Dum Expletur, Apostolic Letter, 1 September 1949, [63]
- Cum Jam Lustri, Apostolic Letter, 1 September 1951, [64]
- Poloniae Annalibus, Apostolic Letter, 16 July 1953,[65]
- Speech to the Diplomatic Corps regarding the persecution of Cardinal Wyzynski, 19 November 1953,[50]
- Gloriosam Reginam, Apostolic Letter, 8 December 1955, [66]
- Message to Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński (after his liberation),[67]
- Invicti Athletae, Encyclical on Saint Bobola, 16 May 1957, [68]
Further reading
- Owen Chadwick, The Christian Church in the Cold War, London 1993
- Richard Cardinal Cushing, Pope Pius XII, St. Paul Editions, Boston, 1959
- Victor Dammertz OSB, Ordensgemeinschaften und Säkularinstitute, in Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte, VII, Herder Freiburg, 1979, 355–380
- A Galter, Rotbuch der verfolgten Kirchen, Paulus Verlag, Recklinghausen, 1957,
- Herder Korrespondenz Orbis Catholicus, Freiburg, 1946–1961
- Ludwig von Pastor, (1854–1928) Tagebücher, Errinneringen, Heidelberg 1930, 1950
- ISBN 0-253-33725-9.
- Pio XII Discorsi e Radiomessagi, Roma Vaticano 1939–1959
- Joanne M Restrepo Restrepo SJ, Concordata Regnante Sancissimo Domino Pio XI Inita, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, Romae, 1932
- Jan Olav Smit, Pope Pius XII, London Burns Oates & Washbourne LTD,1951
- Domenico Tardini Pio XII, Roma, Vaticano 1960
References
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 72
- ^ a b Garlinski (1985), p. 60
- ^ "Hitler's Pope?" Archived 2008-10-27 at the Wayback Machine; by Sir Martin Gilbert; The American Spectator; 18.8.06
- ^ Garlinski (1985), pp. 60–61
- ^ a b Garlinski (1985), pp. 69–71
- ^ a b c Stehle 213
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Poland – World War II
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Poland – World War II
- ^ Norman Davies; Rising '44: the Battle for Warsaw; Vikiing; 2003
- ^ Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; WW Norton & Company; London p.661
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1939), pp. 413–153.
- ^ Garlinski (1985), p. 72
- ^ SUMMI PONTIFICATUS – Section 106
- ^ a b Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 70
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 165
- ^ Garlinski (1985), pp. 71–74
- ^ Garlinski (1985), p. 74
- ^ Garlinski (1985), pp. 71–72
- ^ Stehle 216
- ^ Stehle 211He
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), pp. 82, 84
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 283
- ^ Actes III, 241 4,257
- ^ most but not all of them in Actes III, volumes 1,2
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 84
- Myron C. Taylor, 26 April 1940
- ^ The Nazi War Against the Catholic Church; National Catholic Welfare Conference; Washington D.C.; 1942; p. 49
- ^ The Nazi War Against the Catholic Church; National Catholic Welfare Conference; Washington D.C.; 1942; pp. 49–50
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 33
- ^ a b Micewski (1984), p. 34
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 418
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 419
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 71
- ^ a b Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 74
- ^ Actes, 381 Le Cardinal Maglione au nonce a Vichy Valeri May 26, 1942
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 74. Germany took the same position for other annexed territories and Austria.
- ^ Actes III, 398 L'administrateur apostolique Breitinger au pape Pie XII, July 20, 1942.
- ^ Blet & Johnson (1999), p. 79
- ^ all references: Stehle 280-283 unless other sources are cited
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 46
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 68
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 70
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 71
- ^ Micewski (1984), p. 72
- ^ "Hate sin, love all sinners" (Saint Augustine) was Vatican policy since Leo XIII. Pastoral concerns had priority over political ones; Blet & Johnson (1999), Preface
- ^ a b c Giovanetti (1959), p. 139
- ^ a b Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1948), p. 324.
- ^ Cum Jam Lustri letter to the bishops of Poland, 1 September 1951
- ^ Giovanetti (1959), p. 150
- ^ a b Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1953), p. 755.
- ^ Gloriosam Reginam 8,12
- ^ See below Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1956), p. 761.
- ^ Invicti Athletae in AAS 1957
- ^ Invicti Athletae, summary in AAS 1957
- ^ Invicti Athletae 29 in AAS 1957, 321 ff
- ^ Invicti Athletae 33 in AAS 1957, 321 ff.
- ^ Invicti Athletae 34, in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1957), p. 321 ff.
- ^ Wikipedia Pope John Paul II
- ^ Spiazzi (1991), p. 161
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1945), p. 205.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1946), p. 172.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1946), p. 533.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1949), p. 450.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1951), p. 774.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1953), p. 498.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1956), p. 73.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1956), p. 761.
- ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1957), p. 321.
Bibliography
- Actes et Documents di Saint Siege, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, vol. I-XI, 1967
- Blet, Pierre; Johnson, Lawrence J. (1999). Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican. Paulist Press. ISBN 0-8091-0503-9.
- Garlinski, Jozef (1985). Poland and the Second World War. Macmillan Press.
- Giovanetti, Alberto (1959). Der Papst spricht zur Kirche des Schweigens. Recklinghausen: Paulus Verlag.
- Micewski, Andrzej (1984). Cardinal Wyszynski. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 9780151157853.
- Spiazzi, Raimondo (1991). Pio XII, Mezzo Secolo Doppo. Bologna: Edizione Studio Domenicano.