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1951 Christmas Message

of Pope Pius XII

The Heart of World Peace Lies in Spiritual Order

National Catholic Welfare Conference

1312 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington 5, D. C.



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/1951christmasmespius



The Heart of World Peace Lies in

Spiritual Order

Following is the English translation from the Vatican of the

1951 Christmas Eve discourse by His Holiness Pope Pius

XII. It was broadcast in Italian by the Holy Father and

followed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day by broad-

casts in 25 other languages.

O
NCE again, and for the thirteenth time, the grace

of the Eternal High Priest permits Us, on the

anniversary of the Nativity, to address the

Catholic world from this venerable See.

Each year this lovely feast offers Us the occasion of

expressing to all the faithful of the world Our pater-

nal greeting with a profound sense of the mysteri-

ous bond of faith, hope and love which unites, at the

Crib of the new-born Saviour, those redeemed by

Christ.

In contrast with the collapse of so many earthly

institutions and the failure of so many ephemeral pro-

grams, the spirit of God sustains, with the vigor of

perpetually self-renewing youth, His spouse the

Church, the fountainhead of abundant life, whose

ever more vivid manifestations reveal her supernatural

character; inexpressible comfort for each believer;

insoluble riddle for the enemies of the Faith.

Though great is Our joy in finding Ourselves once

again in this Christmas gathering united with the

faithful of all continents—and also with those who
are one with Us in faith in God—nevertheless the
harsh reality of the hour casts upon this joyful anni-

[ 3 ]



versary the saddening shadow of clouds which still

hover menacingly over the world.

The contribution of the Church to the cause of Peace.

We realize full well the intimate satisfaction and
the unconditional docility with which Our devoted

childrenHalways listen to the voice of the common

Father; yet We are not unaware of the anxiety with
which they once again await his words on the great

subject which stirs and agitates the human heart: the

subject of peace, and, in particular, his precise and

concrete statement on the contribution of the Church

to the cause of peace itself; that is to say what the

contribution of the Church cannot be, what it can

and should be, what it really is. May the Heavenly

Father, Who at the birth of His Divine Son sent choirs
of angels to sing of peace upon earth, deign to inspire

Our words.

What then the contribution of the Church to the cause of

peace cannot be. Supposed neutrality of the Church.

The present state of affairs demands from Us a

frank and sincere judgment upon events. But these

events have reached such a critical stage that We are
forced to recognize that the world is split into two

opposing camps and that all men are divided into
' two clearly separated groups which consequently are

very loath to concede to anyone any sort of liberty

to maintain a position of political neutrality.

Now those who wrongly consideFthe Church as a

kind of earthly power, or a sort of world empire, are

easily induced to demand also from her, as from

others, the renunciation of her neutrality and a defi-

nite election in favor of one or the other side. How-

ever, there can be no question of the Church renounc-

[ 4 ]



ing her political neutrality, for the simple reason she

cannot serve purely political interests.

Let it not be thought that this is a mere play on

words or concepts. It suffices to have an elementary

notion of the foundation upon which the Church as

a society is based, in order to understand Our mean-

ing without need of further explanations. The

Divine Redeemer founded the Church in order to

communicate to all men through her mediation His

truth and His grace unto the end of time. The Church

is His "Mystical Body." She belongs entirely to

Christ, as Christ belongs to God. (I Cor. 3, 23).

Statesmen, and at times even churchmen, who want

to make the Spouse of Christ their ally or the instru-

ment of their political alliances, either national or

international, would do injury to the very essence of

the Church and would inflict damage on the life

which is proper to her; in a word, they would bring

her down to the same level on which conflicting tem-

poral interests are locked in struggle. And this is and

remains true, even where there is question of ends and

interests legitimate in themselves.

Whoever, then, would wish to detach the Church

from her supposed neutrality, or bring pressure to

bear on her in the question of peace, or diminish her

right freely to determine whether, when, or how she

may wish to come to a decision in the various con-

flicts, such a one would not make the Church’s co-

operation in the work of peace easier. For any

decision on the Church’s part, even in political ques-

tions, can never be purely political, but must always

be sub specie aeternitatis, in the light of the divine

law, of its order, its values, its standards.

It is not rare to see purely temporal powers and

institutions abandon their neutrality, and align them-

[5]



selves today in one camp, tomorrow perhaps in an-

other. It is a game of alliances which can be ex-

plained by the constant shifting of temporal interests.

But the Church JceepsJierself aloof from such un-

stable alliances. If she passes judgment, that does

not mean that she is thereby abandoning a neutrality

hitherto observed; for God is never neutral toward

human events in the course of history, and so neither

can His Church be. If she speaks and judges on the

problems of the day, it is with the clear consciousness

of anticipating, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the

sentence which at the end of time Her Lord and Head,

judge of the universe, will confirm and sanction.

Such is the proper and superhuman function of the

Church regarding political questions. What, then,

is the meaning of that empty phrase about a neutrality

which the church should abandon?

The Church does not judge according to purely

political norms.

Others, on the contrary, in the interests of peace,

demand the neutrality of the Church. But neither

have these a correct idea of the place of the Church

in the midst of the world’s great events.

She cannot come down from the lofty supernatural

sphere where political neutrality has no meaning, in

the sense in which this concept is applied to earthly

powers. This does not exclude, but rather increases,

her share in the toils and sufferings of her divided

members in either camp, and intensifies her grief at

the clash of opinions and desires in her own ranks.

The Church cannot consent to judge according to

exclusively political norms; she cannot tie the interests

of religion to particular policies of a purely earthly

scope; she cannot run the risk of giving any reason

for doubting about her religious character; she can-

[ 6 ]



not forget for an instant that her role of representa-

tive of God on earth does not permit her to remain

indifferent, even for a single moment, between “good”

and “evil” in human affairs. If that were asked of

her, she would have to refuse, and the faithful on

both sides would, in virtue of their supernatural faith

and hope, have to understand and respect her stand.

And now, what contribution can and should the Church

make to the cause of peace?

Since this contribution cannot be purely political,

and since the normal place and essential mission of

the Church is not in the area where nations—friendly,
antagonistic, or neutral—continually meet, bringing
with them their ideas and concrete political tenden-

cies, what, then, should be her contribution to the

peace? What is the legal right, what the peculiar

nature of this contribution?

The legal right and the peacemaking mission of the Church.

The legal right? Behold: nowhere will you find

it as clear and almost palpable as at the crib of

Bethlehem. The Infant lying there is the Eternal

Son of God made man, and his name is princeps pads

,

I

Prince of Peace. Prince and founder of peace—such
is the character of the Saviour and Redeemer of the

whole human race. His sublime divine mission is to

establish peace between each man and God, between

men themselves and between peoples.

This mission, however, and this desire for peace

are not born of timidity and weakness, which can

meet evil and the wicked only with resignation and,

patience. Everything in the frailty of the Babe of

Bethlehem is hidden majesty and contained force,

which only love restrains, in order to make the hearts

[ 7 ]



of men capable of begetting and nurturing peace,

and give them the strength to overcome and scatter

-all the forces that might compromise its life.

But the Divine Saviour is also the invisible head

of the Church; and for that reason His mission of

peace lives on and is active in the Church. Every

^ear, with the renewed memory of Christ’s birth, is

renewed, in her deep consciousness of her title to

contribute tQ^the work of peace, a uniquejiitle which

transcends every earthlyjhing and stem£ immediately

God, an essential element of her nature and

is year, once more, the Church kneels before

the crib and receives her mission from the Divine

Infant, the Prince of Peace. At His side she sees

revealed true human nature, true in the fullest sense

of the word, for it is the very human nature of God,

her Creator, her Redeemer, her Restorer. With eyes

tenderly fixed on the face of the infinitely lovable

Prince of Peace, she listens to the heart beats which

tell of a love embracing all mankind, and is inflamed

with ardent zeal for this mission of her Lord and

Chief, which is also her own, the mission of a peace-

maker.

Consciousness of this mission has always been keen

and effectively active in the Church, especially in her

supreme leaders, the Roman Pontiffs. Justly then,

Our great predecessor, Leo XIII, recalled to the

world the peacemaking activity of the Popes when he

said in 1899, on the eve of the first conference for

peace: "And what inspired them (the Bishops of

Rome) was the consciousness of a very lofty mission,

the prompting of a spiritual fatherhood which makes

men brothers and saves them.” (Allocution to the

College of Cardinals, April 11, 1899. Acta of Leo

her religious power.

[ 8 ]



XIII, Vol. XIX, Rome, 1900, p. 271). And today,

as We have said, the same is true.

But when the Church and her Supreme Pastor

pass from this sweet intimacy of the Babe of Beth-

lehem, so peaceful and heartwarming, into a world

that is far from Christ, it is like stepping out into a

gust of freezing air. That world talks nothing but

peace; but it has no peace. It claims for itself all

possible and impossible legal titles to establish

peace, yet does not know or does not recognize the

mission of peacemaker that comes directly from God,

the mission of peace deriving from the religious

authority of the Church.

Poor short-sighted men, whose little field of vision

does not go beyond the possibilities of the present

hour, beyond statistics of military and economic po-

tential. How can they form the slightest idea of the

worth and importance of religious authority for the

solution of the peace problem? Superficial minds,

unable to see in all their reality and fullness the value

and the creative power of Christianity, how can they

help being skeptical and disdainful of the power of

the Church for peace? But others, and please God

they are the majority, will see with more or less

awareness that denying to the religious authority of

the Church her competence in effective action for the

peace has but made more desperate the tragic condi-

tion of the troubled modern world.

The defection of many from Christian belief had

hastened this extreme and almost intolerable state of

affairs. And one would say that God has answered

\ this rejection of Christ by the plague of a permanent

^menace to peace and the frightening specter of war.

Just as the Church’s right to work for peace is

[9]



unique, so is the worth of her contribution to the same

cause.

Relations of the Church with states.

The Church is not a political, but a religious society.

That, however, does not prevent her from assuming

not merely external but internal and vital relations

with states.

The Church has in fact been founded by Christ as

a society that is visible, and, as such, meets states in

the same territory, embraces in her solicitude the same

people, and in many ways and under different aspects

makes use of the same means and the same institu-

tions.

And since the Church and the states live together,

beside these external and what might be called natural

relations, there are others, too, interior and vital rela-

tions, which have their principle and origin in the

person of Jesus Christ as Head of the Church. For

the Son of God by becoming man, and truly man,

has by that very fact entered into a new relationship,

a truly vital relationship, with human society, with

human nature. And this is true whether we consider

human nature a single unit implying equal personal

dignity in all men, or human nature as found in

multiple particular societies, especially those societies

which, within the fundamental unity of human nature,

are necessary to effect, or at least perfect, external

order and sound organization.

Society of states

And here we have in mind primarily the family and

the state, as well as the society of states, since the

common good, the essential purpose of every state,

cannot be attained or even imagined without this

[ 10 ]



intrinsic relation of the states to the human race as

a whole. Under this aspect the indissoluble union of

states is demanded by nature. It is a fact which is

imposed upon them. And in consent to it, although

sometimes hesitantly, they answer the voice of nature.

This natural union they strive to embody in an external

stable framework, an organization.

As human experience teaches them, the state and

the society of states with its external organization,

in spite of all their defects, are naturally, given the

social nature of man, forms of union and order among

men; thejLargjQeeessary ior..human life; they coatribute

to its perfection. Their very concept involves the

tranquility of order, that tranquillitas ordinis which

St. Augustine gives as a definition of peace. These

societies of their very essence exist for peace.

With them, as societies which exist for maintaining

peace, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace—and with
Him the Church in whom He continues to live—has
entered into a new and intimate relationship which

elevates and strengthens society. This is the basis for

the singular contribution which the Church by her

very nature makes to the cause of peace—that is, when
her life and her action among men occupy the place

that is their due.

And how will all this come about, except through

the continuous, enlightening and strengthening action

of the Grace of Christ on the minds and hearts of

citizens and statesmen, so that in all human relation-

ships they recognize and pursue the purposes of the

Creator, that they strive to enlist the collaboration of

individuals and nations for effecting these purposes,

that within as well as among nations they practice C "

social justice and charity?

If men, obeying the Divine Will, will use that sure

[ 11 ]



way of salvation, a perfect Christian order in the

world, they will soon see the possibility of even a just

war practically disappear. For there will be no rea-

son for such a war, once the activity of the society of

states, as a genuine organization for peace, is made

secure.

What is the practical contribution the Church makes to

peace? The Christian order, foundation and

guarantee of peace

What We have just said shows clearly Our thought
in this regard. At the crib of the Divine Prince of

Peace, We have to say again today what We have
said before: The world is indeed far removed from

that order willed by God in Christ, the order which

guarantees a genuine and lasting peace. Perhaps it

will be said that in that case it was no use to trace

out the bold outlines of this order, and to set in relief

the fundamental contribution of the Church to the

cause of peace. It will be objected that if We say
that peace cannot be defended but by a return to the

eternal values of the individual person and of man-

kind, We thus only encourage the cynicism of skeptics
and deepen the discouragement of the friends of peace.

Finally We will be reproached with admitting that
'

-these are right who see in an ‘'armed peace” the de-

finitive and last word on the subject, a solution that

would deplete the economic forces and exhaust the

nerves of the nations of the world.

Nevertheless, for a practical as well as a theoretical

estimate of the contribution each one can make to the

cause of peace, especially the Church, even in unfavor-

able circumstances and in spite of the skeptics and

pessimists, We think it absolutely necessary to fix Our
view on the Christian order, today lost sight of by so

[ 12 ]



many, in order to see the crux of the problem now

before us.

In the first place, such a survey will convince any

impartial observer that the heart of the problem of

peace is now the spiritual order: the problem is a

spiritual lack, a spiritual deficiency. Too rare in the

world today is the deeply Christian sense of values;

too few are the true and perfect Christians. In this

way, men themselves set obstacles in the way of actua-

ting the order willed by God.

Everyone must be convinced of this spiritual element

inherent in the danger of war. To awaken that con-

viction is in the first place the duty of the Church,

and her primary contribution to the peace today.

Modern Arms

We too—and more than anyone else—deplore the
monstrous cruelty of modern weapons. We deplore
them and do not cease to pray that they may never be

employed. But, on the other hand, is it not, perhaps,

a kind of practical materialism and superficial senti-

mentality to make the existence and threat of these

weapons the sole and principal consideration in the

question of peace, while no attention is paid to the

absence of that Christian order which is the true guar-

antee of peace?

Hence, among other reasons, the differences of opin-

ion and also the inexactitudes concerning the licitness

and illicitness of modern warfare; hence likewise the

illusion of statesmen who count too much on the

existence or disappearance of those weapons. The

terror they inspire in the long run begins to lose its

effect, just like any other cause of terror; or at least

it would not suffice, if the occasion should arise, to

prevent the outbreak of a war, especially in those

[ 13 ]



countries where the voice of the citizens has not suf-

ficient influence in the decisions of their governments.

Disarmament

On the other hand, disarmament, or rather the

simultaneous and reciprocal reduction of armaments,

which We have always desired and begged for, is an
unstable guarantee of lasting peace if it is not ac-

companied by the abolition of the weapons of hate,

cupidity, and of overweening lust for prestige. In

other words, whoever connects too closely the ques-

tion of material weapons with that of peace, is guilty

of neglecting the primary and spiritual element in

every danger of war. He does not look beyond

figures, and, besides, his calculations are necessarily

limited to the moment in which the conflict threatens

to break out. A friend of peace, he will always ar-
rive too late to save it.

If the desire to prevent war is to be truly efficacious,

above all a remedy must be sought for the spiritual

anemia of nations, for the ignorance of individual

responsibility before God and man, and for the want

of a Christian order which alone is able to guarantee

peace. To this goal the resources of the Church are

now directed.

The Christian order is an order of liberty

But here the Church meets with a particular diffi-

culty which is due to the state of present social con-

ditions: her exhortation in favor of the Christian

order, as the principal factor in securing peace, is at

the same time an incentive to form a correct idea of

true liberty. The ultimate reason is that the Christian

order, since its purpose is peace, is essentially an order

of liberty. It is the cooperative effort of free men and

[ 14 ]



peoples toward the progressive realization in all

spheres of life of the ends which God has assigned

to humanity. It is, however, a pathetic fact that today

true liberty is not esteemed, or it is no longer pos-

sessed. In these circumstances, harmonious coopera-

tion, as the proper condition of peace, is internally

enervated and anemic, while externally it is exposed

to perils of every moment.

How, for example, can those who in the economic

or social life want to make everything depend upon

society—even the direction and security of their own
existence—or those who today look for their sole daily
spiritual nourishment less and less from themselves

—

that is to say, from their personal convictions and

knowledge—and more and more from the diet pre-
pared in advance by the press, radio, movies and tele-

vision; how can they conceive true liberty, how can

they esteem and desire it, if it no longer has a place

in their lives?

Why, they are no more than mere cogs in the vari-

ous social organizations: they are no longer free men

capable of assuming and accepting a responsible role

in public affairs.

Therefore, if today they cry, "no more war" what

trust can be put in them? It is not their voice, but the

anonymous voice of the social group to which they

happen to belong.

This is the sad state of affairs which also impedes

the Church in her efforts to obtain peace and in her

plans for the realization of true human liberty which,

from the Christian viewpoint, is the indispensable

element of the social order, considered as the organism

of peace. In vain would she multiply her invitations

to men devoid of that realization, and still more use-

[ 15 ]



lessly would she direct her pleas to a society which

has been reduced to sheer automatism.

Such, however, is the widespread weakness of a

world which loves emphatically to call itself "the free

I

world.” It deceives itself, or else it does not under-

stand itself: its strength is not based upon true free-

dom. This is a new danger which threatens the

peace, and which in the light of Christian social order

We must deprecate. Whence originates among not
a few highly placed persons in what is called "the free

world” an aversion to the Church, that importunate

preacher of something which others pretend to have,

but have not, and which, by a strange inversion of

ideas, they unjustly say that the Church has not: We
mean respect and esteem for genuine freedom.

But the invitation of the Church meets even colder

welcome from the opposite camp. Here, indeed, it is

claimed, true freedom reigns because social life does

not depend on that uncertain figment of the imagina-

tion, the autonomous individual, nor does it make

public order as indifferent as possible to values that

are absolute, but everything is strictly bound up with

and directed toward the existence and development of

a defined collectivity.

The results, however, of the system We are now
speaking of have not been happy, nor has the activity

of the Church become easier, for here the true concept

of freedom and personal responsibility is defended

still less. How could it be otherwise when God is not

Sovereign, when social life and activity do not gravi-

tate around Him, nor have their center in Him?

TSociety is nothing but a gigantic machine whose order

is only apparent, because there no longer exists the

order of life, of the spirit, of freedom, of peace. Like

[ 16 ]



a machine, its activity is material, destructive of human

dignity and freedom.

In such a society, the contribution of the Church

to peace, and her counsels of genuine order in real

freedom are given under very difficult circumstances.

However, the alleged absolute social values are ca-

pable of inspiring enthusiasm in youth at a critical

lage, while not rarely the youth of the opposing side,

prematurely disillusioned by bitter experience, have

become weary, skeptical, incapable of taking any

. interest in public and social life.

The good offices of the Holy See for the peaceful solution

of conflicts

Peace, as We have said, cannot be assured unless
God reigns in the ordered universe He has established,

in the duly organized society of nations, in which each

nation effects peace internally among free men and

their families, and externally with other nations, an

order guaranteed by the Church according to her office

and in her own field of action. Such has always been

the aim of great and wise men even outside the

Church, as also in modern times on the occasion of

the Vatican Council. (Cone. Vat. postulata patrum,

de re militari el hello. Coll. Lac. T.7, N.9, N.861-

866).

Meanwhile, the Church works for peace by awaken-

ing and stimulating a practical understanding of the

spiritual heart of the problem. Faithful to the spirit

of her Divine Founder and to her mission of love,

she endeavors to the best of her power to offer her

good offices wherever she sees the threat of a conflict

between nations. Above all else, this Apostolic See

has never shirked such a duty, and never shall.

[ 17 ]



“The Church of Silence”

As We well know and deplore with a heart deeply
grieved, throughout vast regions of the world, this

invitation of Ours to peace does not reach, except in

mutilated form, the “Church of Silence.” Millions

cannot profess openly their responsibility before God

for peace. In their very homes and churches even

the ancient tradition of the manger, so dear and

familiar, has been abolished by the despotic will of

those in power. Millions are in no position to exer-

cise their Christian influence for moral freedom and

for peace, because these words, freedom and peace,

have become the stolen monopoly of professional

trouble-makers and worshippers of force.

Nevertheless, even with bound arms and closed lips,

the “Church of Silence” nobly responds to Our invita-

tion. With a look she points to the still fresh graves

of her martyrs, to the chains of her confessors, con-

fident that her silent holocaust and her sufferings are

a most potent contribution to the cause of peace, be-

cause they are a most noble invocation and a most

compelling title to win from the Divine Prince of

Peace grace and mercy for the fulfillment of her

mission. “Grant peace, O Lord, in our days.”

[ 18 ]