Language:
English
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Church and State
Angaben zur Quelle:
40,4 (1998) 775-795
Keywords:
Pius
;
Catholic Church.
;
Catholic Church Relations
;
Judaism
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Catholic Church
;
Antisemitism
;
Church history 20th century
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
Examines the history of the "hidden encyclical" prepared by Pius XI in 1938, but never issued by his successor Pius XII. The encyclical bore the title "The Unity of the Human Race" and was to denounce Nazi racism and antisemitism in explicit terms. Pius XI was known as a staunch anti-racist and had issued a number of anti-racist and anti-totalitarian pronouncements before. He was not afraid to provoke a breach between Germany and the Vatican. Pius XII, more cautious, was afraid that such a breach might be harmful for German Catholics. Moreover, a bluntly anti-racist encyclical might upset the racist USA and other countries. Pius XII was not an antisemite, but he regarded communism rather than Nazism as the primary danger for Christianity. His "silence" was deplored by many Catholic hierarchs. It is not clear whether the anti-racist encyclical, had it been issued, could have rescued many Jewish lives.
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