MARY’S COfcteeFtIBRARY

The Message of Bethlehem

and Problems of the Day

1955 Christmas Message

of Pope Pius XII

’The Diumization of Man**

Technical Achievements and Human Security

Irreconcilability of Communism with Christian Teachings

Christians in Public Life

False Nationalism

Nuclear Arms and Armament Control

Colonialism



ENIOO Encyclicals Set of Pope Pius XII, Includes 30 titles in pamphlet
form—$5.00

EN19 Sixteen Encyclicals Set of Pope Pius XI. In one bound volume

—

$4.75

Complete Publications List Free on Request

Press of

RANSDELL INC.
Washington, D. C.

17 17

J-36824—EN 49



THE INWARD JOY OF THE NATIVITY

1. With a heart open to welcome the sweet joy which the

Birth of the Redeemer will once again bring to the hearts

of the faithful, We desire to express good wishes to you,
beloved sons and daughters, and to all men without distinc-
tion. We shall draw the subject of Our address, as in the
past, from the inexhaustible mystery of light and grace

which shone forth from the cradle of the Divine Infant on

the holy night in Bethlehem, whose brilliance will never

be extinguished so long as one will hear on this earth the

steps of those who, in sorrow, seek amid the thorns the

path of true life.

2. 0 how We could wish that all men, scattered over the
continents, in cities and towns, in valleys and across the

deserts, on steppes and on vast reaches of glacier wastes,

and on the seas, throughout the whole world could again

hear, as coming to each of them in particular, the voice of

the angel announcing the mystery of the divine grandeur

and of the infinite love which closed a past of darkness and

condemnation and ushered in the reign of truth and salva-

tion. "‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news

of great joy which shall be to all the people; for there has

been born to you today in the town of David, a Saviour,

who is Christ the Lord.’' (Luke 2:10, 11)

.

3. 0 We could wish that, like the simple shepherds who
were among the first to hear in silent adoration the mes-
sage of salvation, men of today were won over and con-
quered by that same sense of wonder which surpasses

human words and which turns the mind to meditative adora-
tion when a sublime majesty is revealed to their gaze, that
of God Incarnate.

1

MODERN MAN AND THE TRUTH OF THE
NATIVITY

(A) The Admirers of External Human Power

4.

There is reason, indeed, for asking with fear and anxiety

if modern man is still disposed to allow himself to yield to
a supernatural truth so sublime, to be penetrated by the joy

it has to offer : This man so convinced of his own increasing

1



power, inclined to measure his stature according to the

power of his instruments, his organizations, his weapons,
the precision of his calculations, the vastness of his produc-

tion, of the distance he can reach with his words, his gaze,

and influence
;
this man who speaks at length with pride of

an age of easy prosperity as if one just had to reach out

a hand for it; who is so sure of himself and his future he
dares all, urged by an insatiable desire to know nature's
deepest secrets, to bend its forces to his own will, eager to
penetrate in his own person the interplanetary spaces.

5. In truth modern man, precisely because he is in posses-

sion of all that the mind and labor of man have produced,
ought to recognize even more the inflnite distance between
what he can do and what proceeds from the limitless power
of God.

6. But the reality is quite different, because the false or

limited concepts of the world and of life accepted by men
not only hinder them from drawing a sense of admiration

and joy from the works of God, and especially from the In-

carnation of the Word, but make it impossible for them to
recognize that indispensable principle which gives constancy

and harmony to all human works. Not a few indeed permit
themselves to be dazzled by the limited splendor deriving

from these works, refusing to follow that internal prompting

to seek their source and end, outside of and above the world

of science and technology.

7. Like the construction of the Tower of Babel, they are

dreaming false dreams, “The Divinization of Man,” suitable

and sufficient for every exigency of the physical and spiritual

life. In them, the Incarnation of Man and “His dwelling
amongst us” (John 1:14) do not arouse either profound

interest or fruitful emotions.

8. The Nativity has not for them any other content or

message than that which expresses a birth: sentiments

more or less lively, but only human when indeed they have

not been stifled by worldly and noisy customs which pro-

fane even the simple value, aesthetic and familiar which

the Nativity, in the manner of a distant reflection, radiates

of the grandeur of its mystery.

(B) The Devotees of a False Interior Life

2



9. Others on the contrary, in the opposite way, condemn

the works of God, excluding themselves in this way from

access to the hidden joys of the Nativity. Formed by the

hard experience of the last twenty years, which have shown,

as they say, modern society’s brutality clothed in a human
form, they denounce bitterly the external lustre of its ap-

pearance, denying all credit to man and his works; nor do
they hide the deep disgust which man’s excessive exultation

provokes in their souls. At the same time, they hope that

man may renounce all this feverish external and, above all,
technological dynamism, that he may enter within himself,
where he will find the richness of an interior life, all his,

exclusively human, such as will satisfy every possible exi-

gency.

10. And yet, this entirely human interior life is incapable
of maintaining the promise it gives to measure up to all the

demands of men. It is rather a withdrawing from life

prompted by arrogance, almost despair, by the fear and an

incapacity to give oneself to the external order and has

nothing in common with a genuine interior life which is
complete, dynamic, and fruitful.

11. In the true interior life man is not alone, but lives
with Christ, sharing in His thoughts and actions, associating

with Him as a friend, a disciple and, as it were, a collabora-
tor, and, in turn, is assisted and sustained by Him in facing
the world according to the divine precepts because He is
the pastor and guardian of our souls (cfr. 1 Pet. 2, 23).

(C) The Indifferent and Insensible

12. Between this first and second type, whom a wrong and
erroneous conception of man have withdrawn from the guid-
ing and salutary influence of God Incarnate, stand the vast

class of those who neither feel pride in the external splendor
of modern society nor intend to withdraw into a solitary life

of the spirit. They are those who say they are satisfied to
live for the moment, interested and desirous of nothing else

than to be sure of enjoying the goods of the world in abun-

dance and to be free from any fear lest tomorrow bring a

lowering of their standard of life. Neither the grandeur of

God nor the dignity of man, both marvellously and visibly

exalted in the mystery of the Nativity, make an impression
on these poor souls who have become insensible and in-
capable of giving any meaning to their lives.

3



13. The presence of God Incarnate having been ignored or
cast aside in such manner, modern man has constructed a
world in which the marvelous is confused with the miserable,

overcome with incongruities, like a road without an exit or

a house furnished with everything, but which, through the

lack of a roof, is incapable of giving security to its inhab-

itants. In some nations indeed, notwithstanding the enor-

mous development of prosperity and although every class of
people is assured of material sustenance, there is spreading

and increasing an indefinable sense of forboding, an anxious

awaiting of something which seems bound to happen. One

recalls the expectancy of the simple shepherds of the coun-

tryside of Bethlehem; They by their prompt reaction can

teach the proud men of the Twentieth Century where it is
necessary to seek what is lacking. “Let us go over to Beth-

lehem,” they say, “and see this thing that has come to pass,

which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2:15). The

event took place 2,000 years ago but its truth and influence

must continue to take possession of men’s consciences, that

is, God came unto his own (John 1:11).

14. Now mankind can no longer, without guilt, reject and
forget the coming and dwelling of God on earth because it

is, in the economy of Providence, essential for the establish-

ment of order and harmony between man and what is his,
and between that and God. The Apostle, St. Paul, has de-

scribed the totality of this order in an admirable synthesis

:

“All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”

(1 Cor. 3:23). Those who would want to allow God and

Christ to fall from this indestructible order, retaining only

of these words of the Apostle the right of man over other
creatures, would effect an essential breach in the design of

the Creator. St. Paul himself would urge the warning:

“Therefore let no one take pride in men.” {1 Cor. 3:22).

Who does not see how much this admonition applies to
men of our times, so proud of their inventors and discover-

ers, who no longer are oppressed by the hardships of lone-

liness as formerly, but on the contrary have seized on the

imagination of the crowd, yes, even the watchful attention

of statesmen?

15. However, it is one thing to attribute to them due honor,

and still another to await from them and their discoveries

the solution of the fundamental problem of life. At the same

4



time the wealth and labor, the projects and inventions, the

boasts and torments of our modern age must be considered

in relation to man, the image of God.

16. If, therefore, what is called progress is not reconcilable

with the divine laws of the world order it is most certainly

not progress, but marks the way to ruin. Neither the most
perfected art of organization, nor the highly developed

methods in the field of calculations will put off the inevitable

results. They have no power to create man's essential stead-

fastness, much less can they substitute for it.

II

CHRIST IN THE HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL LIFE
OF THE HUMAN RACE

17. Jesus Christ alone gives to man that interior stead-
fastness. ‘‘When fullness of time came" {Gal., 4:4), the

Word of God entered upon this life on earth, taking a true
human nature, and in that form entered also into the his-
torical and social life of the human race, here also “being
made like unto men" {Phil. 2,7) through God from all eter-
nity. His coming indicates in fact that Christ intended to

set Himself as a guide for men and as their support in his-
tory and in society. The fact that man has won in the pres-
ent technical and industrial era a marvelous power over

both the organic and inorganic materials of the world does

not establish a right to be free from the duty of submission

to Christ, the Lord of history, nor does it diminish the need

that man has to be sustained by Him. And indeed, the un-
easy search for security has become more urgent.

18. Present day experience clearly shows that forgetfulness

or negligence of Christ’s presence in the world has provoked

the sense of bewilderment, and that absence of security and

stability peculiar to the technical era. Forgetfulness of

Christ has brought about also the ignoring of the reality

of human nature, fixed by God as a basic factor of social
life in space and time.

PRINCIPLES OF TRUE HUMAN NATURE A
FOUNDATION OF MAN’S SECURITY

19. In what direction, then, should the search be made for
the security and interior stability of social life, if not by

5



leading minds back to preserve and put new life into the
principles of true human nature willed by God? There is
in fact a natural order, even if its outward appearance

changes with historical and social developments; but the

essential lines were, and ever remain, the same: family

and property as the basis of provision for individuals
;
then,

as complementary factors of security, local and professional

groups and finally, the state.

20. Up to the present, in accordance with these principles
and directives, men strengthened by Christianity were
moved to put into force, in theory and practice, to the ex-
tent of their power, the order which guarantees security.

But, in a manner different from that of moderns, our an-

cestors knew—as well by the errors from which their posi-
tive application had not been exempt—that human forces,
in the establishment of security, are of their nature limited

;

and therefore, they had recourse to prayer to obtain that a

much higher power might make good their own inadequacy.
The abandonment of the use of prayer in the so-called indus-

trial era is a most revealing symptom of the pretensions to

self-sufficiency of which modern man boasts. There are too
many today who no longer pray for security, thinking that
the petition "‘Give us this day our daily bread’’ (Matt. 6:11),

which Our Lord put on men’s lips, has been superseded by

technical achievement, or, alternatively, they repeat it out-

wardly with lips without an interior conviction of its en-

during necessity.

FALSE APPLICATIONS OF MODERN SCIENTIFIC
AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS TO SECURITY

21. But can it be truly asserted that man has attained, or
is on his way to attain, full self-sufficiency? Modern achieve-
ments, certainly remarkable, in scientific and technical de-

velopment will assuredly be able to give man an extensive
mastery over the forces of nature, over sickness and even

over the beginning and the end of human life
;
but it is also

certain that such mastery will not be able to transform the

earth into a paradise of assured enjoyment. How, then,

will every one of man’s powers be reasonably cared for if

the realities of new false developments, and also of new

weaknesses, show the one-sided character of an idea which

would wish to control life exclusively on the foundation of

6



quantitative analysis and synthesis? Its application to so-

cial life is not only false, but also a simplification of many

complex processes which is dangerous in practice. Condi-

tions being what they are modern man needs also to pray,
and if he is wise, he is ready to pray for security as well.

22. Yet this does not mean that man must abandon new
ways, that is to say, give up adapting to present conditions

for his own security, the order just referred to which has
regard for true human nature. There is no objection to
security ensuring its own stability by also making use of
results in technique and industry, yet it is necessary to

resist the temptation to gain support for order and security

from the above-mentioned purely quantitative method which

takes no account of the order of nature, as is the wish of

those who entrust man's destiny to the tremendous indus-
trial power of the present age. They think they are estab-

lishing complete security on the ever-increasing produc-

tivity and on the uninterrupted flow of an ever greater and

fruitful production in the nation’s economy. This, they say

—on basis of a full and ever more perfect automatic system
of production, and supported by better methods of organi-

zation and accountancy—will guarantee to all workers a
continuous and progressive return for their labor. In a

subsequent phase this will become so great that, by means

of community measures, it will be able to satisfy the se-

curity of those who are not yet, or no longer, able to work

—

the young children, the old, the sick. To establish security,

they conclude, there will therefore no longer be any necessity

to have recourse to property either private or collective,

either in nature or in goods. Even so, this manner of or-

ganizing security is not one of those forms of adaptation

of natural principles to new developments, but a kind of
attack on the essence of man’s natural relationships with

his fellow men, with work, with society. In this excessively

artificial system, man’s security over his own life is danger-
ously separated from arrangements and forces for the or-

ganization of the community which are inherent in true

human nature itself and which alone render possible a re-
sponsible association of men. Somehow, though with neces-

sary adjustments to the times, family and property must re-
main among the fundamentals of the free settlement of
persons. Somehow, the lesser social units and the state must

7



be able to come together as complementary agents of se-
curity.

23. Therefore it once more appears true that a quantitative
method, however perfected, neither can, nor ought to, con-

trol the social and historical reality of human life. The ever-
quickening pulse of life, the constantly multiplying technical

productivity are not criteria which, of themselves provide

authority for declaring that there is a genuine improvement

in the economic life of a nation. Only a one-sided view of

the present, or perhaps of the immediate future, and no

more, can be satisfied with such a test. From this premise
there results—sometimes over a long period—a rash con-
sumption of reserves and of the treasures of nature, and,

to excess, even of the available human power to work; and
later there gradually results an ever greater disproportion

between the need to maintain the cultivation of the soil of

the country in reasonable adaptations to all the possibilities

of producing, and an excessive crowding together of work-

ers. There are, in addition, the decay of social union, and

especially of the family, and in each and every worker and

consumer the growing danger of insurance of life based on

income from property of all kinds, which is so exposed to

every form of currency depreciation and the risk in placing

that security exclusively on the immediate return for labor.

24. In this industrial age, the man who accuses, and rightly
accuses, communism of having deprived of freedom the
people over whom it holds sway, should not omit to note
that, in the other part of the world also, liberty will be a

very dubious possession if man’s security is not derived

to a greater extent from a condition of things which cor-

responds to his true nature.

25. The erroneous belief which makes security rest on the

ever-mounting process of social production is a superstition,

perhaps the only one, of our rationalistic age of industry.

But it is also the most dangerous, because it seems to deem

impossible, economic crises which always bring in their

train risk of a return to dictatorship.

26. Moreover, that superstition is in no sense suited to the

setting up of a sound bulwark against communism, because

in it participate the communists as well as a considerable

number of the non-communists. In this erroneous belief the

8



two sides find a meeting ground, thus establishing a tacit

agreement of such a kind as to be able to beguile the ap-

parent realists of the West into the dream of a possible

genuine co-existence.

THE MIND OF THE CHURCH ON COMMUNISM

27. In the Christmas radio message last year We set forth
the mind of the Church on this topic and We now intend
once again to ratify it. We reject communism as a social
system by virtue of Christ’s doctrine, and We have a par-
ticular obligation to proclaim the fundamental principles of

natural law. For the same reasons We also reject the opinion
that the Christian ought today to see communism as a

phenomenon or a stage in the passage of history, one of the

necessary “moments,” as it were, of its evolution, and con-

sequently to accept it as if decreed by Divine Providence.

WARNINGS TO CHRISTIANS IN THE PRESENT
INDUSTRIAL AGE

28. But at same time We again warn Christians of the in-
dustrial age, in the spirit of Our immediate predecessors in

the supreme pastoral and teaching office, against being

satisfied with an anti-communism founded on the slogan

and the defense of a liberty which is devoid of content:

Rather We urge them to build up a society in which man’s
security rests on that moral order of which We have very
often set forth the need and the consequences, and which

has regard for true human nature.

29. Now Christians, to whom here more particularly We
address Ourselves, ought to know better than others that
the Son of God made Man is the one steadfast support of
the human race in the social and historical life also, and
that He, by taking to himself human nature, has borne
witness to its dignity as the basis and rule of that moral

order. It is therefore their primary duty to act with a view

to bringing about the return of modern society in its or-
ganizations to the sources made sacred by the Word of God
made flesh. If ever Christians neglect this duty of theirs
by leaving inactive the guiding forces of the Faith in their

public life, to the extent that they are responsible, they

would be committing treason against the God-Man Who ap-

9



peared in visible form among us in the cradle of Bethlehem.
Let the seriousness and deep motive of the Christian action

be an effective testimony in the world and at same time

avail to dispel the very suspicion of a supposed aiming at

worldly power on the part of the Church.

30. If, therefore, Christians unite to this end in various

institutions and organizations, they are setting before them-

selves no other objective save the service willed by God for

the benefit of the world. For the sake of this motive, and

not out of weakness, let Christians group themselves to-

gether. But let them—and more so than others—remain
open to every healthy undertaking and to all genuine prog-

ress, and not withdraw themselves into a sealed enclosure

as if to preserve themselves from the world. Committed to

promote the advantage of all men, let them not despise

others who, at any rate if they are submissive to the light

of reason, both could and should accept from the teaching

of Christianity at least what is based on the natural law.

31. Be on your guard against those who undervalue this

Christian service to the world and oppose to it a so-called

“pure,” “spiritual” Christianity. They have not understood

the divine institution—to begin from its fundamental prin-
ciple—Christ is true God but also true man. The Apostle
St. Paul makes known to us the full essential will of God

made Man, which aims at setting aright the earthly world

also, when he pays to Him the tribute of honor with two very
expressive titles, “Mediator,” and “Man” {Timothy, 2:5).

Yes, man, as is everyone of those redeemed by Him.

Ill

NECESSARY INTEGRATION AND STABILITY OF
EACH HUMAN LIFE IN CHRIST

32. Jesus Christ is not only the steadfast support of the

human race in the social and historical life, but also in that

of the individual Christian, so that as “all things were made

through Him, and without Him was made nothing that has

been made” (John 1; 1,3), so no one will ever be able to

carry out works worthy of the Divine Wisdom and glory

without Him. The concept of the necessary integration and

stability of each life in Christ was strongly presented to

the faithful from the earliest days of the Church: by St.

10



Peter the Apostle, when, at the portico of the temple of

Jerusalem, he proclaimed Christ as the “ton archegon tes

zoes” {Acts 3,15), that is, the “Author of Life,’' and by the

Apostle of the Gentiles, who frequently pointed out what
ought to be the foundation of the new life received in Bap-
tism. “You,” he wrote, “are not carnal but spiritual, if in-

deed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does

not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

(Cfr. Rom., 8,9). Everyone, therefore, who is redeemed,

as being “reborn” in Christ, likewise exists through Him
“unto salvation by the faith” (Cfr. John 3, 3; 1 Peter 1,5).

LIMITS OF HUMAN POWER

33. Besides, how could the individual, even a non-Christian,
left to himself, reasonably believe in his own autonomy,

completeness and stability, if reality confronts him on every

side with limits within which nature restricts him, and

which could indeed be extended, but not entirely demolished ?

34. The law of limitation is proper to life on earth, nor

would Jesus Christ as man withdraw Himself from its
rule, for there were fixed limits to His actions, according to

the inscrutable designs of God, and in conformity with the

mysteriously linked working of Divine grace and human
freedom. Nevertheless, while the Christ-Man, limited during

the period of His earthly life, consoles and strengthens us

in our limitations, Christ as God fills us with a higher free-

dom for He has the fullness of wisdom and power.

35. On the basis of this reality, the Christian who pre-
pares himself boldly with all the natural and supernatural

means for building the world, according to the natural and
supernatural order willed by God, will constantly raise his

gaze to Christ and will confine his actions within the limits

fixed by God. Not to recognize that would be to will a world
contrary to the Divine plan, and hence disastrous for social

life itself.

36. We have just now indicated the damaging results which
fiow from the false over-valuation of human power and from
the undervaluing of the objective reality which, with the

sum of its principles and laws—religious, moral, economic
and social,—establishes limits and points out the true path
of human actions. Now the same errors with the same re-
sults are being repeated in the field of human labor, and

11



particularly in that of economic activity and production.

37. In the face of the astonishing development of tech-

nology and, more often, by means of suggestions received,
the worker feels himself absolute master and lord of his

existence, completely capable of pursuing every objective,

of giving actuality to every dream. By confining the whole
of reality within the limits of tangible nature, he discerns

in the vitality of production the way for man to become
ever more perfect. Productive society, which forever ap-

pears to the worker as the sole living reality and as the

power which keeps all in existence, gives the measure to

his whole life : It is therefore his one sure support for both

the present and the future. In it he lives and moves and has

his being : It grows in the end for him into a substitute for

religion. In such manner—the thought goes—there will
arise a new type of man, that, namely, which surrounds his

work with the aureole of the highest ethical value, and

worships the workers’ society with a kind of religious

fervor.

THE HIGH MORAL VALUE OF WORK

38. There is now being asked the question whether the
creative power of work truly constitutes the steady support

of man independently of other values not purely technical,
and if, consequently, it deserves to be, as it were, worshipped

by modern man. Certainly not
;
for no power whatsoever or

other activity of an economic nature can be so regarded.

Even in the technical era, the human person, created by God
and redeemed by Christ, remains elevated in its being and

in its dignity, and therefore its creative power and its work

have a very much higher permanence. Thus firmly estab-
lished, human work is also a profound moral force, and the
human race of workers is a society which not only produces
objects, but also glorifies God. Man can consider his work as
a true instrument of his sanctification because by working

he makes perfect in himself the image of God, fulfills his

duty and the right to gain for himself and his dependents

the necessary sustenance, and makes himself a useful unit

of society. Bringing this order into existence will obtain

for him security, and, at the same time, the “peace on earth”

proclaimed by the angels.

12



THE QUESTION OF PEACE

39. And yet it is precisely against him, the religious and
Christian man, that the charge will be brought by some of

being an obstacle to peace, of opposing the peaceful co-

existence of men, of nations, of different systems, because

he does not keep his religious convictions unspoken in the

privacy of his conscience, but makes them effective even

in traditional and powerful organizations, in all the ac-

tivities of life both public and private. It is asserted that

this kind of Christianity makes a man overbearing, biased,
oversure and satisfied with himself; that it leads him to

defend positions which no longer have any significance, in-

stead of being open to everything and everybody, and having

confidence that, in a general co-existence, the interior living

faith, like ‘‘spirit and love” at least in the Cross and the

Sacrifice, would furnish a definite contribution to the com-

mon cause. In this false idea of a religion and Christianity
have we not once more before us that erroneous worship of
the human subject and of his positive life-force carried over
to the supernatural plane? Man, face to face with opinions

and systems opposed to the true religion, is, of course, al-

ways bound by the limits established by God in the natural

and supernatural order. In obedience to this principle, our

peace program cannot approve of an indiscriminate co-

existence at all costs with everybody; certainly not at the

cost of truth and justice. These irremovable boundary

marks, in effect, demand complete observance. Where this
is so, including today in the question of peace, religion is

in a sure manner protected against abuse from the political

quarter; whereas when it has been restricted to purely in-
terior life, religion itself is more exposed to that danger.

NUCLEAR ARMS AND ARMAMENT CONTROL

40. This thought of its own accord leads Us on to the ever
acute question of peace which constitutes an object of solici-

tude always present to Our heart and at this moment one
of its partial problems begs for special consideration. We
propose to direct Our attention to a recent proposal which
aims at putting a check on experiments in nuclear weapons

by means of an international agreement. There has been
talk also of taking further steps toward conventions through

which the use of those weapons would be renounced and all

13



states subjected to effective arms control. Thus there would
be a question of three steps: renunciation of experimenta-

tion with atomic weapons, renunciation of the use of such,

and general control of armaments.

41. The supreme importance of these proposals is tragically

illustrated if one stops to consider what science thinks it
can predict about such actions, and which We think it use-
ful to sum up briefly here.

42. As for the experiments of atomic explosions, the opinion
of those who fear the effects produced if they are multiplied
would seem to be finding greater acceptance. Too many
such explosions would in time cause an increased density

of radioactive products in the atmosphere, whose diffusion

depends on elements not under man’s control; thus would

be generated conditions very dangerous for many living
beings.

43. Concerning the use : in a nuclear explosion an enormous

amount of energy equivalent to several thousand million

kilowatts is developed in an exceedingly short time; this

energy is composed of electromagnetic radiations of very

great density distributed within a vast gamut of wave

lengths even to the most penetrating, and of tiny bodies

produced by nuclear disintegration which are hurled at

nearly the speed of light. This energy is transferred to the

atmosphere and within thousandths of a second increases

the temperature of surrounding air masses by hundreds of

degrees; their displacement is violent, propagated at the

speed of sound. On the earth’s surface, in an area of many
square kilometres, reactions of unimaginable violence take

place, materials volatilized and utterly destroyed by direct

radiation, by heat, by mechanical action, while an enormous

amount of radioactive materials of varying life-span com-

pletes and continues the destruction through their activity.

44. This is the spectacle offered to the terrified gaze as

the result of such use; entire cities, even the largest and

richest in art and history, wiped out; a pall of death over

pulverized ruins, covering countless victims with limbs

burnt, twisted and scattered while others groan in their

death agony. Meanwhile the spectre of a radioactive cloud

hinders survivors from giving any help and inexhorably

advances to snuff out any remaining life. There will be no

14



song of victory, only the inconsolable weeping of humanity,

which in desolation will gaze upon the catastrophe brought

on by its own folly.

45. Concerning control: Inspection by properly equipped

planes has been suggested for the purpose of watching

over any atomic activities in large territories. Others might

perhaps think of the possibility of a worldwide network of

observation posts, each one staffed by experts of different

countries and protected by solemn international pacts. Such

centers would have to be equipped with delicate and precise

meteorological and seismic instruments, with equipment

for chemical analysis, with vast spectographs and such like

;

they would render possible the real control of many, unfortu-

nately not of all, of the activities which antecedently would

be outlawed in the field of atomic experimentation.

46. We do not hesitate to declare, as We have in previous
allocutions, that the sum total of those three precautions as
an object of international agreement is an obligation ii?

conscience of nations and of their leaders. We said, sum
total of those precautions, because the reason they are mor-

ally binding is also that equal security be established for all.

If, however, only the first point, concerning experimentation,

were put into effect, the result would be that that condition

would not be verified, the more so that there would be given

sufficient reason to doubt a sincere desire to put into

effect the other two conventions. We speak so frankly be-
cause the danger of insufficient proposals concerning peace

depends in large part on the mutual suspicions that often

trouble the dealings of the powers concerned, each accusing

the other in varying degrees of mere tactics, even of the lack

of sincerity in a matter basic to the fate of the whole human
race.

PREVENTIVE PACIFICATION

47. For the rest, efforts toward peace must consist not only

in measures aimed at restricting the possibility of waging

war, but even more in preventing, eliminating or lessening

with time the quarrels between nations which might lead

to war.

48. To this kind of preventive pacification statesmen must

devote themselves with great vigilance, imbued with a

spirit of impartial justice and also generosity, within the

15



limits of the course of a healthy realism. In last year’s

Christmas message We indicated the points of dispute noted
in relations between Europeans and those non-Europeans

who aspire to full political independence. Can those disputes
be allowed to run their course, so to speak—a procedure
which might easily increase their gravity, sow hatred in

men’s souls and create so-called traditional enmities? And
might not a third party come to profit from such enmities,

a third party which neither of the others really wants, and

cannot want? At any rate, let not those peoples be denied

a fair and progressive political freedom nor hindered in

its pursuit. To Europe, however, they will give credit for

their advancement
;
to that Europe without whose influence,

extended to all fields, they might be drawn by a blind na-

tionalism to plunge into chaos or slavery.

49. On the other hand, the Western peoples, especially
those of Europe, should not, in the face of such problems,

remain passive in futile regret over the past or in mutual

recrimination over colonialism. Rather they should set

themselves constructively to work to extend where it has not

yet been done those true values of Europe and the West

which have produced so many good fruits in other con-
tinents. The more Europeans strive for this the more help

will they be to the just freedom of young nations which in

turn will be saved from the pitfalls of false nationalism.

This, in truth, is their real enemy, which would pit them

one day against each other, to the advantage of third par-

ties. Such a forecast, not unfounded, cannot be neglected or

forgotten by those who handle their problems of peace at

congresses where, unfortunately, there gleams the splendor

of a unity that is external and predominantly negative. We
think that in such considerations and in such modes of pro-

cedure there is a valuable assurance of peace, in some re-

spects even more important than an immediate prevention

of war.

CONCLUSIONS

50. Beloved sons and daughters : If even today the birth of

Christ spreads through the world rays of joy and quickens

profound emotion in the heart, it is because the immense

yearnings of generations of men are contained in the lowly
crib of the Incarnate Son of God. In Him, with Him and

16



through Him is the salvation, the security, the temporal and

eternal destiny of humankind. To each and every man the

way is clear to approach that crib to attain through the

teaching, the example, the goodness of the God-Man his

proper share of grace and the things necessary for this life

and the life to come.

51. Where that is not done, either because of individual

sloth or because of other hindrances, it would be useless to

seek it elsewhere, for on all sides the darkness of error,

of selfishness, of vanity and sin, of disappointment and un-

certainty weighs heavily. The disappointing experiences

of peoples, of systems, of individuals, who were unwilling to

seek from Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life, should be

seriously studied and meditated on by whoever thinks he

can do all by himself. Today’s humanity, cultured, power-

ful, dynamic, possesses perhaps a greater title to earthly

happiness in security and peace, but will not be able to

realize that happiness as long as there does not enter the

loftiest and most infiuential factor into its plans and dis-

cussions: God and His Christ. Let the God-Man return

among men, their Lord acknowledged and obeyed, as, at

every Christmas He returns in spirit to the crib and offers
himself to all. Such is the wish We express today to man-
kind’s great family in the certainty that We are showing it
the path to salvation and happiness.

52. May the Divine Infant deign to hear Our fervent prayer
so that His presence in today’s world be felt almost sensibly,

as in the days of His dwelling on earth. Living in the midst

of men, may He enlighten the minds and strengthen the
wills of those who rule over nations

;
to these latter may He

assure justice and peace; may He encourage the zealous
apostles of His Divine message, sustain the good, draw the

errant to Himself, console those persecuted for His Name
and for His Church, succour the poor and oppressed, as-

suage the pains of the sick, the imprisoned, the exiled. May
He give to all a spark of His divine love so that everywhere
on earth His peaceful kingdom may triumph. Amen.

17



NATIONAL CATHOLIC WELFARE CONFERENCE

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