PIU5A11
AND

PEACE



PREFACE

This is a partial record of five years’ fight during World

War II, waged with "truth,” "prayer” and the "sincere and

apostolic word inspired by fraternal affection.” It is a frag-

mentary account of Pope Pius XITs struggle to prevent the

conflict, to shorten it, to mitigate its evils, to care for its

victims, and always and above all to have peoples do the work

of justice which brings peace. It is a continuing appeal to

the conscience of the world. It is a father’s testament to his

children, warring among themselves, with themselves and with

the erupting evil of neglected centuries. Admonishing, ex-

horting and consoling, the Holy Father points out the causes

of their suffering and confusion and the way to "tranquillity in

order,” that comes only from knowing which things are first,

and how to place them first.

The Pope is continually emphasizing the fact that the pres-

ent is a time of crisis—when fatal errors may be made or a
new and better age begun. He does this not to deaden with

fear, but to urge confident action and trust in God. "The

call of the moment is not lamentation, but action. Not

lamentation over what has been but reconstructing of what

is to arise and must arise for the good of society.” This typi-

cal call to action is backed up by specific directives and is

addressed particularly to those who best can act, namely, those

who are in positions of responsibility and who know that

their power is from God. Thus at this moment when the

United States has a place of leadership for the future course

of the world’s peace and welfare, the Pope’s peace program

looks with unmistakable hope and urgency to America espe-

cially for its fulfillment.

This program is perhaps most fully and conveniently ex-

pressed in the four Christmas Messages, 1939-1942, and the

Pentecost Message of 1941. Excerpts from these and ten

other messages are included in this too brief collection. The

important Encyclical Summi Pontificahis (not mentioned

here) can be obtained in pamphlet form from the National

Catholic Welfare Conference, as can the full text of the 1942

Christmas Message. A comprehensive record of Pope Pius
XITs writings on peace m.ay be found in "Principles for Peace”

(N. C. W. C.). Commentaries are available from the Na-

tional Catholic Welfare Conference and the Catholic Associa-

tion for International Peace.

The Editor.



PIUS XII AND PEACE

1939-1944

Excerpts from Selected Messages

"Give mankind, thirsting for it, a peace that

shall reinstate the human race in its own esteem

and in that of history—a peace over whose cradle
the vengeful lightning of hate and the instincts of

unchecked desire for vengeance do not flash, but

rather the resplendent dawn of a new spirit of

world union which, sustained by the indispensable,

supernatural help of the Christian faith, will alone

be able to preserve humanity, after this unhappy

war, from the unspeakable catastrophe of a peace

built on wrong foundations and therefore ephem-

eral and illusory.”— {Christmas Message, 1943.)

Editor, Catherine Schaefer

Department of Social Action

National Catholic Welfare Conference

NATIONAL CATHOLIC WELFARE CONFERENCE
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.

Washington 5, D. C.



Contents

I. First Message to the World, March 3, 1939 5

II. "To Those in Power and to Their Peoples,” August

24, 1939 . . ; 6

III. Christmas Message, 1939 8

IV. Appeal for Peace with Justice, November 24, 1940. 14

V. Christmas Message, 1940 17

VI. Easter Message, 1941 21

VII. Address on Fiftieth Anniversary of ^^The Condition

of Labor,” June 1, 1941 25

VIII. Divine Providence in Human Events, June 29, 1941 31

IX. Christmas Message, 1941 36

X. Episcopal Silver Jubilee Address, May 13, 1942. ... 41

XI. Dedication of World to Immaculate Heart of Mary,

November 1, 1942 44

XII. Christmas Message, 1942 46

XIII. Radio Message on Fourth Anniversary of War’s

Outbreak, September 1, 1943 50

XIV. Christmas Message, 1943 52

XV. Fifth Coronation Anniversary Address, March 12,

1944 58

4



PIUS xn AND PEACE

1939-1944

I

First Message to the World, March 3, 1939

(Excerpts from Radio Address DUM GRAVISSIMUM)

**To this Our paternal message We will add a hope and
invitation to peace. We speak of that peace which Our
predecessor of blessed memory urged so insistently upon men,

for which he invoked such ardent prayers, and for which he

made to God a spontaneous offer of his life. We speak of
that peace which is the sublime gift of heaven, the desire of

all good souls and the fruit of charity and justice.

*'We invite all to the peace of a tranquil conscience in

friendship with God, to the peace of families united and

harmonized by much love of Christ and, finally, to a peace

between nations through fraternal help, reciprocal and loving

collaboration, and cordial understanding for the superior in-

terests of the great human family under the eyes and pro-

tection of Divine Providence.

"In these fearsome and difficult hours, while so many

difficulties seem to oppose the attainment of that peace which

is the most profound aspiration of all hearts. We raise to Our
Lord a special prayer for all those who are entrusted with the

highest honors and the heaviest burden of guiding their

peoples in ways of prosperity and progress.

"Here, beloved Cardinals, venerable brethren, and beloved

children, is the first wish overflowing from the palpitating

fatherliness with which God has enkindled Our heart.

"Before Us is a vision of the enormous evils afflicting the

world, for the correction of which may Our Blessed Lord send

help to Us, unarmed but confident. With St. Paul, we

5



6 Pius XII and Peace

repeat: 'Use Us.’ We are sure that you Our children, Our
brothers, will not render this Our wish in vain. After the

Grace of God, it is in your good will that Our soul so greatly

trusts.”

II

Radio Plea "To Those in Power and to Their Peoples”

August 24, 1939

C^Nothing Is Lost with Peace; All May Be Lost with War^')

"Once again a critical hour strikes for the great human

family— an hour of tremendous deliberations, toward which
Our heart cannot be indifferent and from which Our spiritual

authority, coming to Us from God to lead souls in the ways

of justice and peace, must not hold itself aloof.

"Behold Us, then, with all of you who this moment are

carrying the burden of so great a responsibility, in order that

through Our voice you may hear the voice of that Christ

from Whom the world received the most exalted example of
living, and in Whom millions and millions of souls repose
their trust— in a crisis in which His word alone is capable
of mastering all the tumultuous disturbances of the earth.

"Behold Us with you leaders of peoples, men of state and

men of arms, writers, orators of the radio and of the public

rostrum, and all those others who have the power to influence

the thought and action of their fellow men for whose destiny

they are responsible.

"We, armed only with the word of truth, and standing

above all public disputes and passions, speak to you in the

Name of God, from Whom all paternity in heaven and earth

is named; in the Name of Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who

desired that all men be brothers; in the Name of the Holy

Ghost, the Gift of God Most High, the inexhaustible source

of love in the hearts of men.

"Today, notwithstanding Our repeated exhortations and

Our very particular interest, the fear of bloody international

conflict becomes more excruciating. Today when the tension

of minds seems to have arrived at such a pass as to make

an outbreak of the awful scourge of war appear imminent,

We direct, with paternal feeling, a new and more heartfelt



Pius XII and Peace 7

appeal to those in power and to their peoples— to the former
that, laying aside accusations, threats and causes of mutual

distrust, they may attempt to resolve their present differences

with the sole means suitable thereto, namely by reciprocal

and trusting agreements; to the latter that, in calm tran-

quillity, without disordered agitation, they may encourage

the peaceful efforts of those who govern them.

”It is by force of reason, and not by force of arms, that

justice makes progress, and empires which are not founded

on justice are not blessed by God.

"Statesmanship emancipated from morality betrays those

very ones who would have it so.

"The danger is imminent, but there is yet time. Nothing

is lost with peace; all may be lost with war.

"Let men return to mutual understanding! Let them

begin negotiations anew, conferring with good-will and

with respect for reciprocal rights. Then will they find that

to sincere and conscientious negotiations an honorable solution

is never precluded. They will feel a sense of greatness in

the true sense of the word if, by silencing the voices of

passion— be it collective or private —• and by leaving to
reason its rightful rule, they will have spared the blood of

their fellow men and saved their countries from ruin.

"May the Almighty grant that the voice of this Father

of the Christian family, of this Servant of Servants, who

bears amongst men, unworthily indeed but nevertheless really,

the person, the voice and the authority of Jesus Christ, find

in the minds and hearts of men a ready and willing reception.

May the strong hear Us that they may not become weak

through injustice. May the powerful hear Us if they desire

that their power be not destruction, but rather protection

for their peoples and a safeguard to tranquillity in public

order and in their labor. We beseech them by the Blood of
Christ, Whose conquering force in the world was His mildness

in life and in death. And beseeching them. We know and
feel that We have with Us all those who are upright of
heart, all those who hunger and thirst after justice, all

those who already suffer every sorrow through the evils of

life. We have with Us the hearts of mothers, which beat
as one with Ours; of fathers, who would be obliged to

abandon their families; of the lowly, who labor and do



8 Pius XII and Peace

not understand; of the innocent, upon whom weighs heavily

the awful threat; of the young men, generous knights of

purest and noblest ideals. And with Us also is the soul of

this ancient Europe, which was the product of Faith and

Christian genius.

"With Us, all humanity seeks justice, bread and freedom;

not steel, which kills and destroys. With Us is that Christ

Who has made His solemn commandment, love of one’s
brother, the very substance of His religion and the promise

of salvation for individuals and for nations.

"Recalling finally that human efforts are of no avail

without Divine assistance. We invite all to raise their eyes to
Heaven and to beseech the Lord with fervent prayers that

His Divine grace descend in abundance upon this world in its

upheaval, that it placate dissensions, reconcile hearts and

evoke the resplendent dawn of a more serene future. To

this end, and with this hope. We impart to all, from Our
heart. Our paternal benediction.”

Ill

Christmas Message

December 24
,
1939

{Thh message contains the so-called "Five Point Peace Program” of Pope

Pius XII.)

"Amidst the strife and tumult of varied world happenings,

imperturbability of spirit is that real joy which resides in the

power to withstand the storm through trust in God. We

unite with Christ, Principal and Fount of every grief and joy.

"Where others lose themselves, where the waters of affliction

and desperation submerge souls in cruelty, those who trust in

Christ can do everything and, in harmony with order and

the justification and magnificence of God, rise above the

disorders and storms of the world with equal courage and

order.

"The indescribable disaster of war, which Pope Pius XI,

with profound and extreme regret, foresaw and with the

indomitable energy of his noble and most high spirit wished



Pius XII and Peace 9

by all means to avert, has broken out and is now a tragic

reality.

"Before this tremendous war, an immense bitterness over-

comes our souls, sad and troubled that this holy Feast of

Christmas, this Feast of the Prince of Peace, must be cele-

brated to the funereal roar of cannon and under terror of

flying war missiles, in the midst of menaces and dangers of

armed navies.

"It seems that the world has forgotten Christ’s message

of peace—the voice of reason. We of the Christian brother-
hood have been obliged to see a series of irreconcilable acts,

irreconcilable both in regard to international rights and to

principles of national rights and to the most elemental senti-

ments of humanity, acts which show in what chaotic and

vicious circles has the sense of justice been deviated from

useful consideration.

"In this category are premeditated aggressions against a

small, laborious, and peaceful people on the pretext of a threat

which neither exists, nor is desired, nor is possible.

"Atrocities and illegal use of means of destruction even

against non-combatants, refugees, old people, women and

children and disregard of human dignity, liberty and life

are acts which cry for the vengeance of God—as does ever
more extensive and methodical anti-Christian and even athe-

istic propaganda, mostly among young people.

"To preserve the Church and her mission among men from

every contact with such anti-Christian spirit is Our duty,

and this is also Our sacred and intimate wish as the Father

and Teacher of the Faith.

"With anguished worry We are forced to contemplate the
accumulating spiritual ruin before Us—accumulating because
of confusion of ideas which, more or less voluntarily, shades

and distorts truth in the souls of many people, whether they

be involved in war or not.

"We, therefore, must regard with alarm the tremendous

amount of work that will be necessary when a world tired

of fighting wishes to restore peace—to break down the walls
of aversion and hatred which have been built up in the heat

of the strife.

"Aware of the excesses to which that way of life leads,
and of the political doctrines and acts which ignore the laws



10 Pius XII and Peace

of God, when the disputes became critical We attempted,
as you know, with every endeavor and to tht last moment,

to prevent the worst and to persuade men in whose hands

power lay and whose shoulders bore the grave responsibility,

to abstain from armed conflict and so to save the 'world from

incalculable disaster.

"These efforts, and those coming from other influential

and respected sources, failed to produce the hoped-for effect,

chiefly because of deep and apparently irremovable distrust—
distrust which had grown in recent years and which had

raised insurmountable spiritual barriers.

"The problems were not unsolvable, but this distrust, origi-

nating in a series of particular circumstances, stood in the

way with almost irresistible force and to such an extent that

there no longer was hope for promises made or for the main-

tenance of possible amicable conventions.

"Finally, every effort to promote a peaceful solution became

hopeless. There was nothing left but to try to lighten the

burdens of war, although the effort to bring Christian charity

to regions where the most urgent need of it would be felt

was obstructed by difficulties not yet overcome.

"With indescribable anguish. We watched this war initiated
and proceeding in such unusual circumstances.

"If up to now—excepting the bloodstained soil of Poland
and Finland—the number of victims may be considered fewer
than was feared, the total sorrows and sacrifices have reached

such a point as to inspire great anxiety in those concerned

with the future economic, social and spiritual condition of

Europe, and not of Europe alone.

"The more the war monster strives for, swallows and allots

itself material means which are placed inexorably at the

service of war needs—mounting from hour to hour—the
more acute becomes the danger, for nations directly or indi-

rectly struck by the conflict, of what We might call perni-
cious anemia, and they are faced with the pressing question:

'How can exhausted or weakened economy, at the end of the

war, find means for economic and social reconstruction among

difficulties which will be enormously increased, and of which

the forces and artifices of disorder, lying in wait, will seek

to make use in the hope of giving the final blow to Christian

Europe?’



Pius XII and Peace 11

"Such consideration of the present and future must cause

much concern to the leaders and sane members of every

people, even in the fever of the war, and cause them to exam-

ine the effects and reflect on the aims and justifiable ends

of war.

"We believe those who with watchful eyes consider these

serious potentialities and the possibility of such an evolution

of events will, notwithstanding war and its horrible accom-

paniments, hold themselves wholly prepared to define clearly,

so far as they themselves are concerned, the fundamental

points of a just and honorable peace at the opportune moment;

and that they would not flatly reject opportunity for nego-

tiations, whenever the occasion presents itself, with the neces-

sary guarantees and security.

"First. A fundamental condition of a just and honorable
peace is to assure the right to life and independence of all

nations, large and small, strong and weak. One nation’s will

to live must never be tantamount to a death sentence for

another. When this equality of rights has been destroyed,
injured or imperilled, the juridical order requires reparation

whose measure and extent are not determined by the sword

or selfish, arbitrary judgment, but by the standards of justice

and reciprocal equity.

"Second. That order, reestablished in such a manner, may

be tranquil and durable—the cardinal principles of true
peace—nations must be liberated from the heavy slavery of
the race for armaments and from the danger that material

force, instead of serving to protect rights, become the tyran-

nical violator of them.

"Conclusions of peace which failed to attribute funda-

mental importance to disarmament, mutually accepted, or-

ganic and progressive both in practice and spirit, and failed

to carry out this disarmament loyally, would sooner or later

reveal their inconsistency and lack of vitality.

"Third. In any reordering of international community

life it would conform to the rules of human wisdom for all

parties concerned to examine the consequences of the gaps

and deficiencies of the past; and in creating or reconstituting

the international institutions, which have so lofty a mission

and at the same time one that is so difficult and full of the

gravest responsibilities, they should keep present before them



12 Pius XII and Peace

the experiences which poured from the inefiicacy or defective

operation of similar previous projects.

"And, since it is so difficult—one would be tempted to
say almost impossible—for human weakness to foresee every-
thing and assure everything at the time of the drafting of

treaties of peace—when it is difficult to be entirely free from
passions and bitterness—the establishment of juridical insti-
tutions, which serve to guarantee the loyal and faithful ful-

fillment of terms and, in case of recognized need, to revise

and correct them, is of decisive importance for an honorable

acceptance of a peace treaty and to avoid arbitrary and

unilateral ruptures and interpretations of the terms of these

treaties.

"Fourth. A point which should draw particular attention
if better ordering of Europe is sought, concerns the real needs

and just demands of nations and of peoples as well as of

ethnical minorities: demands which, if not always sufficient

to form a strict right when there are recognized or confirmed

treaties or other juridical titles which oppose them, deserve

at all events benevolent examination to meet them in a peace-

ful way and, where it appears necessary, by means of equitable,

wise and harmonious revision of treaties.

"Once true equilibrium among nations is thus brought

back and the basis of mutual trust is reestablished, many of

the incentives to resort to violence would be removed.

"Fifth. But even better and more complete settlements

will be imperfect and condemned to ultimate failure, if those

who guide the destinies of peoples, and the peoples themselves,

do not allow themselves to be penetrated always more and

more by that spirit from which alone can arise life, authority

and obligation for the dead letter of articles in international

agreements—by that spirit, namely, of intimate, acute respon-
sibility that measures and weighs human statutes according

to the holy, unshakeable rules of Divine Law; by that hunger

and thirst for justice which is proclaimed as a Beatitude in

the Sermon on the Mount, and which has, as a natural pre-

supposition, moral justice; by that universal love which is

the compendium of and most comprehensive term for the

Christian ideal, and therefore throws across also a bridge to

those who have not the benefit of participating in our own

Faith.



Pius XII and Peace 13

"We do not fail to recognize the grave difficulties which

interpose themselves against the accomplishment of the aims

which We have traced in broad outlines in a desire to lay

foundations for, to put into effect and to preserve, a just

international peace.

"But if ever there were an aim worthy of the concourse

of noble, generous spirits; if ever there arose a spiritual cru-

sade which with new truth sounded the cry, 'God wills it,’

it is truly that high aim and this crusade—to lead peoples
back from the muddy gulf of material and selfish interest

to the living fountain of Divine Law, which alone is powerful

and gives that morality, nobility and stability of which a lack

has been felt far too long, and which is gravely needed to

repair the damage done to most nations, to humanity and to

those ideals which are at the same time the real ends of peace

based on justice and love.

"We wait for and hope that all those who are united to

Us by the bond of Faith, each at his post within the limits

of his mission, will keep both mind and heart open, so that,

when the hurricane of war ceases and is dispersed, there will

rise up in every nation and among all peoples far-sighted

and pure spirits, animated by courage, who will know how

and will be able to confront the dark instinct of vile ven-

geance with the severe and noble majesty of justice—the
sister of love and companion of all true wisdom.

"Of this justice, which alone can create and assure peace.

We and those who are listening to Us know where to find a
sublime example, intimate impulse and sure premise.

"Let us go to Bethlehem. There we find lying in the

manger the new-born 'Son of Justice, Christ Our God,’ and

by His side the Virgin Mary, the 'Mirror of Justice’ and the

'Queen of Peace,’ with her holy guardian, Joseph, a just man.

Jesus is the awaited of the Gentiles. The Prophets called Fliin

this and sang His future triumphs.”



14 Pius XII and Peace

IV

Radio Appeal for Peace with Justice

November 24
,
1940

{On this day the Universal Church joined with the Holy Father in public

prayers for peace)

. . But if the cataclysm does not express our spirits, we

feel nonetheless that the present hour is a phase in the solemn

story of humanity predicted by Christ. And you, dear chil-

dren, know how this new and fierce war which lies heavy on

Europe and the world, by necessity weighs down Our heart

and that paternal affection which derives from the office im-

posed on Us by God towards all peoples; for you well know

that sorrow is a child of affection and love.

"Is not Christ’s sorrowful Passion the outcome of His love

for us? Deus Dilexit Mundum^: 'God so loved the world.’

"During His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which He so

loved, nearing the city and contemplating it, did not the

Divine Redeemer weep over it? And He said: 'If thou also

hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are

to thy peace!’

"This ineffable lament of Our Saviour over Jerusalem could

not but find an echo in the heart of His humble Vicar as he

beholds Europe and the world in brutal conflict. We have
done everything for peace among nations, conscious as We
are that it is Ours to be a servant and minister of peace, bring-

ing the King on high Who makes peace not through the blood

of battlefields, but through the blood of His Cross, both as to

the things that are on earth, and the things that are in Heaven.

"It was an impulse of Our heart that We followed, in striv-
ing for the reestablishment of concord among nations—that
concord that was for a long time upset and now is completely

broken—and that there be set up an order of things more har-
monious, based on that justice which soothes passions, allays

hatreds, quenches rancor and bickerings; an order which would

tend to give to every people in tranquility, in liberty and in

security that portion which belongs to each, of the earthly

sources of prosperity and power, so as to make possible the

fulfillment of the words of the Creator: 'Increase and mul-

tiply, and fill the earth.’



Pius XII and Peace 15

"From the outset of the conflict, Our attention and

thoughts have never ceased to secure, insofar as^ We could,

that Divine purpose and human aid might be extended to those

whom the clash of arms has caused loss and suffering. Tor

the charity of Christ presseth us.’

"As the Common Father of all that believe in Christ,

shepherd of His immense fold. We count among Our children,
of Our flock, those near and far, the faithful, lost or strayed.

To all are We debtor, to all do We owe love, comfort and
help—to the weak and to the strong, to the miserable and
to the unhappy, to the wise and to the unwise.

"This vale of tears is now so inundated with fresh tears

to be dried on faces of children, mothers, men and aged ones

who feel a sense of cruel abandonment in their loves and

souls, especially in this turbulent hour when the terrible con-

flict, instead of subsiding, goes on to gather new ferocity!

"But if the din of war seems to overcome and drown Our

voice. We turn Our gaze away from earth to Heaven, to the
Father of Mercies and to the God of all comfort. Who contem-
plates all here below and commands the flow of the ocean:

'Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here

thou shalt break thy swelling waves.’

"To Him beneath Whose hands in the universal order of
events and things the action of man is restless without being

able to evade His provident and ineluctable counsel; to Him
We raise the sorrowing cry of Our heart, imploring from
Him better days for the human race, better dawns and better
sunsets to our days.

"Grant us, O Lord, peace in our days!
"No. Our God is not like the idols of the Gentiles that

have ears and hear not, have hands and feel not, have hearts

and love not. Our God is love, is charity itself; and we have

known and believed in the charity of God toward us: We
have known and believed the charity which God hath to us.

God is charity. This is the mystery of the heart of God, the

great mystery of Christianity.

"God, with that infinite and tender mercy which is over

all His works, will hear us—at the moment and in the man-
ner which He will have disposed—^if we send up to the seat
of His throne with one voice a trusting and fervent prayer



16 Pius XII and Peace

enriched by the humiliation of penance; for it belongs to the

Supreme Excellence of the goodness and charity of God not

only to bestow life and prosperity on all, but also to accede in

His generosity to the pious wishes we express with prayer.

"Elas not the Incarnate Son of God called us, in His dis-

ciples, His friends? And is it not a test of friendship that

he who loves wishes to see the desire of the loved one satis-

fied?

"It was for this reason that on the Feast of Christ the King,

under the protection of the glorious Queen of the Rosary,

We called on all the children of the Church to offer public
prayers together with Us today.

"We wished that there might be one immense choir of sup-

pliants answering to Our voice—of every clime, of every
tongue, dress, manner and rite, fired by one and the same

faith, one and the same hope, one and the same love—to turn
with Us their eyes beyond the stars and send their humble sup-

plication for grace and mercy to the throne of the Most High.

"O Lord, may Thy Divine Spirit reign and triumph over

the world. May the peace of concord and justice among

nations be restored. May our prayers be acceptable and wel-

come to the meek and humble in heart. May the numbers

and devotion of Holy Sacrifices which Thy Church, on bended

knee, offers to Thee, Priest and Victim eternally, through Thy

holy Mother, render Thee propitious toward us. Thou hast

words which penetrate and overcome hearts, which enlighten

intellects, which assuage anger and extinguish hates and re-

venge. Speak that word which will still the storm, which

will heal the sick, which is light to the blind and hearing to

the deaf and life to the dead.

"Peace among men, which Thou desirest, is dead. Bring

it back to life, O Divine Conquerer of death. Through Thee,
at last may the land and sea be calmed. May whirlwinds, that

in the light of day or in the dark of night scatter terror, fire,

destruction and slaughter on humble folk, cease. May justice

and charity on one side and on the other be in perfect balance,

so that all injustice be repaired, and the reign of right

restored, all discord and rancor be banished from men’s minds.

And may there arise, and gather strength in contemplation

of a new and harmonious prosperity, true and well-ordered

peace that will permanently unite as brothers, through the



Pius XII and Peace 17

ages, in harmonious search of high good, all peoples of the

human race in Thy sight. Amen.”

V

Christmas Message

December 24, 1940

{Contains the five *Hriumphs” necessary for peace
—

"indispensable pre-

requisites for such a new order”)

"The holy joy of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord,

the intimate happiness which rises spontaneously in the hearts

of the faithful of Christ, does not depend on external events,

nor can it be diminished or disturbed by them.

"Whosoever grasps the intimate meaning of the Christmas

hymn and has tasted even one drop of the sweet nectar of

the truth of love which it contains, knows where, amidst the

confused succession of events, sufferings and trials of these

tempestuous days, he may find a haven of safety, and he will

refrain as much from undue optimism, which disregards

reality, as from the still less apostolic tendency toward a

cowardly depressing pessimism.

"Let us be infinitely grateful to Our Lord that in this, our

own day, the Church is not lacking in such elect, saintly, and

courageous souls, found alike in the ranks of the clergy and

laity, who give strong evidence of a heroism, generally over-

looked by the world, and of an unwavering fidelity.

"The material and the spiritual condition of the present

age brings into being and imposes on the apostolate enormous

demands, not only for the duration of this dreadful war, but

still more for that day at its conclusion, when the peoples will

be obliged to dedicate themselves to the task of repairing the

deep-seated evils which will be their bitter social and economic

heritage; when disorganized nations find themselves, at the

war’s conclusion, with spiritual wounds which will certainly

demand assiduous and watchful care, that their pernicious

effects may be forestalled or minimized.

"Among the many misfortunes arising from this cruel con-

flict one in particular which immediately brought sorrow to

Our heart continues to grieve Us—namely the misfortunes
of the prisoners of war, which become progressively more dis-



18 Pius XII and Peace

tressing for Us with the ever diminishing possibility of Our

hastening in Our paternal solicitude to bring aid through effi-

cacious relief and consolation where the victims are most

numerous and the misery most pitiable.

"Mindful of what We, Ourselves, in the august name of

the Sovereign Pontiff, Benedict XV of happy memory, were
able to accomplish during the last war for the relief of the

moral and material distress of many prisoners of war. We had
hoped that in the present instance as well there might be left

open the way for the religious and charitable initiatives of

the Church.

"However, although Our aim has been frustrated in some

countries, Our efforts have not been in vain everywhere since

We have succeeded in bringing many material and spiritual

evidences of Our concern to at least a portion of the Polish

prisoners; and indeed other more frequent evidences of that

same solicitude to Italian prisoners and internees, especially

in Egypt, Australia, and Canada.

"Nor was it Our desire that the Holy Feast of Christmas

should dawn on the world without Our conveying through the

medium of Our representatives some definite manifestation of

Our encouraging remembrance and benediction to the Eng-

lish and French prisoners in Italy, the Germans in England,

the Greeks in Albania, and the Italians scattered throughout

various parts of the British Empire, especailly in Egypt, Pales-

tine and India.

"Eager, therefore, to make Our own the anxieties of fami-

lies, fearful for the lot of their separated and unfortunate

relations. We have undertaken and are actively advancing and
developing another task of no small magnitude, namely that of

requesting and transmitting information wherever it is pos-

sible and permissible to do so, not only concerning countless

prisoners, but also concerning refugees and those whom the

present calamities have so sadly separated from fatherland

and home.

"In this way We have been able to feel close to Our own,
the beat of thousands of hearts with the disturbed tumult o^

their most intimate feelings, either in strained tension 'or

under the terrible incubus of uncertainty, or in the exultant

joy of renewed assurance or in profound suffering and quiet

resignation regarding the fate of their loved ones.



Pius XII and Peace 19

"No less comforting is it to Us to have been in a position

to console with the moral and spiritual assistance of Our rep-

resentatives or with an offering of Our resources large num-

bers of refugees, expatriates and emigrants, including 'non-

Aryans.’

"We were enabled in Our aid to those of Polish origin to be

especially generous as also to those others for whom the

charitable contributions of Our children in the United States

facilitated Our paternal solicitude for them.

"Exactly one year ago. Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons,

in this very place We formulated certain principles with re-
gard to the essential presuppositions of a peace which would

conform to the principles of justice, equity and honor and

would thus be enduring. And if the succeeding march of

events has delayed their application to a more distant time,

the thoughts then proposed have nevertheless lost none of their

intrinsic truth and conformity to reality, nor of their force

of moral obligation.

"From the impassioned polemics of warring factions con-

cerning the objectives of the war and the ultimate peace set-

tlement, there emerges, ever more clearly defined, a quasi-uni-

versal opinion which contends that pre-war Europe as well as

its political structure are now undergoing a process of trans-

formation of such a nature as to signal the dawn of a new

era.

"Europe and its system of states, it is said, will not be as

they were before. Something new and better, more evolved

organically, sounder, freer and stronger, must replace the past

in order to eliminate its defects, its weaknesses and its defi-

ciencies, which are said to have been disclosed convincingly by

recent events.

"In the midst of the contrasting systems which are part of

our times and dependent upon them, the Church cannot be

called upon to favor one more than another. In the orbit

of the universal value of divine law, whose authority obliges

not only individuals but nations as well, there is ample room

and liberty of action for the most varied forms of political

opinion; whilst the practical application of one political sys-

tem or another depends in a large measure and often quite

decisively upon circumstances and causes which considered in



20 Pius XII and Peace

themselves are extraneous to the purpose and action of the

Church.

"As protectress and herald of the principles of faith and

morals, it is her sole interest, her sole longing, to convey

through educational and religious channels to all peoples with-

out exception the clear waters of the fountains of the patri-

mony and values of Christian life, in order that every people

in its own peculiar way may enjoy Christian fellowship, Chris-

tian ethical-religious impulses to establish a society that would

be humanly praiseworthy, spiritually elevated and a source of

genuine good.

"Indispensable prerequisites for such a new order are:

"One, triumph over hate, which is today a cause of division

among peoples; renunciation therefore of the systems and

practices from which hate constantly receives added nourish-

ment.

"Two, triumph over mistrust, which bears down as a de-

pressing weight on international law and renders impossible

the realization of any sincere agreement.

"Three, triumph over the distressing principles that utility

is a basis of law and right, and that might makes right; a

principle which makes all international relations liable to fall.

"Four, triumph over those germs of conflict which consist

in too strident differences in the field of world economy;

hence progressive action, balanced by correspondent guaran-

tees, to arrive at an arrangement which would give to every

state the medium necessary for insuring a proper standard of

living for its own citizens of every rank.

"Five, triumph over the spirit of cold egoism, which, fear-

less in its might, easily leads to violation not only of the honor

and sovereignty of states but of the righteous, wholesome and

disciplined liberty of citizens as well.

"It must be supplanted by sincere juridical and economic

solidarity, fraternal collaboration in accordance with the pre-

cepts of Divine Law amongst peoples assured of their au-

tonomy and independence.

"As long as the rumble of armaments continues in the stark

reality of this war, it is scarcely possible to expect any definite

acts in the direction of the restoration of morally, juridically

imprescriptible rights.

"But it would be well to wish that henceforth a declaration



Pius XII and Peace 21

of principle in favor of their recognition may be given, to

calm the agitation and bitterness of so many who feel that

they are menaced or injured in their very existence or in the

free development of their activity.

"We express Our heartfelt wish that humanity and those

who will show it the way along which it is to move forward

will be sufficiently matured intellectually and capable in

action to prepare the ground of the future for the new order

that will be solid, true and just.

"We pray God that it may so happen.”

VI

Easter Sunday Message

April 13, 1941

{Excerpts from "Urbi et Orbi,” broadcast to the -world, asking for lust and

humane treatment of civilian populations by belligerents)

"In the lamentable spectacle of human conflict which We
are now witnessing We acknowledge the valor and loyalty
of all those who with a deep sense of duty are fighting for

the defense and prosperity of their homeland; We recognize,
too, the prodigious and, in itself, efficacious development made

in industrial and technical fields, nor do We overlook the

many generous and praiseworthy gestures of magnanimity

which have been made towards the enemy; but while We

acknowledge. We feel obliged nonetheless to state that the

ruthless struggle has at times assumed forms which can be

described only as atrocious. May all belligerents, who also

have human hearts moulded by mothers’ love, show some

feeling of charity for the sufferings of civilian populations,

for defenseless women and children, for the sick and aged, all

of whom are often exposed to greater and more widespread

perils of war than those faced by soldiers at the front!

"We beseech the belligerent powers to abstain until the very

end from the use of still more homicidal instruments of war-

fare; for the introduction of such weapons inevitably results

in their retaliatory use, often with greater violence by the

enemy. If already We must lament the fact that the limits
of legitimate warfare have been repeatedly exceeded, would



22 Pius XII and Peace

not the more widespread use of increasingly barbarous offen-

sive weapons soon transform war into unspeakable horror?

"In this tempest of misfortunes and perils, of afflictions and

fears, our most powerful and safest haven of trust and peace

is found in prayer to God, in Whose hands rests not only the

destiny of men but also the outcome of their most obdurate

dissensions. Wherefore We express Our gratitude to Catholics
of the entire world for the fervor with which they responded

to Our call to prayer and sacrifice for peace on November 24.

"Today We repeat that invitation to you and to all those
who raise their minds and hearts to God and We beseech you
not to relax your prayerful vigilance but rather to reanimate

and redouble it. Yes, let us pray for early peace. Let us pray

for universal peace; not for peace based upon the oppression

and destruction of peoples but peace which, while guarantee-

ing the honor of all nations, will satisfy their vital needs and

insure the legitimate rights of all.

"We have constantly accompanied prayer with Our own

endeavors. To the very limit of Our power and with a vigi-

lant consciousness of impartiality in spirit, and in Our apos-

tolic office We have left nothing undone or untried in order

to forestall or shorten the conflict, to humanize the methods

of war, to alleviate suffering and to bring assistance and com-

fort to the victims of war. We have not hesitated to indi-
cate in unmistakenly clear terms the necessary principles and

sentiments which must constitute the determining basis of a

future peace that will assure the sincere and loyal consent of

ali peoples. But We are saddened to note that there seems to
be as yet little likelihood of an approximate realization of

peace that will be just, in accordance with human and Chris-

tian norms.

"Thus Our supplications to Heaven must be raised with

ever increasing meaning and fervor, that a new spirit may take

root and develop in all peoples and especially among those

whose greater power gives them wider influence and imposes

upon them additional responsibility; the spirit of willingness,

devoid of sham and artifice, that is ready to make mutual

sacrifices in order to build, upon the accumulated ruins of war,

a new edifice of fraternal solidarity among the nations of the

world, an edifice built upon new and stronger foundations,

with fixed and stable guarantees, and with a high sense of



Pius XII and Peace 23

moral sincerity which would repudiate every double standard

of morality and justice for the great and the small or for the

strong and the weak.

"Truth like man has but a single face: and truth is Our

weapon just as prayer is Our defense and strength, and the

living, sincere and disinterested apostolic word inspired by

fraternal affection. Our entree to the hearts of men.

"These are not offensive and bloody weapons but the arms

of spirit, arms of Our mind and heart. Nothing can impede

or restrain Us from using them to secure and safeguard just

rights, true human brotherhood and genuine peace, wherever

the sacred duty of Our office prompts Us and compassion for

the multitude rekindles Our love.

"Nothing can restrain Us from repeatedly calling to the

observance of the precept of love those who are children of the

Church of Christ, those who because of their faith in the

Divine Saviour or at least in Our Father Who is in Heaven
are very near to us.

"Nothing can impede or restrain Us from doing all in Our

power in order that, in the tempest of surging waves of enmity

among the peoples of the earth, the Divine Ark of the Church

of Christ may be held firmly by the anchor of hope under the

golden rays of peace—that blessed vision of peace which, in
the midst of worldly conflicts, is the refuge and abode and sus-

tenance of that fraternal spirit, founded in God and ennobled

in the shadow of the Cross, with which the course must be set

if we are to escape from the present tempest and reach the

shore of a happier and more deserving future.

"However, under the vigilant Providence of God and armed

only with prayer, exhortation and consolation. We shall per-
severe in Our battle for peace in behalf of suffering humanity.

May the blessings and comforts of Heaven descend on all

victims of this war; upon you who are prisoners and upon

your families from whom you are separated and who are
anxious about you; and upon you refugees and dispossessed

who have lost your homes and land, your life’s support. We
share with you your anguish and suffering. If it is not allowed

Us—as We would honestly desire—to take upon Ourselves the
burden of your sorrows, may Our paternal and cordial sym-

pathy serve as the balm which will temper the bitterness of

your misfortune with today’s greeting of the Alleluia, the



24 Pius XII and Peace

hymn of Christ’s triumph over earthly martyrdom, the blos-

som of the olive tree of Gethsemane flourishing in the precious

hope of resurrection and of the new and eternal life in which

there will be neither sorrows nor struggles. In this vale of

tears there is no lasting city, no eternal homeland.

"Here below we are all exiles and wanderers; our true citi-

zenship, which is limitless, is in Heaven, in eternity, in God.

If worldly hopes have bitterly deluded you, remember that

hope in God never fails or deceives. You must make one

resolve—not to allow yourselves to be induced, either by your
sad lot or by the malice of men to waver in your allegiance

to Christ.

"Prosperity and adversity are part and parcel of man’s

earthly existence; but what is of the utmost importance, and

We say it with St. Augustine, is the use that is made of what
is called prosperity or adversity. For the virtuous man is.

neither exalted by worldly well-being nor humbled by tem-

poral misfortune; the evil man on the other hand, being cor-

rupted in prosperity, is made to suffer in adversity.

"To the powers occupying territories during the war,- We
say with all due consideration: let your conscience guide you

in dealing justly, humanely and providently with the peoples

of occupied territories. Do not impose upon them burdens

which you in similar circumstances, have felt or would feel

to be unjust.

"Prudent and helpful humanitarianism is the commenda-

tion and boast of wise generals; and the treatment of prisoners

and civilians in occupied areas is the surest indication and

proof of the civilization of individuals and nations. But

above all remember that upon the manner in which you deal

with those whom the fortunes of war put in your hands may
depend the blessing or curse of God upon your own land.

"Contemplation of a war that is so cruel in all its aspects

and the thought of the suffering children of the Church

inspires in the heart of the Common Father and forms upon
Our lips words of comfort and encouragement for the pastors

and faithful of those places where the Church, the Spouse of

Christ, is suffering most; where fidelity to her, the public pro-

fession of her doctrines, the conscientious and practical ob-

servance of her laws, moral resistance to atheism and to de-

Christianizing influences deliberately favored or tolerated, are



Pius XII and Peace 25

being openly or insidiously opposed and daily in various ways

made increasingly difficult.”

VII

Pentecost Radio Broadcast

June 1, 1941

{Excerpts from the address commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of

Pope Leo XIIVs Encyclical, "The Condition of Labor” (May 15, 1891),

and giving "directive moral principles on three fundamental values of

social and economic life”)

"What problems and what particular undertakings, some

perhaps entirely novel, our social life will present to the care

of the Church at the end of this conflict which sets so many

peoples against one another, it is difficult at the moment to

trace or foresee.

"If, however, the future has its roots in the past, if the

experience of recent years is to be our guide for the future. We
feel We may avail Ourselves of this commemoration to give
some further directive moral principles on three fundamental

values of social and economic life; and We shall do this ani-
mated by the very spirit of Leo XIII and unfolding his views

which were more than prophetic, presaging the social revolu-

tion of the day. These three fundamental values, which are

closely connected one with the other, mutually complementary

and dependent, are: the use of material goods, ^labor and the

family.

"Use of material goods:

"The Encyclical Kerum Novarum expounds on the ques-

tion of property and man’s sustenance, principles which have

lost nothing of their inherent vigor with the passage of time

and today, fifty years after, strike their roots deeper and retain

their innate vitality.

"In Our Encyclical Cerium Laetitiae, directed to the

Bishops of the United States of America, We called the atten-
tion of all to the basic idea of these principles which consists,

as We said, in the assertion^ of the unquestionable need That
the goods which were created by God for all men should flow

in an equitable manner to all, according to the principles of

justice and charity.’

"Every man, as a living being gifted with reason, has in



26 Pius XII and Peace

fact from nature the fundamental right to make use of the

material goods of the earth, while it is left to the will of man

and to the juridical statutes of nations to regulate in greater

detail the actuation of this right. This individual right can-

not in any way be suppressed even by other clear and undis-

puted rights over material goods. Undoubtedly the natural

order, deriving from God, demands also private property and

the free reciprocal commerce of goods by interchange and

gift, as well as the functioning of the State as a control over

both these institutions. But all this remains subordinated to

the natural scope of material goods and cannot emancipate

itself from the first and fundamental right which concedes

their use to all men; but it should rather serve to make pos-

sible the actuation of this right in conformity with its scope.

Only thus can we and must we secure that private property

and the use of material goods which bring to society peace

and prosperity and long life, that they no longer set up pre-

carious conditions which will give rise to struggles and jeal-

ousies and which are left to the mercy and the blind inter-

play of force and weakness.

"The native right to the use of material goods, intimately

linked as it is with the dignity and other rights of the human

person, together with the statutes mentioned above, provides

man with a secure, material basis of the highest import on

which to rise to the fulfillment, with reasonable liberty, of

his moral duties. The safeguarding of this right will ensure

the personal dignity of man and will facilitate for him the

attention to and fulfillment of that sum of stable duties and

decisions for which he is directly responsible to his Creator.

"Man has in truth the entirely personal duty to preserve

and order to perfection his material and spiritual life, so as to

secure the religious and moral scope which God has assigned

to all men and has given them as the supreme norm, obligatory

always and everywhere, before all other duties.

"To safeguard the inviolable sphere of the rights of the

human person and to facilitate the fulfillment of his duties

should be the essential office of every public authority. Does

not this flow from that genuine concept of the common good

which the State is called upon to promote? Hence it follows

that the care of such a common good does not supply a power

so extensive over the members of the community that, in vir-



Pius XII and Peace 27

tue of it, the public authority can interfere with the evolu-

tion of that individual activity which We have just described,
decide on the beginning or the ending of human life, deter-

mine at will the manner of man’s physical, spiritual, religious

and moral movements in opposition to the personal duties or

rights of man, and, to this end, abolish or deprive of efficacy

his natural rights to material goods.

"To deduce such extension of power from the care of the

common good would be equivalent to overthrowing the very

meaning of the words common good, and, falling into the

error, that the proper scope of man on earth is society, that

society is an end itself, that man has no other life which awaits

him beyond that which ends here below. The national econ-

omy, as it is the product of the men who work together in the

community of the State, has no other end than to secure, with-

out interruption, the material conditions in which the indi-

vidual life of the citizens may fully develop. Where this is

secured in a permanent way a people will be in a true sense

economically rich because the general well-being and conse-

quently the personal right of all to the use of worldly goods

is thus actuated in conformity with the purpose willed by the

Creator.

"From this, beloved children, it will be easy for you to con-

clude that the economic riches for people do not properly

consist in the abundance of goods measured according to a

purely and solely material calculation of their worth, but in

the fact that such an abundance represents and offers really

and effectively the material basis sufficient for the proper per-

sonal development of its members. If such a just distribution

of goods were not secured, or were effected imperfectly, the

real scope of national economy would not be attained; for

although there were at hand a lucky abundance of goods to

dispose of, the people, in not being called upon to share them,

would not be economically rich, but poor. Suppose, on the

other hand, that such a distribution is effected genuinely and

permanently and you will see a people, even if it disposes of

less goods, making itself economically sound.

"These fundamental concepts regarding the riches and pov-

erty of peoples it seems to Us particularly opportune to set

before you today when there is a tendency to measure and

judge such riches and poverty by balance sheets and by purely



28 Pius XII and Peace

quantitative criteria of the need or the abundance of goods.

If, instead, the scope of the national economy is correctly

considered then it will become a guide for the efforts of states-

men and peoples and will enlighten them to walk spontaneously

along a way which does not call for continual exaction in

goods and blood but will give fruits of peace and general

welfare.

"Labor:

"With the use of material goods you yourselves, dear chil-

dren, see how labor is connected. The Rerum Novarum teaches

that there are two essential characteristics of human labor:

It is personal and it is necessary. It is personal because it is

achieved through the exercise of man’s particular forces; it is

necessary because without it one cannot secure what is indis-

pensable to life; and man has a natural, grave, individual

obligation to maintain life. To the personal duty to labor

imposed by nature corresponds and follows the natural right

of each individual to make of labor the means to provide for

his own life and that of his children; so profoundly is the

empire of nature ordained for the preservation of man.

"But note that such a duty and the corresponding right to

work is imposed on and conceded to the individual in the first

instance by nature and not by society, as if man were nothing

more than a mere slave or official of the community. From

that it follows that the duty and the right to organize the

labor of the people belongs above all to the people immediately

interested: the employers and the workers. If they do not

fulfill their functions, or cannot because of special extra-

ordinary emergencies fulfill them, then it falls back on the

State to intervene in the field of labor and in the division and

distribution of work according to the form and measure that

the common good, properly understood, demands.

"In any case every legitimate and beneficial interference of

the State in the field of labor should be such as to safeguard

and respect its personal character, both in the broad outlines

and, as far as possible, in what concerns its execution. And

this will happen if the norms of the State do not abolish or

render impossible the exercise of other rights and duties

equally personal; such as the right to give God His due wor-

ship; the right to marry; the right of husband and wife, of



Pius XII and Peace 29

father and mother, to lead a married domestic life; the right

to a reasonable liberty in the choice of a state of life and the

fulfillment of a true vocation; a personal right, this last, if

there ever was one, belonging to the spirit and sublime when

the higher imprescriptible rights of God and the Church meet,

as in the choice and fulfillment of the priestly and religious

vocations.

"The family:

"According to the teaching of the Rerum Novarum nature,

itself, has closely joined private property with the existence

of human society and its true civilization, and in a very special

manner with the existence and development of the family.

Such a link appears more than obvious. Should not private

property secure for the father of a family the healthy liberty

he needs in order to fulfill the duties assigned him by the

Creator regarding the physical, spiritual and religious wel-

fare of the family?

"In the family the nation finds the natural and fecund

roots of its greatness and power. If private property has to

conduce to the good of the family, all public standards, and

specially those of the State which regulate its possession, must

not only make possible and preserve such a function in the

natural order under certain aspects superior to all others—but
must also perfect it ever more.

"A so-called civil progress would, in fact, be unnatural

which—either through the excessive burdens imposed or
through exaggerated direct interference—were to render pri-
vate property void of significance, practically taking from the

family and its head the freedom to follow the scope set by

God for the perfection of family life.

"Of all the goods that can be the object of private property

none is more conformable to nature, according to the teaching

of the Rerum Novarum, than the land, the holding in which

the family lives, and from the products of which it draws all

or part of its subsistence. And it is in the spirit of the Rerum

Novarum to state that, as a rule, only that stability which is
rooted in one’s own holding makes of the family the vital and

most perfect and fecund cell of society, joining up, in a

brilliant manner, in its progressive cohesion the present and

future generations. If today the concept and the creation of

living spaces is at the center of social and political aims, should



30 Pius XII and Peace

not one, before all else, think of the living space of the family

and free it of the fetters of conditions which do not permit

even formulation of the idea of a homestead of one’s own?

"Our planet, with all its extent of oceans and seas and

lakes, with mountains and plains covered with eternal snows

and ice, with great deserts and trackless lands, is not, at the

same time, without habitable regions and living spaces now

abandoned to wild natural vegetation and well suited to be

cultivated by man to satisfy his needs and civil activities;

and more than once, it is inevitable that some families migrat-

ing from one spot to another should go elsewhere in search of

a new homeland. Then according to the teaching of the

Rerum Novarum the right of the family to a living space is

recognized. When this happens emigration attains its natural

scope as experience often shows: We mean the more favorable
distribution of men on the earth’s surface suitable to colonies

of agricultural workers; that surface which God created and

prepared for the use of all. If the two parties, those who

agree to leave their native land and those who agree to admit

the newcomers, remain anxious to eliminate, as far as possible,

all obstacles to the birth and growth of real confidence be-

tween the country of emigration and that of immigration, all

those affected by such a transference of people and places will

profit by the transaction: the families will receive a plot of

ground which will be native land for them in the true sense

of the word: the thickly inhabited countries will be relieved

and their people will acquire new friends in foreign countries;

and the States which receive the emigrants will acquire indus-

trious citizens. In this way the nations which give and those

which receive will both contribute to the increased welfare

of man and the progress of human culture.

"These are the principles, concepts and norms, beloved chil-

dren, with which we should wish even now to share in the

future organization of the new order which the world expects

and hopes will arise from the seething ferment of the present

struggle to set the peoples at rest in peace and justice.”



Pius XII and Peace 3]

VIII

Divine Providence in Human Events

June 29, 1941

{Excerpts from radio broadcast to the ^corld on the Feast of SS. Feter

and Paid)

"There are not lacking, it is true, in the darkness of the

storm, comforting sights which dilate our hearts with great

and holy expectations: courage in defense of the fundamentals

of Christian civilization and confident hope in their triumph;

the most intrepid patriotism; heroic acts of virtue; chosen

souls ready for every sacrifice; wholehearted self surrender;

widespread reawakening of faith and of piety.

"But on the other hand; sin and evil penetrating the lives

of individuals, the sacred shrine of the family, the social or-

ganism; and being now no longer merely tolerated through

weakness or impotence but excused, exalted, entering as master

into the most diverse phases of human life; decadence of the

spirit of justice and charity; peoples overthrown or fallen into

an abyss of disasters; human bodies torn by bombs or by

machine-gun fire; wounded and sick who fill hospitals and

come out often with their health ruined, their limbs mutilated,

invalids for the rest of their lives; prisoners far from those

dear to them and often without news of them; individuals

and families deported, transported, separated, torn from their

homes, wandering in misery without support, without means

of earning their daily bread; evils all of them which affect

not only the fighters but weigh on the whole population, old

men, women and children, the most innocent, the most peace

loving, those bereft of all defense; blockades and counter

blockades which aggravate almost everywhere the difficulty

of getting supplies of foodstuffs so that already, here and there,

famine in all its horrors makes its presence felt. Added to this

the indescribable suffering, pain and persecution which so many

of Our dear sons and daughters—priests, religious, layfolk

—

in some places endure for the name of Christ because of their

religion, of their fidelity to the Church, because of their

sacred ministry; pains and bitterness which anxiety for those

that suffer does not permit US to reveal in all their sad and

moving details.



32 Pius XII and Peace

"Before such an accumulation of evils, of obstacles to vir-

tue, of disasters, of trials of every kind, it seems that man’s

mind and judgment seem to stray and become confused, and

perhaps in the heart of more than one of you has arisen the

terrible suggestion of doubt, which perchance at the death of

the two Apostles was a disturbing temptation for some of the

less staunch Christians. How can God permit all this? Can
an omnipotent God, infinitely wise and infinitely good, pos-

sibly allow so many evils which He might so easily prevent?

And there arise to the lips the words of Peter, still imperfect

when the passion was foretold: 'Lord, be it far from thee.’

"No, my God—they think—neither Your wisdom nor Your
goodness nor Your honor, itself, can allow evil and violence

to dominate to such an extent over the world, to deride You

and to triumph by Your silence. Where is Your Power and

Providence? Must we then doubt either Your Divine Govern-

ment or Your love for us?

"'Thou savorest not the things that are of, God, but the

things that are of men’, said Christ to Peter just as He had

made the Prophet Isaias say to the people of Judah: *My

thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways.’
"All men are as children before God; all, even the most

profound thinkers and the most experienced leaders of peo-

ples. They judge events with the foreshortened vision of time,

which passes and flies past irreparably; God, on the other hand,

sees events from on high from the unmoved center of eternity.

They have before their eyes the limited view of a few years;

God has before Him the all-embracing panorama of the ages.

"They think of human events in relation to their proximate

causes and immediate effects; God sees them in their remote

causes and judges them in their remote effects: They stop to

single out this or that particular responsible hand; God sees a

whole, hidden, complicated convergence of responsibilities be-

cause His exalted Providence does not exclude the free choice

of evil and good in human selections.

"They would have immediate justice and are scandalized

at the ephemeral power of the enemies of God, the sufferings

and humiliations of the innocent permitted by God; but Our

Heavenly Father, who in the light of His eternity, embraces,

penetrates and dominates the vicissitudes of time as much as

the serene peace of the endless ages, God Who is the Blessed



Pius XII and Peace 33

Trinity, full of compassion for the weaknesses, ignorance and

impatience of men, but Who loves men too much for their

faults to turn Him from the ways of His wisdom and love,

continues and will continue to make His sun to rise upon the

good and bad and the rain to fall upon the just and the un-

just, to guide their childlike steps with firmness and kindness

if only they will let themselves be led by Him and have trust

in the power and the wisdom of His love for them.

"What does it mean to trust in God?

"Trust in God means the abandonment of oneself with all

the force of the will sustained by grace and love, in spite of

all the doubts suggested by appearance to the contrary, to the

wisdom, the infinite love of God. It means believing that

nothing in this world escapes His Providence, whether in the

universal or in the particular order; that nothing great or

small happens which is not foreseen, wished or permitted,

directed always by Providence to its exalted ends, which in this

world are always inspired by love for men. It means believing

that God can permit, at times here below, for some time the

preeminence of atheism and of impiety, the lamentable obscur-

ing of a sense of justice, the violation of law, the tormenting

of innocent, peaceful, undefended, helpless men. It means

believing that God at times thus lets trials befall individuals

and peoples, trials of which the malice of men is the instru-

ment in a design of justice directed towards the punishment

of sin, towards purifying persons and peoples through the ex-

piations of this present life and bringing them back by this

way to Himself; but it means believing at the same time that

this justice always remains here below the justice of a Father

inspired and dominated by love.

"Flowever cruel may seem the.Hand of the Divine Surgeon

when He cuts with the lancet into the live flesh, it is always

an active love that guides and drives it in and only the good

of men and peoples makes Him interfere to cause such sorrow.

It means believing finally that the fierce intensity of the trial,

like the triumph of evil, will endure even here below only for

a fixed time and not longer; that the Hour of God will come,

the hour of mercy, the hour of holy rejoicing, the hour of

the new canticle of liberation, the hour of exultation and of

joy, the hour in which, after having let the hurricane loose

for a moment on humanity, the all-powerful Hand of the



34 Pius XII and Peace

Heavenly Father, with an imperceptible motion, will detain it

and disperse it and, by ways little known to the mind or to

the hopes of men, justice, calm and peace will be restored to

the nations.

"We know well that the most serious difficulty for those

who have not a correct sense of the Divine comes from seeing

so many innocent victims involved in suffering by the same

tempest which overwhelms sinners. Men never remain in-

different when the hurricane which tears up the great trees

also cuts down the lowly little flower which opened at their

feet only to lavish the grace of their beauty and fragrance on

the air around them.

"And yet these flowers and their perfumes are the work of

God and of His wonderful designing! If He has allowed any

of these flowers to be swept away in the storm can He not,

do you think, have assigned a goal unseen by the human eye

for the sacrifice of that most unoffending creature in the

general arrangement of the law by which He prevails over

and governs nature? How much more then will His Omnip-
otence and love direct the lot of pure and innocent human

beings to good!

"Through the languishing of faith in men’s hearts, through

the pleasure-seeking that moulds and captivates their lives,

men are driven to judge as evil, and as unmixed evil, all the

physical mishaps of this earth. They have forgotten that

suffering stands at the threshold of life as the way that leads

to the smiles of the cradle; they have forgotten that it is

more often than not the shadow of the Cross of Calvary

thrown on the path of the resurrection; they have forgotten

that the cross is frequently a gift of God, a gift which is

needed in order to offer to the Divine Justice our share of ex-

piation; they have forgotten that the only real evil is the sin

that offends God; they have forgotten what the Apostle says:

'The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared

with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us’, that we

ought to look on Jesus, 'the Author and Finisher of Faith;

Who having joy set before Him endured the Cross’.

"To Christ, crucified on Golgotha, the virtue and wisdom

which draws the whole world to itself, they turned their gaze

amidst the immense tribulations bound up with the spread of

the Gospel, those two Princes of the Apostles, who in life



Pius XII and Peace 3 5

were nailed to the Cross with Christ, and died—Peter cruci-
fied; Paul bending his neck to the headman’s sword—as
leaders, teachers and witnesses to the fact that in the Cross

is comfort and salvation and that there is no living in the

Love of Christ without suffering. To that Cross which illu-

mines the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Roman Proto-

martyrs and the first Christians looked in the hour of suffer-

ing and persecution.

"Do you, too, dear children, look upon your sufferings thus;

and you will find the strength not merely to accept them with

resignation but to love them, to glory in them as the Apostles

and Saints. Our fathers and elder brothers who were formed

of the same flesh as you and had the same -power of suffering,

loved them and glorified in them. Look on your sufferings

and difficulties in the light of the sufferings of the Crucified,

in the light of the sufferings of the Blessed Virgin, the most

innocent of creatures and the most intimate sharer in the

Passion of Our Lord, and you will be able to understand that

to be like the Exemplar, the Son of God, King of Sufferings,

is the noblest and safest way to Heaven and victory.

"Do not look merely at the thorns which afflict you and

cause you pain but think also of the merit which sprouts from

your sufferings like the rose of heavenly garland; and you

will find them, with the grace of God, the courage and strength

of that Christian heroism which is at once sacrifice and vic-

tory, and peace surpassing all sense; heroism which your Faith

has the right to exact from you.

"'And in fine,’ (to repeat in the words of St. Peter), 'be

ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, being

lovers of brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not render-

ing evil for evil nor railing for railing: but contrariwise bless-

ing . . . that in all things God may be honored through Jesus
Christ: to Whom is glory and empire for ever and ever’.

"But, if the sublime heights of Christianity cause Our

thoughts to be thus exalted. We feel too in the depth of Our
heart how the desire of all Our children coincides with Ours,

asking God that in so grave an hour in history the virtue of

all be equal to their faith.”



36 Pius XII and Peace

IX

Christmas Message

December 24
,
1941

{"We insist once again on certain fundamental conditions essential for

an international order which will guarantee for all peoples a just and last-

ing peace”)

"In the face of the enormity of the disaster, ... We have
indicated there is no other remedy than that of a return to the

altars, at the foot of which numberless generations of the

faithful in former times drew down upon themselves divine

blessings and moral strength for the fulfillment of their duties,

a return to the faith which enlightened individuals and society,

as a whole, and indicated to them their respective rights and

duties, a return to the wise and unshakable norms of the social

order which, in affairs of national as well as international

import, erect an efficacious barrier against the abuse of liberty

and against the misuse of power. But the recall of these

beneficent sources must be especially loud, persistent and

universal in that hour when the old order will be about to

give way and cede its' place to the new.

"The future reconstruction will present and offer very

valuable opportunities to advance the forces of good but it

will also be fraught with the danger of a lapse into errors

which will favor the forces of evil and there will be demanded

prudent sincerity and mature reflection, not only by reason

of the gigantic difficulty of the task but also because of the

grave consequences which, in the case of failure, would result

in both material and spiritual spheres. There will be required

broad intellects and will, strong in their purposes; men of

courage and enterprise, but above and before all, there must

be consciences which, in their planning, in their deliberations

and in their actions, are animated, moved and sustained by a

lively sense of responsibility and which do not shrink from

submission to the holy laws of God.

"For if, to the vigor which shapes the material order, there

be not united in the moral order the highest reflection and

sincere purpose, then, undoubtedly, we will see verified the

judgment of St. Augustine: 'They run well but they have left

the track; the farther they run the greater is their error for

they are going ever farther from their course.’ Nor would it



Pius XII and Peace 37

be the first time that men who, in the expectation of being

crowned at war’s end with the laurel wreath of victory, have

dreamed of giving to the world a new order by pointing out

new ways which in their opinion lead to well-being, prosperity

and progress. Yet whenever they have yielded to the tempta-

tion of imposing their own interpretation, contrary to the

dictates of reason, moderation, justice and the nobility of

man, they have found themselves disheartened and stupified in

the contemplation of the ruins of deluded hopes and mis-

carried plans.

"Thus, history teaches that treaties of peace stipulated in a

spirit and with conditions opposed both to the dictates of

morality and to genuine political wisdom, have had but a

wretched and short-lived existence, and so have revealed and

testified to an error of calculation, human, indeed, but fatal

nonetheless.

"Now the destruction brought about by the present war

is on so vast a scale that it is imperative that there be not

added to it also the further ruin of a frustrated and deluded

peace. In order to avoid so great a calamity it is fitting that

in the formulation of that peace there should be assured the

cooperation, with sincerity of will and energy, with the pur-

pose of a generous participation, not only of this or that party,

not only of this or that people, but of all people; yea, rather

of all humanity. It is a universal undertaking for the com-

mon good which requires the collaboration of all Christendom

in the religious and moral aspects of the new edifice that is to

be constructed.

"We are, therefore, making use of Our right; or better.

We are fulfilling Our duty as today, on this eve of the Holy
Feast of Christmas, the divine dawn, of hope and of peace, for

the world, with all the authority of Our Apostolic ministry,

and with the fervent impulse of Our heart. We direct the
attention and the consideration of the entire world to the dan-

gers which lie in wait to threaten a peace which is to be the

well-prepared basis for a truly new order and which is to ful-

fill the expectation and desires of all peoples for a more tranquil

future.

"Such a new order, which all the peoples desire to see

brought into being after the trials and the ruins of this war,

must be founded on that immovable and unshakable rock.



38 Pius XII and Peace

the moral law which the Creator Himself has manifested by

means of the natural order and which He has engraved with

indelible characters in the hearts of men; that moral law whose

observance must be inculcated and fostered by the public

opinion of all nations and of all States with such a unanimity

of voice and energy that no one may dare to call into doubt

or weaken its binding force.

"Like a shining beacon, this moral law must direct by the

light of its principles, the course of action of men and of

States, and they must all follow its admonishing, salutary and

profitable precepts if they do not wish to abandon to the

tempest and to ultimate shipwreck every labor and every ef-

fort for the establishment of a new order.

"Consequently, recapitulating and integrating what We
have expounded on other occasions. We insist once again on
certain fundamental conditions essential for an international

order which will guarantee for all peoples a just and lasting

peace and which will be a bountiful source of well-being and

prosperity.

"Within the limits of a new order founded on moral prin-

ciples there is no room for the violation of the freedom, in-

tegrity and security of other States; no matter what may be

their territorial extension or their capacity for defense. If

it is inevitable that the powerful States should, by reason of

their greater potentialities and their power, play leading roles

in the formation of economic groups comprising not only

themselves but also smaller and weaker States as well, it is,

nevertheless, indispensable that in the interests of the com-

mon good they, as all others, respect the rights of those smaller

States to political freedom, to economic development and to

the adequate protection, in the case of conflicts between na-

tions, of that neutrality which is theirs according to the

natural, as well as international, law.

"In this way, and in this way only, shall they be able to

obtain a fitting share of the common good and assure the

material and spiritual welfare of the peoples concerned.

"Within the limits of a new order founded on moral prin-

ciples, there is no place for open or occult oppression of the

cultural and linguistic characteristics of national minorities,

for the hindrance or restriction of their economic resources,

for the limitation or abolition of their natural fertility. The



Pius XII and Peace 39

more conscientiously the Government of the State respects the

rights of minorities, the more confidently and the more effec-

tively can it demand from its subjects a loyal fulfillment of

those civil obligations which are common to all citizens.

"Within the limits of a new order founded on moral prin-

ciples, there is no place for that cold and calculating egosim

which tends to hoard the economic resources and materials

destined for the use of all to such an extent that the nations

less favored by nature are not permitted access to them. In

this regard, it is for Us a source of great consolation to see

admitted the necessity of a participation of all in the natural

riches of the earth, even on the part of those nations which

in the fulfillment of this principle belong to the category of

'givers’ and not to that of 'receivers.’ It is, however, in

conformity with the principles of equity that the solution to

a question so vital to the world economy should be arrived

at methodically and in easy stages, with the necessary guar-

antees, drawing useful lessons from the omissions and mis-

takes of the past.

"If, in the future peace, this point were not be courage-

ously dealt with, there would remain in the relations between

peoples a deep and far-reaching root, blossoming forth into

bitter dissensions and burning jealousies and which would lead

eventually to new conflicts. It must, however, be noted how

closely the satisfactory solution to this problem is connected

with another fundamental point which We shall treat next.

"Within the limits of a new order founded' on moral prin-

ciples, once the more dangerous sources of armed conflicts

have been eliminated, there is no place for a total warfare or

for a mad rush to armaments. The calamity of a world war,

with the economic and social ruin and the moral dissolution

and breakdown which follow in its trail, should not be per-

mitted to envelop the human race for a third time.

"In order that mankind be preserved from such a misfor-

tune it is essential to proceed with sincerity and honesty to a

progressive limitation of armaments. The lack of equilibrium

between the exaggerated armaments of the powerful States and

the limited armaments of the weaker ones is a menace to har-

mony and peace among nations and demands that an ample

and proportionate limit be placed upon production and posses-



40 Piur* XII AND Peace

sion of offensive weapons in proportion to the degree in which

disarmament is effected.

"Means must be found which will be appropriate, honorable

and efficacious in order that the norm 'pacts must be ob-

served’ will once again enjoy its vital and moral function in

the juridical relations between States.

"Such a norm has undergone many serious crises and has

suffered undeniable violations in the past and has met with an

incurable lack of trust amongst the various nations and also

amongst their respective rulers. To procure the rebirth of

mutual trust, certain institutions must be established which

will merit the respect of all and which will dedicate them-

selves to the most noble office of guaranteeing the sincere

observance of treaties and of promoting, in accordance with

the principles of law and equity, necessary corrections and

revisions of such treaties.

"We are well aware of the tremendous difficulties to be
overcome and the almost superhuman strength and good will

required on all sides if the double task We have outlined is to
be brought to a successful conclusion. But this work is so

essential for a lasting peace that nothing should prevent re-

sponsible statesmen from undertaking it, and cooperating in

it with abundant good will so that, by bearing in mind the

advantages to be gained in the future, they will be able to

triumph over the painful remembrances of similar efforts

doomed to failure in the past and will not be daunted by the

knowledge of the gigantic strength required for the accom-

plishment of their objective.

"Within the limits of a new order founded on moral prin-

ciples, there is no place for the persecution of religion and of

the Church. From a lively faith in a personal and transcendent

God, there springs a sincere and unyielding moral strength

which informs the whole course of life; for faith is not only

a virtue, it is also the divine gate by which all the virtues

enter the temple of the soul and it constitutes that strong and

tenacious character which does not falter before the rigid

demands of reason and justice. This fact always holds true,

but it should be even more evident when there is demanded

of the statesman, as of the least of his citizens, the maximum

of courage and moral strength for the reconstruction of a new

Europe and a new world on the ruins accumulated by the



Pius XII and Peace 41

violence of the world war and by the hatred and bitter dis-

unity amongst men regarding the social question which will

be presented in the post-war period in a form more acute

than ever.

"Our predecessors, and We Ourselves, have set forth prin-
ciples for its solution. It is, however, well to bear in mind

that these principles can be followed in their entirety and

bear their fullest fruit only when statesmen and peoples, em-

ployers and employes, are animated by faith in a personal

God, the Legislator and Judge to Whom they must one day
give an account of their actions; for while unbelief which

arrays itself against God, the Ruler of the Universe, is the

most dangerous enemy of a new order that would be just, on

the other hand, every man who believes in God is numbered

amongst His partisans and paladins. Those who have faith

in Christ, in Pfis divinity, in His law, in His work of love

and of brotherhood amongst men, will make a particularly

valuable contribution to the reconstruction of the social order.

"All the more priceless, therefore, will be the contribution

of statesmen who show themselves ready to open the gates

and smooth the path for the Church of Christ so that, free

and unhindered, it may bring its supernatural influence to

bear in the conclusion of a peace amongst nations and may

cooperate with its zeal and love in the immense task of find-

ing remedies for the evils which the war will leave in its wake.”

X

Episcopal Silver Jubilee Radio Address

May 13, 1942

(Excerpt from address to the world on the occasion of the twenty-fifth

anniversary of Pope Pius XlFs consecration as a Bishop)

"The divine mission of the Church, established immovably

on the Rock of Peter, has no limits of space on earth and had

no limit in its activity but the time limit of mankind; but,

like every age that passes, the present moment presents to her

and imposes on her new enterprises, duties, cares. The cries

for help which each day brings to us would tell us, if we did

not already know it, what the present moment in its onward

rush asks and demands from the Church, namely, to use her



42 Plus XII AND Peace

authority to secure that the present terrible conflict may

cease and the flood of tears and blood may issue forth into an

equitable and lasting peace for all.

"Our conscience is Our witness that from the moment

when the hidden designs of God entrusted to our feeble

strength the weight, now so heavy, of the Supreme Pontifi-

cate, We have labored both before the outbreak of war and
during its course for peace, with all Our mind and strength

and within the ambit of Our apostolic ministry. But now

when the nations are living in the painful suspense of wait-

ing for new engagements to begin. We take the opportunity
offered by this occasion to speak once again a word of peace;

and We speak that word in the full consciousness of Our abso-
lute impartiality towards all the belligerents and with equal

affections for all peoples without exception. We know well
how in the present state of affairs the formulation of specific

proposals of a just and equitable peace would not have any

well-founded probability of success—indeed every time that
one speaks a word of peace one runs the risk of offending one

or other side. In fact, while one side bases its security on

the results obtained, the other rests its hopes on future bat-

tles. If, however, the present lining up of forces, of gains

and losses in the political and military sphere, does not show

any immediate practical possibility of peace, the destruction

wrought by the war among the nations in the material and

spiritual plane is all the time accumulating to such an

extent that it calls for every effort to prevent its increase by

bringing the conflict to a speedy end. Even prescinding from

arbitrary acts of violence and cruelty—against which, on
former occasions. We raised Our voice in warning; and We
repeat that warning now with insistent supplication—even in
the face of threats of still more deadly warfare, the war of

itself, through the perfect technical quality of its weapons,

causes unheard of pain, misery and suffering to the nations.

Our thoughts are with the courageous combatants, with the

multitudes that are living in the zones of operations in occu-

pied countries or within their own countries. We think—how
could We not think—of the dead, of the millions of prisoners,
of the mothers, wives, sons who for all their love of their

country are prey to mortal anguish. We think of the separa-
tion of married people, of the breakdown of family life, of



Pius XII and Peace 43

famine and economic penury. Does not each of these names

of evil and ruin connote a numberless group of heartrending

cases in which is epitomized and condensed the most lament-

able, bitter, excruciating phenomenon ever turned loose on

humanity and make Us fearful of a near future full of ter-

rible unknown economic and social hardships?

"For whole decades a gigantic amount of study and the

flower of intellect and good will had been devoted to realizing

a solution of the social question and now after all this the

peoples must behold how the public moneys, whose wise ad-

ministration for the public good was one of the cardinal points

in that solution, are being spent in hundreds of billions for

the destruction of goods and life.

"But from the want and sufferings of homes to which We
have referred—and which now extend to the whole world

—

there arises behind the war front another huge front, the front

of families injured and in anguish. Before the war some peo-

ples now in arms could not even balance their deaths with

their births; and now the war, so far from remedying this,

threatens to send the new additions to the family to physical,

economic and moral ruin.

"We should like, then, to address a fatherly word of warn-

ing to the rulers of nations. The family is sacred; it is the

cradle not only of children but also of the nation—of its
force and its glory. Do not let the family be alienated or

diverted from the high purpose assigned to it by ‘God. God

wills that husband and wife, in loyal fulfillment of their

duties to one another and to the family, should in the home

transmit to the next generation the torch of corporal life and

with it spiritual and moral life, Christian life; that within

the family, under the care of their parents, there should grow

up men of straight character, of upright behavior, to become

valuable unspoiled members of the human race, manly in

good or bad fortune, obedient to those who command them

and to God. That is the will of the Creator. Do not let the

family home, and with it the school, become merely an ante-

room to the battlefield. Do not let the husband and wife

become separated from one another in a permanent manner.

Do not let the children be separated from the watchful care
of their parents over their bodies and souls. Do not let the



44 Pius XII and Peace

earnings^ and the savings of the family become void of all

fruit.

"The cry that reaches Us from the family front is unani-

mous: 'Give us back our peace-time occupations.’ If one has

the future of mankind at heart, if your conscience before

God ascribes some import to what the names father and mother

mean to men and to what makes for the real happiness of

your children, send back the family to its peace-time occu-

pation. As patron of this family front—from which may
God keep far all open ways of unfortunate and disastrous up-

heaval—We make a warm, fatherly appeal to statesmen that
that they may not let any occasion pass, that may open up

to the nations the road to an honest peace of justice and

moderation, to a peace arising from a free and fruitful agree-

ment, even if it should not correspond in all points to their

aspirations.

"The world-wide family front which has at the war front

so many hearts of fathers, husbands and children who, amid

the dangers and sufferings, hopes and desires, are beating with

the double love of country and of home, will become tranquil

in the prospect of a new horizon. The gratitude of mankind

and the consent of their own nation will not be wanting to

those generous leaders who, inspired not by weakness but by a

sense of responsibility, shall choose the road of moderation

and the field of wisdom when they meet the other side, also

guided by the same sentiments.”

XI

Dedication of the World to the Immaculate

Heart of Mary

November 1
,
1942

{The occasion of this dedication was a discourse by His Holiness broad-

cast to Portugal by the Vatican radio station, commemorating the twenty-

fifth anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima)

"Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Refuge of the Human

Race, Victress in all God’s battles, we humbly prostrate our-

selves before thy throne, confident that we shall receive

mercy, grace and bountiful assistance and protection in the

present calamity, not through our own inadequate merits, but

solely through the great goodness of thy Maternal Heart.



Pius XII and Peace 45

"To thee, to thy Immaculate Heart, in this, humanity’s

tragic hour, we consign and consecrate ourselves in union

not only with the Mystical Body of thy Son, Holy Mother

Church, now in such suffering and agony in so many places

and sorely tried in so many ways, but also with the entire

world, torn by fierce strife, consumed in a fire of hate, victim

of its own wickedness.

"May the sight of the widespread material and moral de-

struction, of the sorrows and anguish of countless fathers

and mothers, husbands 'and wives, brothers and sisters,** and

innocent children, of the great number of lives cut off in the

flower of youth, of the bodies mangled in horrible slaughter,

and of the tortured and agonized souls in danger of being lost

eternally, move thee to compassion!

"O Mother of Mercy, obtain peace for us from God and

above all procure for us those graces which prepare, establish

and assure the peace!

"Queen of Peace, pray for us and give to the world now

at war the peace for which all peoples are longing, peace in

the truth, justice and charity of Christ. Give peace to the

warring nations and to the souls of men, that in the tran-

quillity of order the Kingdom of God may prevail.

"Extend thy protection to the infidels and to all those still

in the shadow of death; give them peace and grant that on

them, too, may shine the sun of truth, that they may unite

with us in proclaiming before the one and only Saviour of

the World 'Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of

good will.’

"Give peace to the peoples separated by error or by discord,

and especially to those who profess such singular devotion to

thee and in whose homes an honored place was ever accorded

thy venerated icon (today perhaps often kept hidden to await

better days) : bring them back to the one fold of Christ under

the one true shepherd.

"Obtain peace and complete freedom for the Holy Church

of God; stay the spreading flood of modern paganism; enkindle

in the faithful the love of purity, the practice of the Christian

life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the servants of God may

increase in merit and in number.

"Lastly, as the Church and the entire human race were

consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that in reposing



46 Pius XII and Peace

all hope in Him, He might become for them the sign and

pledge of victory and salvation: so we in like manner con-

secrate ourselves forever also to thee and to thy Immaculate

Heart, Our Mother and Queen, that thy love and patronage

may hasten the triumph of the Kingdom of God and that all

nations, at peace with one another and with God, may pro-

claim thee blessed and with thee may raise their voices to

resound from pole to pole in the chant of the everlasting

Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude to the Heart of Jesus,

where alone they can find truth and peace.”

XII

Christmas Message"'

December 24, 1942

{Quoted are "five first steps in the attainment of internal order of states, to

which international equilibrium and harmony are intimately related)

"It is true that the road from night to full day will be

long; but of decisive importance are the first steps on the

path, the first five milestones of which bear chiselled on

them the following maxims:

"He who would have the star of peace shine out and stand

over society should cooperate for his part in giving back to

the human person the dignity given to it by God from the

very beginnings; should oppose the excessive herding of men,

as if they were a mass without a soul; their economic, social,

political, intellectual and moral inconsistency; their dearth

of solid principles and strong convictions, their surfeit of

instinctive sensible excitement and their fickleness.

"He should favor, by every lawful means, in every sphere

of life, social institutions in which a full personal responsi-

bility is assured and guaranteed both in the earthly and the

eternal order of things.

"He should uphold respect for and the practical realization

of the following fundamental personal rights: the right to

maintain and develop one’s corporal, intellectual and moral

The full text is published by the National Catholic Welfare Confer-

ence, Washington, under the title "1942 Christmas Message of Pope

Pius XII.”



Pius XII and Peace 47

life and especially the right to religious formation and edu-

cation; the right to worship God in private and public and

to carry on religious works of charity; the right to marry

and to achieve the aim of married life; the right to conjugal

and domestic society; the right to work as the indispensable

means towards the maintenance of family life; the right to

free choice of a state of life, and hence, too, of the priesthood

or religious life; the right to the use of material goods, in

keeping with one’s duties and social limitations.

"He who would have the star of peace shine out and stand

over society should reject every form of materialism which

sees in the people only a herd of individuals who, divided and

without any internal cohesion, are considered as a mass to be

lorded over and treated arbitrarily; he should strive to under-

stand society as an intrinsic unity, which has grown up and

matured under the guidance of Providence, a unity which

—

within the bounds assigned to it and according to its own

peculiar gifts—tends, with the collaboration of the various
classes and professions, towards the eternal and ever new aims

of culture and religion.

"He should defend the indissolubility of matrimony; he

should give to the family—that unique cell of the people

—

space, light and air so that it may attend to its mission of

perpetuating new life, and of educating children in a spirit

corresponding to its own true religious convictions, and that

it may preserve, fortify and reconstitute, according to its

powers, its proper economic, spiritual, moral and juridic unity.

"He should take care that the material and spiritual advan-

tages of the family be shared by the domestic servants; he

should strive to secure for every family a dwelling where a

materially and morally healthy family life may be seen in all

its vigor and worth; he should take care that the place of

work be not so separated from the home as to make the head

of the family and educator of the children a virtual stranger

to his own household; he should take care above all that the

bond of trust and mutual help should be reestablished between

the family and the public school, that bond which in other

times gave such happy results, but which now has been re-

placed by mistrust where the school, influenced and controlled

by the spirit of materialism, corrupts and destroys what the

parents have instilled into the minds of the children.



48 Pius XII and Peace

"He who would have the star of peace shine out and stand

over society should give to work the place assigned to it by

God from the beginning,

"As an indispensable means towards gaining over the world

that mastery which God wishes, for His glory, all work has

an inherent dignity and at the same time a close connection

with the perfection of the person; this is the noble dignity

and privilege of work which is not in any way cheapened by

the fatiguje and the burden, which have to be borne as the

effect of original sin, in obedience and submission to the

will of God.

"Those who are familiar with the great Encyclicals of Our

predecessors and Our own previous messages know well that

the Church does not hesitate to draw the practical conclu-

sions which are derived from the moral nobility of work,

and to give them all the support of her authority. These

exigencies include, besides a just wage which covers the needs

of the worker and his family, the conservation and perfection

of a social order which will make possible an assured, even if

modest, private property for all classes of society, which will

promote higher education for the children of the working

class who are especially endowed with intelligence and good

will, will promote the care and the practice of the social

spirit in one’s immediate neighborhood, in the district, the

province, the people and the nation, a spirit which, by smooth-

ing over friction arising from privileges or class interests

removes from the workers the sense of isolation through the

assuring experience of a genuinely human, and fraternally

Christian, solidarity.

"Tlie progress and the extent of urgent social reforms

depend on the economic possibilities of single nations. It is

only through an intelligent and generous sharing of forces

between the strong and the weak that it will be possible to

effect a universal pacification in such wise as not to leave

behind centers of conflagration and infection from which

new disasters may come. There are evident signs which go

to show that, in the ferment of all the prejudices and feel-

ings of hate, those inevitable but lamentable offspring of the

war psychosis, there is still aflame in the peoples the conscious-

ness of their intimate mutual dependence for good or for evil,

nay, that this consciousness is more alive and active.



Pius XII and Peace 49

"Is it not true that deep thinkers see ever more clearly in

the renunciation of egoism and national isolation the way to

general salvation, ready as they are to demand of their peoples

a heavy participation in the sacrifices necessary for social

well-being in other peoples?

"May this Christmas Mespge of Ours, addressed to all those

who are animated by a good will and a generous heart, en-

courage and increase the legions of these social crusades in

every nation. And may God deign to give to their peaceful

cause the victory of which their noble enterprise is worthy.

"He who would have the star of peace shine out and stand

over social life should collaborate towards a complete rehabili-

tation of the juridical order.

"The juridic sense of today is often altered and overturned

by the profession and the practice of a positivism and a utili-

tarianism which are subjected and bound to the service of

determined groups, classes and movements, whose programs

direct and determine the course of legislation and the prac-

tices of the courts.

"The cure for this situation becomes feasible when we

awaken again the consciousness of a juridical order resting

on the supreme dominion of God, and safeguarded from all

human whims; a consciousness of an order which stretches

forth its arm, in protection or punishment, over the unfor-

gettable rights of man and protects them against the attacks

of every human power.

"From the juridic order, as willed by God, flows man’s

inalienable right to juridical security, and by this very fact to

a definite sphere of rights, immune from all arbitrary attack.

"The relations of man to man, of the individual to society,

to authority, to civil duties; the relations of society and of

authority to the individual, should be placed on a firm juridic

footing and be guarded, when the need arises, by the authority

of the courts.

"This supposes (A) a tribunal and a judge who take their

directions from a clearly formulated and defined right;

(B) clear juridical norms which may not be overturned by

unwarranted appeals to a supposed popular sentiment or by

merely utilitarian considerations; (C) the recognition of the

principle that even the State and the functionaries and organ-

izations dependent on it are obliged to repair and to withdraw



50 Pius XII and Peace

measures which are harmful to the liberty, property, honor,

and progress of health of the individuals.

"He who would have the star of peace shine out and stand

over human society should cooperate towards the setting up

of a State conception and practice founded on reasonable

discipline, exalted kindliness and a- responsible Christian spirit.

"He should help to restore the State and its power to the

service of human society, to the full recognition of the respect

due to the human person and his efforts to attain his eternal

destiny.

"He should apply and devote himself to dispelling the errors

which aim at causing the State and its authority to deviate

from the path of morality, at severing them from the emi-

nently ethical bond which links them to individual and social

life, and at making them deny or in practice ignore their

essential dependence on the will of the Creator. He should

work for the recognition and diffusion of the truth which

teaches, even in matters of this world, that the deepest mean-

ing, the ultimate moral basis and the universal validity of

'reigning’ lies in 'serving.’
”

XIII

To Those Whose'' Hands Hold the Destinies of

Afflicted Humanity

{Excerpts from a radio message on the fourth anniversary of the outbreak

of war, September 1, 1943)

"... We turn to those whose concern it is to encourage

meetings and arrangements for peace, and with an appeal

that comes from the depths of Our sorrow-stricken heart

We say to them:

"Real strength need not fear being generous. It always

has the means to secure itself against any misinterpretation

of its readiness and will to make peace, as well as against

other possible repercussions. Do not shatter or smother the

people’s yearning for peace by acts which, instead of pro-

moting confidence, rather give new life to the fire of hate

and stiffen the will to resist. Give all nations the well-founded

hope of a worthy peace, which shall not offend either their

right to live or their sense of honor. Make clear beyond all



Pius XII and Peace 51

possible doubt that your conclusions agree honestly with your

principles, that your acts respond wholly to your declara-

tions for a just peace.

"Only thus will it be possible to create a serene atmosphere

in which the peoples less favored at a given moment by the

fortunes of war can believe in the rebirth and growth of

a new sense of justice and comity among the nations, and

can draw from this trust the natural consequence of a

greater confidence in the future, without having to fear

lest they compromise the survival, the integrity or the honor

of their country.

"Blessed are they who, with disinterested resolution, help

to prepare the soil in which may sprout and flower, grow

and ripen the sense of international veracity and justice;

blessed are they—to whichever belligerent group they be-
long—who, with no less impartiality and with their gaze
fiyed on reality, collaborate to overcome the deadlock in

which today the fatal balance of war and peace is halted.

"Blessed are they who keep themselves and their peoples

free from the restriction of pre-conceived ideas, from, the

influence of unconquered passion, from inordinate selfishness,

from unlawful thirst for power.

"Blessed are they who hearken to the suppliant appeals of

the mothers who gave life to their children that they might

grow up in the faith and in generous endeavors, not that

they should kill and be killed.

"Blessed are those who listen to the anguish-laden pleadings

of families stricken to death by forced separations, to the

ever more insistent cries of the common people who, after so

much suffering, privation and mourning, ask for nothing

more for their life than peace, food and work.

"Blessed, finally, are they who understand that the great

task of a new and true order among nations is not possible

without raising our eyes to God and keeping our gaze fixed

on Him Who, as the Ruler and Guide of all hum.an events,

is the Supreme Source, Guardian and Judge of all justice

and all right.

"But woe to those who in this tremendous moment do not

rise to the full consciousness of their responsibility for the

fate of peoples, who feed the fires of hatred and conflict

among nations, who build their power upon injustice, who



52 Pius XII and Peace

oppress and torture the unarmed and the innocent; Behold

the wrath of God has come upon them to the utmost.

"May it please Our Divine Redeemer, from Whose lips

went forth the cry, 'Blessed are the peacemakers,’ to enlighten

those in power and the leaders of peoples; may He direct

their thoughts, their sentiments and their deliberations; may

He give them in body and soul the vigor and strength to

overcome the obstacles, the lack of trust and the dangers

which lie strewn on the path of those who would prepare

or achieve a just and lasting peace!

"May their wisdom, their moderation, their determination

and their lively sense of benevolence succeed in diffusing a

ray of comfort on the blood-stained and tear-stained threshold

that leads us into the fifth year of war, and give to the

surviving victims of the cruel conflict, as they bend beneath

their overpowering burden of sorrow, the happy hope that

this year may not pass stamped and blackened by slaughter

and destruction, but may mark the opening and dawn of

a new era of brotherly reconciliation, and peaceful, indus-

trious reconstruction. In this trust. We impart to all Our
beloved sons and daughters of the Catholic world, and to all

those who feel themselves united to Us in love and work

for peace. Our paternal Apostolic Benediction.”

XIV

Christmas Message, December 24, 1943

{"Spiritual reconstruction and the material restoration of the peoples

and States” is "an organic whole” The Holy lather appeals for ]ust

aims and programs of peace and defines the function of force.)

"It is tragically sad, dear children, to think that countless

men, while in their search for a happiness that will satisfy

them on this earth, feel the bitterness of deceptive illusions

and painful disillusionment and have closed the door to all

hope; and living, as they do, far from the Christian faith,

they cannot retrace their steps towards the crib and towards

that consolation in which the names of the Heroes of the

Faith abound in joy in all their tribulations.

"They see dashed to pieces the structure of those beliefs

in which they humanly trusted and set up their ideal. But

they never achieved that one true faith which would have



Pius XII and Peace 53

given them comfort and renewed spirit. In this intellectual

and moral trial they are seized by a depressing uncertainty

and live in a state of inertia which weighs down their souls.

It is a state which can be deeply understood and commiser-

ated only by those who enjoy the delight of living in the

clear, warm atmosphere of a supernatural faith which ascends

above the storms of temporal contingency to dwell with the

eternal. ...

"The progress of mankind in the present confusion of

ideas has been a progress without God and even against God;

without Christ and even against Christ. In saying this Wc
do not wish or intend to offend the erring ones; they are

and remain Our brethren. It is fitting, however, that

Christians reflect on that share of responsibility which belongs

to them for the present afflictions. Have not many Christians

made concessions to those false ideas and ways of life which

have been so rnany times disapproved by the teaching authority

of the Church?

"Every slackening and every thoughtless compromise with

human respect in the profession of the faith and its moral

precepts; every act of cowardice and vacillation between

right and wrong in the practices of Christian life, in the

education of children, in the government of the family; every

hidden or open sin; all this and more that might be added

has been and is a deplorable contribution to the disaster

which today overwhelms the world.

"And is there anyone who has the right to say that he is

blameless? Reflection on yourselves and your deeds, and the

humble recognition of this moral responsibility will make

you realize and feel in the depth of your souls how necessary

and how holy a thing it is for you to pray and work in order

to placate God and invoke His mercy, and to participate in

the salvation of your brethren, thus restoring to God that

honor which was denied Him for so many decades, securing

and acquiring for your fellow men that interior peace which

cannot be found except by coming close to, the spiritual light

of Bethlehem’s cave.

"To action, then, beloved children! Close your ranks!

Let not your courage fail! Do not remain helpless in the

midst of the ruins! May the star that guided the Magi’ to

lesus shine above vou. The sfflrit which comes from Him



54 Pius XII and Peace

has lost nothing of its force and of its power to heal fallen

humanity. It triumphed once over paganism in its ascendancy.

Why should it not triumph today, too, when sorrows and
delusions of every kind show to so many souls the vanity
and deception of the roads hitherto followed in public and

private life? A great number of minds are searching for new
ideals in politics and social life, in private and public, in

training and education and feel a deep yearning to satisfy

the needs of their hearts.

"May the example of your Christian life guide them, and

your burning words stir them. As the form of this world

passes away, show them that true life means that they 'may

know Thee, the One True God, and Jesus Christ Whom
Thou hast sent.’

"Through your words let there be regenerated in your

fellow men the knowledge of Our Heavenly Father Who,

even in times of terrible misery, rules that world with a

wise and provident goodness. Let them feel the tranquil

happiness which comes from a life aflame with the love of

God. The love of God renders the mind responsive to the

needs of one’s brethren, ready to give spiritual and material

aid, disposed to make every sacrifice in order that fervent and

practical love may flourish again in the hearts of all.

"Power of the Charity of Christ! We feel it pulsating
with all tenderness in Our paternal heart which, open and

loving towards all alike, makes Us give utterance to an appeal

for works of mercy and of generous charity. How often
have We not had to repeat with a throbbing heart, the
exclamation of Our Divine Master: 'I have pity on the

multitude.’ And how often, too, have We not had to add:
'They have nothing to eat,’ especially as we behold so many

places devastated and desolated by the war!

"And there never was a moment or a period when We did
not feel the contrast between the scantiness of Our resources,

which are insufficient for the work of relief, and the gigantic

increase in the need of many, who raise to Us their suppliant

cries and sorrowful groans, at first from regions far away

and now also from those near by, in ever increasing numbers.

"In the face of such want, growing every day. We raise to

the Christian world an insistent cry of fatherly appeal for

help and pity: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.’



Pius XII and Peace 55

"And We do not hesitate to turn, in the confidence with
which God inspires Us, to the humane and Christian senti-

ments of those peoples and those nations which providence

has up to now preserved from the direct impact of the horrors

of war, or which, although at war, still live in conditions

which allow them to give generous expression to their chari-

table intentions, and to offer help and support to those who,

surrounded by the hardships of the conflict and bereft of

outside aid, are already in want of necessities and will be in

greater need in the future.

"For such an appeal We are inspired and sustained by the
hope that it will meet with genuine sympathy in the hearts

of the faithful and of all who are endowed with a lively sense

of humanity.

"Amid the animosity which the world conflict has aroused

and intensified there appears in ever clearer light a consoling

development of plans and purpose—^We mean the re-awakening
of the sense of common responsibility in the face of the

problems arising from the general impoverishment caused

by the war. The destruction and devastation which have

followed it urgently demand work of reconstruction and relief

to meet all the harm done. The errors of the recent past are

warnings for free and enlightened minds to which, for reasons

of prudence as well as from a sense of humanity, they cannot

remain deaf. They look upon the spiritual reconstruction

and the material restoration of the peoples and States as an

organic whole, in which nothing would be more fatal than

to leave unhealed centers of infection, from which tomorrow

disastrous consequences could again arise. They feel that in

a new organization of peace, of law and of labor, the treat-

ment of some nations in a manner contrary to justice, equity

and prudence should not give rise to new dangers which

would jeopardize its solidity or its stability.

"Scrupulously faithful as We wish to be to the duty of
impartiality inherent in Our pastoral ministry. We formulate
the desire that Our dear children will not let slip any oppor-

tunity of securing the triumph of the principles of far-seeing

and even-minded justice and brotherhood in the questions

that are so essential for the salvation of States. It is indeed

a virtue characteristic of wise minds, who are true friends

of humanity, to understand that a real peace in conformity



56 Pius XII and Peace

with the dignity of man and the Christian conscience can

never be a harsh im,position supported by arms, but rather is

the result of a provident justice and a responsible sense of

equity towards all.

"If, while waiting for such a peace which shall restore

calm to the world, you, dear sons and daughters, still suffer

intensely in body and mind from privations and injustice, you

must not tomorrow stain the peace and repay injustice with

injustice, or commit an even greater injustice. On this Eve
of Christmas let your hearts and minds turn to the Divine

Child in the crib. See and meditate how, in that abandoned

cave, exposed to cold and winds. He shares your poverty and
misery—He, the Lord of Heaven and Earth and of all the
riches for which men contend. All is His; and yet how

often in these days has He not had to leave churches and

chapels destroyed, burned, collapsed or in danger! Perhaps

where the devotion of your ancestors had dedicated to Him

magnificent temples with rearing arches and lofty vaults, you

can offer Him, amid the ruins, only a miserable dwelling in

the shelter-chapel or a private house.

"We praise and thank you, clergy and laity, men and women

who not infrequently, contemning every risk to your life,

have rescued and kept in a safe place Our Eucharistic Lord

and Saviour. Your zeal did not want the words spoken of

Christ to be verified again: 'He came unto His own and

His own received Him not.’

"So Our Lord did not refuse to come into the midst of

your poverty. He who once preferred Bethlehem to Jerusalem,

the stable and the crib to the magnificence of His Father’s

temple. Poverty and misery are bitter; but they become

sweet if one keeps within oneself God, Jesus Christ, the Son

of God, and His grace and truth. He remains with you, as

long as your faith, your hope, your charity, your obedience

and devotion remain alive in your heart. In union with you,

dear sons and daughters. We place Our prayers at the feet

of the Child Jesus and We beg Him that this may be the last
war Christmas and that humanity may be able, in the coming

year, to celebrate the recurrence of the Christmas feast in

the brilliant light and joy of a truly Christian peace.

"And now do you all, who have responsibility, all of you

who by the disposition and permission of God hold in your



Pius XII and Peace J7

hand the destiny of your own and other peoples, hear the

suppliant 'Erudimini’ (be ye enlightened) which resounds in

your ears from out the abysmal ruins of this terrible war.

It is a duty and a warning for all, a trumpet call anticipating

the coming judgment which will decree the condemnation

and punishment of those who were deaf to the voice of

humanity—which is also the voice of God. In the con-
sciousness of your power your war aims may well have em-

braced entire peoples and continents. The question of guilty

responsibility for the present war and the demand for

reparations may also lead you to raise your voice.

"But today the devastation which the world war has pro-

duced in every walk of life, material and spiritual, has already

reached such unprecedented gravity and extent, and the

dreaded danger that, as the war goes on, the destruction will

be increased by frightful horrors for both sides and for those

who, against their will, have been drawn into it, appears to

Us so gloomy and threatening that "We, anxious for the

welfare and even for the very existence of each and every

people, address this appeal to you:

"Rise above yourselves, above every narrow calculating

judgment, above every boast of military superiority, above

every one-sided affirmation of right and justice. Take cog-

nizance also of the unpleasant truths and teach your peoples

to look them in the face with gravity and fortitude. A true
peace is not the mathematical result of a proportion of forces,

but in its last and deepest meaning is a moral and juridical

process. It is not, in fact, achieved without the employment

of force, and its very existence needs the support of a normal

measure of power.

"But the real function of this force, if it is to be morally

correct, should consist in protecting and defending, and not

in lessening or suppressing rights. An hour like the present

—

so full of possibilities for vast beneficent progress no less than

for fatal defects- and blunders—has perhaps never been seen
in the history of mankind.

"This hour demands, with insistent voice, that the aims

and programs for peace be inspired by the highest moral

sense. They should have as their supreme purpose nothing

less than the task of securing agreement and concord between

the warring nations—an achievement which may leave with



58 Pius XII and Peace

every nation, in the consciousness of its duty to unite with

the rest of the family of States, the possibility of cooperating

with dignity, without renouncing or destroying itself, in the

great future task of recuperation and reconstruction.

"Naturally the achievement of such a peace would not

imply in any way the abandonment of necessary guarantees

and sanctions in the event of any attempt to use force against

right. Do not ask from any member of the family of peoples,

however small or weak, for that renunciation of substantial

rights or - vital necessities which you yourselves, if it were

demanded from your people, would deem impracticable. Give

mankind, thirsting for it, a peace that shall reinstate the

human race in its own esteem and in that of history—a peace
over whose cradle the vengeful lightning of hate and the

instincts of unchecked desire for vengeance do not flash, but

rather the resplendent dawn of a new spirit of world union

which, sustained by the indispensable, supernatural help of

the Christian faith, will alone be able to preserve humanity,

after this unhappy war, from the unspeakable catastrophe of

a peace built on wrong foundations and therefore ephemeral

and illusory.

"Inspired by this hope, with fatherly affection towards

you, dear sons and daughters, and especially towards those

who are suffering more painfully than others from the trials

and sorrows of the war and who need divine consolation, and

not least to all those who in answer to Our appeal will open

their hearts to practical charity and pity, or who, while

ruling the destinies of the nations, are anxious to give them

back the olive branch of peace, We impart, as a pledge of

abundant favors from heaven. Our Apostolic Benediction.”

XV

On the Fifth Anniversary of His Coronation,
March 12

,
1944

(A plea to spare Rome, the property of all time and all peoples)

"If each of the cities in almost all continents stricken by

aerial warfare that knows no laws or limits is in itself a

terrible testimony to the cruelty of such means of warfare,

how can we believe that anyone should ever presume to turn



Pius XII and Peace 59

Rome—this dear city which belongs to all time and all peoples,
on which the Christian and civilized world now gazes

anxiously—to turn Rome, We say, into a battlefield, a theater
of war, thus perpetrating an act as inglorious from a military

viewpoint as it would be abominable in the eyes of God and

of a mankind that appreciates the highest and most intangible

spiritual and moral values?

“We must, therefore, appeal once again to the clear-sighted

vision and wisdom of responsible men in both belligerent

camps; We feel certain that they will not wish to have their
names associated with a deed which no motive could ever

justify in history, and that they would rather turn their

thoughts, their intentions, their desires and their labors toward

the securing of a peace which will free mankind from all

internal and external violence, so that their names may remain

in benediction and not as a curse through the centuries on

the face of the earth.”

Press of

RANSDELL INCORPORATED
Washington, D. C.



THE PAPAL PROGRAM FOR PEACE

AND

"A NEW ORDER FOUNDED ON MORAL PRINCIPLES"

{Brief Synopsis of Five Messages from Our Holy Father Pope Pius XII)

I. FIVE FUNDAMENTAL POINTS OF A JUST PEACE:

1. Right to life and independence of all nations, large and small, strong

and weak. 2. Liberation of the nations from the slavery of armaments
and the danger that material force will violate rights instead of protect
them. 3. Creation or reconstitution of international institutions, profit-

ing also from the mistakes of the past, to guarantee the fulfilment of
peace terms and to revise them if necessary. 4. Assurance of meeting
the real needs and just demands of nations and peoples and ethnical
minorities. 5. Penetration of rulers and peoples with the spirit of

justice and charity.— (1939 Christmas^Message.)

II. FIVE TRIUMPHS TO ACHIEVE:

1. Over hate and the systems which breed it. 2. Over mutual mis-
trust. 3. Over might-as-the-origin-of-right. 4. Over national greed,

so that every state will be given the means of assuring a good living to
its citizens. 5. Over cold egoism, substituting for it international gov-

ernmental and economic cooperation.— (1940 Christmas Message.)

HI. FIVE EVILS TO ABOLISH:

1. Violation of national freedom, integrity and security. 2. Oppres-

sion of minorities. 3. Keeping the world’s resources from the nations

that are poor. 4. Total war and the race for armaments. 5. Persecu-
tion of religion and the Church.— (1941 Christmas Message.)

IV. THREE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS:

1. The use of physical things and private ownership for the welfare
of the individual and of all mankind. 2. Self-organization of the indus-

tries to attain that purpose. 3. The right of the family to live well and
its right to migrate and be protected in migration.— {Pentecost Message,
1941.)

V. FIVE NATIONAL REFORMS:

1. Respect for man and his right to bodily, mental and moral develop-
ment, especially his rights to religious education, to worship of God, to

organize for charity, to marry, to choose his work in life and his right,
in keeping with others’ rights, to use things for his well-being. 2. De-

fense of social unity and respect for the family and its economic, spirit-
ual, moral and legal rights. 3. Respect for the dignity of labor, a family
living wage and a social order which will make possible access to prop-
erty. higher education for the competent and the practice of brotherhood.

4. Establishment of a system of law, based on the dominion of God and
just and applicable to all. 5. A state founded in discipline, but also in
kindness and in a Christian spirit, dedicated to the general good, to
respect for man, and man’s eternal life.— {Christmas, 1942.1