Vatican politics and war

Human Quest, Jan/Feb 2001 by Swomley, John M

The Vatican has had for many years the possibility of being a peaceful church, winning converts by persuasion, financing its own clergy and church activities and creating the impression that it was neither hostile to nor sought special favors from any state or political leaders. This approach could be called a peaceful or nonviolent ethic, in contrast to an ethic of power. The Vatican thus far has sought control over nations by concordats, political intrigue, and even espousing or condoning war and massacre of non-Catholics. In the recent century it had concordats or other agreements with Serbia, with fascist governments in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Croatia.

A concordat is a pact between the Vatican and a nation-state whereby the Vatican gains certain political and financial benefits in return for support of a policy or arm of the national government. Such a concordat in a nation with numerous Catholics is also helpful in getting their allegiance or in curbing opposition to the government..

The first concordat of importance in the period 1900 to 2000 was Serbia, a majority of whose members were members of the Orthodox church and a minority were Roman Catholics. Serbia agreed to let the Vatican apply its new authorization Code of Canon law to Catholics in Serbia, including the appointment of bishops. It agreed that Catholics would have freedom of worship, religion and religious education. What Serbia wanted was the abrogation of the long-term protectorate included in the rights to name bishops, to educate priest in Austria-Hungary and even to invade Serbia to protect Catholics.

The concordat which Eugene Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, drafted was clearly to curry the favor of

Serbia, whose government wanted to eliminate any ties between Catholics and Austria. Serbia wanted the Vatican approval which included direct Vatican control over Catholics in the Balkans and the concordat would shift control of the Balkans to Serbia without any excuse for Austria to intervene. There is little doubt that the tensions between Austria and Serbia led to World War I. After Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian in Sarajevo, there came the declaration of war. The concordat was signed June 14, 1914, only four days prior to the assassination.

Another of the early concordats was signed in 1924 in Bavaria when the Bavarian state accepted the Vatican's Code of Canon Law as the basis for the appointment of bishops, archbishops, and other lesser church leaders, not only of religious schools but of religious instruction in the educational system. In addition, the state agreed to protect the advance the church and its institutions forever, including paying the salaries of the clergy. The person who negotiated this concordat was Pacelli, later Cardinal Secretary of State.

The next concordat was the Prussia. Because of protestant resistance, Pacelli would not get control of the Prussian schools or the appointment of bishops, but he did get the right to nominate three bishops. The Cathedral canons were also allowed to nominated bishops, and the canons made the final decision. The concordat was signed in June 1929, a few months before the beginning of the Great Depression following the New York stock market crash.

However, in Italy, instead of a concordat, a Lateran Treaty was negotiated and signed in February 1929. According to that treaty, Roman Catholicism is the only recognized religion in Italy. The church was given 108.7 acres and complete control over it as Vatican City. The treaty also banned any Catholic participation in politics. Nevertheless Pope Pius XI encouraged priests throughout Italy to support the Fascists and even spoke of Mussolini as "a man sent by God." In effect the Lateran Treaty and that papal support of Fascism removed ant obstacle to his invasion of Ethiopia and other countries.

The Lateran Treaty also gave Hitler the idea that he could negotiate a similar treaty. The negotiation dragged on for months. During this time pope praised Hitler's anticommunist crusade. Pacelli was in direct negotiations with Hitler despite the German bishops' reluctance. Hitler demanded and got a provision that permitted him to ban any form of political social action performed by Catholics, which meant the disbanding of the Catholic Center Party, a substantial independent and democratic party. In return Hitler agreed to Catholic intervention in German schools and to authorize the cost of educating Catholic students from primary through secondary education. Cardinal Pacelli, who had become the Vatican Secretary of State in 1930, signed the concordat July 20, 1933 after Hitler had begun persecuting Jews, including those who had earlier converted to Catholicism. Also, in spite of Pius XI's Casti Connubi, a doctrine about the sanctity of human life, Pacelli signed the pact after Hitler's law was adopted for "Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring." This included the sterilization of hundreds of thousands of persons with mental retardation and physical problems such as blindness. In other words, Cardinal Pacelli sold out to Hitler by giving him a blank check to destroy democracy, persecute the Jews and in effect to do anything that Hitler viewed as a political decision. This was a clear assertion of Vatican power, as neither the German bishops nor the Catholic Center Party were able to thwart the Vatican bureaucracy. In March, 1939, Pacelli became Pope Pius XII.