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Radio message to the world given

December 23, 1948, by His

Holiness, Pope Pius XII



Published by

National Catholic Welfare Conference

1312 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.

Washington 5, D. C.

Additional copies ten cents each.



Radio Message to the World Given

December 23, 1948, by His

Holiness, Pope Pius XII

GRAVE yet tender, like the testa-ment and last farewell of a
most loving father, were the words

of the Divine Redeemer to His first

Vicar on earth: Conjirma fratres tuos

(Luke 22, 32), Strengthen thy breth-

ren! These words have not ceased to

echo in Our mind and heart since the

day He willed, in His inscrutable de-

sign, to confide to Our weak hands

the helm of Peter’s Barque.

Although these immortal words are

deeply engraven in the depths of Our

mind, they are impressed still more

upon Us whenever, exercising the

Apostolic Ministry, We communicate
to the Hierarchy and Faithful of the

world the teaching, directives and ex-

hortations which are needed for the

complete fulfillment of the Church’s

saving mission and which must be

suitably adapted to the ever-changing

circumstances of time and place, while

their substantial immutability is kept

unchanged.

It is with singular and deep emotion

that We experience the force of that
Divine Command at the present mo-

ment when, beloved sons and daugh-

ters of the world, We are addressing

for the tenth time Our Christmas /

Message to you at the end of a decade!

which, for eventful happenings, op-

pressive anxiety and bitter woes, has

not its equal in the course of human

history.

Last Christmas, when We asked
your prayers and cooperation on this

same feast day, We expressed the hope
that the year 1948, then about to

begin, might be for Europe and for

the whole society of nations tormented

by so much disunion, a year of earnest

reconstruction and the beginning of a

rapid advance toward true peace.

Today, at the end of a year which

began so hopefully, Our paternal voice

again invites you, the upright and

thoughtful, the sincere Christians, to

ponder over the present state of hu-

manity and of Christendom, and to

consider what plan should be adopted

to advance sincerely and securely

along the path pointed out by the ex-

acting necessities of the times and by

your own conscience.

Any clear-sighted person who has

the moral strength and courage to

look truth squarely in the face, even

if it be painful and humiliating, must

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fully recognize that this year of 1948,

which dawned full of high and well-

founded expectations, appears now at

its close to have arrived at one of

those crucial points, where the path

which previously disclosed pleasant

vistas seems to open instead on the

brink of a precipice where pitfalls and

dangers fill good and generous people

with increasing anxiety.

Nevertheless, or rather for this very

reason, beloved sons and daughters,

while faint-heartedness begins to over-

come the minds even of the coura-

geous, and doubts assail the most en-

lightened and determined men, We
feel ourselves more than ever obliged

to answer the Divine Command:

"Confirma fratres tuos”

To all of you, even those at the ex-

tremities of the earth, We send as Our
Christmas greeting the words by which

the Prophet announced the work of

redemption and the decisive victory of

the reign of Christ: "Strengthen ye

the feeble hands, and confirm the weak

knees. Say to the faint-hearted: Take

courage and fear not; behold your

God . . . will come and will save

you.” (Is. 3 5, 3-4.)

As the successor of Him to Whom
the Divine Promise was addressed:

"I have prayed for you” (Luke 22,

32 ) , We know full well that when
the fight against the powers of dark-

ness is most arduous and enters phases

that are decisive and, humanly speak-

ing, alarming, it is then that the Lord

.is all tfie closer to His Church and to

Jiis faithful. Fully convinced and

aware of this Divine assistance, We
remind all those who glory in the

name of Catholic Christians of a two-

fold sacred duty indispensable for the

bettering of the present condition of

human society:

( 1 )
Unshakeable fidelity to the her-

itage of truth brought to the world by

the Redeemer.

(2) Conscientious fulfillment of

the precept of justice and love, neces-

sary presupposition for the triumph

on earth of a social order worthy of

the Divine King of Peace.

We would fail in gratitude to the
Almighty, Giver of all grace and Fur-

nisher of every good, if We did not
recognize that the year now coming

to a close, despite all its anxieties and

sufferings, was also rich in spiritual

consolations, in happy experiences and

encouraging success. It was a year

in which the Church among all peo-

ples, and in every country and conti-

nent, has given unmistakable and

splendid proofs of life and vigor, of

activity and resistance, and of rapid

progress. And those not only justify

the brightest hopes in the spiritual

field, but have also produced tangible

results in the titanic debate in which

the human race finds itself involved

while struggling for its healing and its

peace.

A glorious series of religious func-
tions, of Eucharistic and Marian con-

gresses, of important centenary cele-

brations and impressive gatherings,

have proved to any impartial observer

that neither the war nor its after-

math, nor the tenacity of the enemies

of Christ in their discordant and de-

structive plans have been able to dry

up or contaminate the limpid sources

whence the Church has drawn the

life-giving strength for nearly 20 cen-

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turies/
(
Everywhere th*re is a quicken-

ing and throbbing of life which strives

especially among Catholic youth to

bring the Gospel truths and the salu-

tary force of/ts doctrine iiy:o all the

spheres of human activity; its aim is

to help and save even those who up to

the present have closed their hearts to

such beneficent action with great loss

to themselves.

The severe trials the Church has

undergone because of the war and its

aftermath, the painful losses and seri-

ous injury she has sustained, have

served only to give more comforting

and encouraging proof of her energy

and resistance. Tossed about by the

storm and waves, she has kept intact

and inviolate her vital fibre. In all

those countries where to profess the

Catholic Faith really means to suffer

persecution, there have been and there

are still thousands of valiant men and

women who, undismayed by sacrifices,

proscriptions and torture, and fearless

in the face of prison and death, do not

bow the knee before the Baal of might

and power (3 Kings, 19, 18). Their

names are unknown for the most part

to the general public, but they are

written in indelible characters in the

annals of the Church.

It is for Us a duty to honor these

faithful valiant people, these tireless,

courageous chosen ones, who are

blessed by God. For them the hard-

ships of the present time, the sorrows

and the maternal tears -of the Spouse

of Christ are neither a stumbling

block nor foolishness, but an occa-

sion and a stimulus to show forth

—

not in words but by actions—the in-
tegrity and unselfishness of their pur-

pose, their unflinching fidelity and

the sublime generosity of their

hearts. Words fail to pay a worthy

tribute and extol in a fitting way the

heroism of these most faithful among

the faithful. To each one of them

We express Our praise and Our grati-
tude. The Lord, Who promised to
remember before His Heavenly Father

those who confessed Him before men

(Matt. 10, 32) will be their eternal

recompense.

If the constancy and steadfastness

of so many brethren in the Faith is

a source of joy and holy pride for Us,

We cannot pass over the obligation
of mentioning those also whose

thoughts and sentiments bear the im-

print of the spirit and difficulties

of the times. How many have suf-
fered harm, and how many have been

shipwrecked in their faith and in their

very belief in God. How many, car-
ried away by a wave of secularism

or hostility toward the Church,

have lost the freshness and the seren-

ity of a Faith which up till then had

been the support and the light of their

lives. Others, violently uprooted and

torn from their native soil, wander

aimlessly about—exposed, particularly
in the case of the young, to a spiritual

and moral ruin, the danger of which

it would be impossible to over-

estimate.

The maternal eye of the Church

follows with watchful love and re-

doubled care the souls of those tem-

porarily lost or in danger. She is

not angry. She prays, not condemns.

She waits: She is waiting the return

of those children of hers and is anxious

to find means of hastening that hour.

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(r- W
That is why the Church shrinks from

no sacrifice, finds no trouble too bur-

densome to such an end. She is ready

for everything, except one thing:

that she be not asked to gain the

return of the children who have left

her—either in the distant past or re-

cently—at the expense of any
diminution or tarnishing of the de-

posit of Christian Faith confided to

her keeping.

It seems to Us that a brief clarifica-

tion is opportune with respect to some

harsh statements against the Catholic

Church and the Papacy uttered by

certain dissidents. Our duty of

charity and of love is certainly not

lessened by attacks or by insults. We
know how to distinguish between the

people, often deprived of freedom,

and the systems that rule them. We
are cognizant of the servile depend-

ence that some representatives of a

religion callea
r

T^^ThpdQx’
,

display to-

ward a concept of life whose ultimate

goal—repeatedly proclaimed—is the
elimination of all trace of Christian

religion.

We are not unaware of the har-
rowing path that must be traveled by

many of Our beloved sons and

daughters whom a public system of

violence has driven to cut themselves

formally away from the Mother

Church to which their deepest con-

victions united them. With pro-

found emotion We admire the heroic
steadfastness of some; with deep sor-

row and unfeigned paternal affection

We witness the spiritual anguish of
others whose external resistance has

given way under the excess of un-

just pressure and who outwardly ac-

cepted a separation which their hearts

abhor arid their consciences reprove.

Fidelity to the Divine patrimony of

truth confided to the Church does

not in any way condemn the Catholic

Christian—as not a few believe or
seem to believe—to an attitude of
diffident reserve or cold indifference

in the face of the grave and urgent

duties of the present hour.

On the contrary: the spirit arid the

example of Our Lord, Who catne^to
seek and save what was lost; th^ 'Com-

mandment of love, and, generally

speaking, the special sigriificance that

radiates "frpm the good tidings; the

history of the Church which proves

how she has always been the staunch

and constant support ofrevety force

for good and for peaceWkhe teaching

and exhortations of the Roman Pon-

tiffs, especially in the^jcourse—rif- re-

cent decades, dealing with the con-

duct of Christians toward the neigh-

bor, society and the State—all this
serves to proclaim the believer’s duty

to take his share, generously, cour-

ageously and according to his st'atSon

and capacity, in questions that a tor-

mented and agitated world has to

solve in the field of social justice, no

less than on the international plane

of law and peace,

convinced Christian cannot con-

fine himself within an easy and ego-

istical "isolationism,”, when he wit-

nesses the peeds and the misery of his

brothers; !when pleas for help come

to him from <£fjepe in economic dis-

tress; en he knows the aspirations

of the working classes for more nor-

mal and just conditions of life; when

he is aware of the abuses of an eco-



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nomic system which puts money above

social obligations; when he is not ig-

norant of the aberrations an in-

transigent nationalism which denies

or spurns the common bbnds linkin g

the separate nations together, and im-

posing op £jch one of them7m any Tn

d

varied duties toward tjac great_ fam-

ily of naXions.

The Catholic doctrine on the State

and civil society has always been

based on the principle that, in lapping

with the will of God, the nations

form together a community with a

comtnon aim and common duties.

Even when the proclamation of this

principle an^d its practical conse-

quences gave rise to Violent reactions,

the Church denied her assent to the

erroneous concept of an absolutely

autonomous sovereignty divested of

-athsocial obligations,^

The Catholic Christian, persuaded

that every njian is his neighbor and.

that every nation is a member, with!/

eqifral rignt^j rf the family of nations,

thosecooperates wholeheartedly

{ generous efforts whose , .beginnings
might, be meagre and which fre-

quently encounter strong opposition

and obstaclesTTut wTiich aim at sav-

ing individual States from the nar-

rowness of al self-centered mentality.

This latter attitude of mind has been

largely responsible for the conflicts

of the past, and unless finally over-

come or at {east held in check, could

lead to new iconflagrations that might

mean death jto human civilization.

Since the cessation of hostilities,

men have never been so obsessed as

today by the nightmare of another
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war and by anxiety for the peace.

They alternate between two ex-

tremes. Some' adopt the ancient

motto, not completely false, but

which is easily misunderstood and

has ofterf been misused: si vis paccm

para l/cllum; if you desire peace, pre-

pare for war. Others think to find

safety in the formula: peace at all

costs!

Both parties want peace while both

endanger it: on one side by arous-

ing distrust, on the other by promot-

ing a security which can prepare the

way for aggression. Thus both, with-

out wishing it, compromise the cause

of peace at the very time when the

human race, crushed under the weight

of armaments and in agony at the

prospect of fresh and even worse con-

flicts, shudders at the thought of a

future catastrophe. Hence We should
like to point out briefly the charac-

teristics of a real Christian will for

peace.

(1) The Christian "wiH
^
for peace

comes from God. HeTiL-tne "GocHaf

Peace” (Rom. 15
, 33); He hay-cre-

ated the woyki-^p be an abode of

peace; He hksjgiven His command-

ment of peace, that 'Tranquillity in

order” of which St. Augustine speaks.

The Christian will for peace has

its weapons too. But its principal

arms are those of\£rayer and love;

constant prayer to the Father in

Heaven, Father of us all; brotherly

love among all men and all nations,

since all are sons of the same Father

Who is in Heaven; love which, with
patience, always succeeds in being

disposed and ready to achieve under-

standing and agreement with every-

one.

V



These two arms have their source

in God, and when they are lacking,

where people only know how to wield

material weapons, there can be no real

will for peace. For purely material

armament necessarily awakens dis-

trust, and creates what amounts to a

climate of war. Who, then, can fail

to see how important it is for the na-

tions to preserve and strengthen the

Christian way of life, and how grave

is their responsibility in the selection

and supervision of those to whom they

entrust the immediate control of

armaments?

(2) The Christian will for peace is

easily identified. Obedient to the Di-

vine precept of peace, it will never

turn a question of national prestige

or honor into an argument for war

or even for a threat of war. It is

very careful to avoid recourse to the

force of arms in the defense of rights

which, however legitimate, do not off-

set the risk of kindling a blaze with all

its tremendous spiritual and material

consequences.

Here, likewise, the responsibility

of the nations is perfectly clear with

respect to the paramount problems

of the -education pf youth and the

moulding of public opinion, which

modern methods^and instruments ren-

der so sensitive and changeable today,

in every department of a nation’s life.

But this influence must be carefully

exerted to support the common inter-

est of all States in the defense of

peace. Every violator of the law

should be banished in disgrace to soli-

tary confinement by civil society, as a

disturber of the peace. May the

United Nations Organization become

the full and faultless expression of this

international solidarity for peace,

erasing from its institutions and its

statutes every vestige of its origin

which was of necessity a solidarity

in war.

(3) The Christian will for peace

is practical and realistic. Its immedi-

ate aim is to remove, or at least to

mitigate the causes of tension which

aggravate' "the danger of war morally

and materially^ These causes are,

among other^J chiefly the comparative

scantiness of national territory and

the want of raw materials. So instead

of sending foodstuffs, at enormous ex-

pense, to refugee groups, crowded into

the best place available, why not fa-

cilitate the emigration and immigra-

tion of families, directing them to

countries where they will find more

readily the food they need?

And instead of rgstricifiig^ produc- ^
tion, often for no just reason, why--

rruf'ailuw
—
the—people to produce to

the limit of its normal capacity and

so gain its daily bread as the reward

of its own labor, rather than receive

it as a gift? Finally, instead of set-

ting up barriers to prevent- one anr /

other’s access to raw materials, whyV'

not make their use and exchange free

of all unnecessary restrictions, espe-

cially of those which created a

harmful situation of economic dis-

parity?

(4) The genuine Christian will for

peace means strength, not weakness or

weary resignation. It is completely

one with the will for peace of

Eternal and Almighty God.
,
Even

w^r of aggression against these goods

which the Divine plan for peace



obliges men unconditionally to re-

spect and guarantee and accordingly

to protect and defend/is a sin, a crime,

an outrage against the majesty of God,

the Creator and Ordainer of the

world.

A people threatened with an unjust
aggression, or already its victim, may

not remain passively indifferent, if it

would think and act as befits

Christians. All the more does the

solidarity of the family of nations

forbid others to behave as mere spec-

tators, in an attitude of apathetic

neutrality. Who will ever measure
The harm already caused in the past
by such indifference to war of aggres-

sion, which is quite alien to the

Christian instinct? How much more
keenly has it brought home to the

"great” and specially to the "small,”

the sense of their insecurity? Has it

brought any advantage in recompense?

On the contrary; it has only re-
assured and encouraged the authors

and fomentors of aggression, while

l

it obliges the several peoples, left to

themselves, to increase their arma-

l ments indefinitely.

Resting for support on God and on
the order He established, the Christian
will for peace is thus as strong as

steel. Its temper is quite different

f
from mere humanitarian sentiment,
too often little more than a matter of

pui^jmpression.-~wkkh---d€-res£s^w a r
only'.-because- - of—-its horrors and

I atrocities, its destruction and its

afteTmath, but not for the added rea-

son of its injustice Such a senti-

ment, under a hedonistic and utili-

tarian disguise, and materialistic in its

source, lacks the solid foundation of

a strict and unqualified obligation.

It creates cooditionj^which encourage

the deception resulting from sterile ?

compromise, the attempt to save

oneself at the expensed)f others, and

the Access in every case of the

aggressor.

This is so true that neither the sole

consideration of the sorrows and evils

resulting from war, nor the careful

weighing of the act against the ad- I

vantage, avail to determine finally,

whether it is morally licit, or even in

certain concrete circumstances obli-

gatory (provided always there be solid

probability of success) to repel an ag- [i

gressor by force of arms.

One thing, however, is certain: the

commandment of peace is a matter of
Divine law. Its purpose is the pro-

tection of the goods of humanity, in-

asmuch as they are gifts of the

Creator. Among these goods some
are of such importance for society,

that it is perfectly lawful to defend

them against unjust aggression. Their

defense -is- even--an^ obligation for the fo}

nations as~ aTTKohT ho have a duty

not' to abandon a nation that is

attacked.

The certainty that this duty will
not go unfulfilled will serve to dis-

courage the/aggressor and thus war

will be avoided or, if the worst should

come, its sufferings will at least be

lessened.

n

Is
A

In this way, a better meaning is

given to the dictum; si vie pacem pare
helium

,
as also to the phrase "peace

at all costs.” What really matters is^ ^
the sincere and Christian will for

\

peace. We are compelled to it surely
,

v

by the following considerations: The



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spectacle of the ruins of the last war,

the silent reproach which rises from

the great cemeteries where the tombs

of the victims of war are mar-

shalled in endless ranks, the still un-

satisfied longing of prisoners and

refugees to return home, the anguish

and dereliction of many political cap-

/ tives, worry of unjust persecution.

But we ought to find a still greater

incentive in the potent word of the

Divine commandment of peace—the
gently penetrating glance of the

Divine Child in the manger.

Listen to the admirable words of

the Apostle of the Gentiles ringing

out in the night like the bells of

Christmas—he too was once a slave
to petty prejudices of national and

racial pride, laid low with him on the

road to Damascus:
"He (Christ lesusl

is our peace: He has made the two

muTons~one . . . killing all enmities in

His own person . . . coming, He an-

nounced the good tidings of peace

to you who were afar off, and of

peace to those who were near.” (EP.

2 . 2
,
14 . 16 . 17 ).

Hence at the present hour, with all

the power at Our command, We con-

J jure you, beloved sons and daughters
of the entire world: work for a peace

^ that is in accordance
with the Heart

|

of the Redeemer.

Together with all, uprigh t men,

who, even though not fighting in your

j-Joks, are united
-

with~you ln”The

community of this ideal, work strenu-

ously for the propagation and tri-

umph of the Christian will for peace.

It is, however, with special confi-

dence that We turn to Catholig jyputh.

The unforgettable demonstrations of

last September brought to Rome, in an

unprecedented multitude, the repre-

sentatives of Catholic youth from the

most diverse nations. They gave un-

mistakable proof of their solidarity in

the will for peace.

From the steps of Our patriarchal

Vatican Basilica, on that occasion we

blessed in pad: the house of peace,

calculated to give to the youth of the

Catholic world gathered in front of

the cupola of St. Peter’s a realization

that they belong to one great family

which embraces all its sons with equal

love.
_

To you, young people, who bear in

the flower of your age the responsi-

bility of a tomorrow still so uncer-

tain, We say: Be not content with
building the domus pads on the Via

Aurelia. That is, only by devotion

and determination in making of the

world itself a domus pads , over which

the spirit and the promises of Bethle-

hem may reign serenely, can afflicted

humanity find peace at long last.

With this hope We invoke the pro-
tection of the Most High on all peo-

ples and nations, especially on those

who more than others are exposed to

the threat of war, to unrest and to

devastation.

And on this Christmas Eve, why

should Our thought not turn back

once again to the land of Palestine,

where the Son of God made Man

spent his earthly life; to that Pales-

tine where, even after the suspension

of hostilities, there is still no sign

of a secure basis for peace? May a

happy solution be finally found which

will mean help for so many thousand

unhappy refugees and satisfy at the

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