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To: rmlew
While Pius XII was Papal Nuncio in Germany, he was one of the first people to take the Nazi Party seriously as a threat. But most people didn't listen to those who were making warnings about them.

He was a Cardinal with some influence. Moreover, what of the previous Pope?

A Cardinal of influence over who? Yes, at the Vatican he had influence, but how much power does a cardinal have? Even the pope has mostly only the power the attention of his office can bring. Pope Pius XI (who died in 1939) release the Encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge in 1937. (It was mostly written by the future Pius XII)It was clearly directed at the situtation in Germany, and if anyone thinks that wasn't obvious, they took the highly unusual step of writing it in German, not the usual Latin. Did Hitler care that the Pope didn't approve of his policies? Hitler had no intention of listening to the Pope. As Stalin said, ``How many divisions does the pope have?'' Did the Pope have the authority to force other nations to invade Germany? Winston Churchill was in his country's government, but he still couldn't convince them of the danger of Germany. Pius also tried to put anti-Hitler german officials in touch with the British.

If you had been pope, what do you think you could have done to make a difference?

127 posted on 02/17/2003 12:47:53 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
The time to stop Hitler was 1932. The RCC ignored them because they were anti-Communist.
Pius XI condemned certain actions of the Nazi regime. However, neither Pope went about cleaning up the church of anti-Semetism. The local anti-Semites were kept in place.

I oppose the attacks on both Pius XI and XII. However, I consider neither saintly.

If you had been pope, what do you think you could have done to make a difference?

1.Make it clear that racism was not to be tolerated against Jews and Gypsies in an ex cathedra statement.
2. Ex-communicate Hitler and other Nazis. Call Nazism a pagan cult. (Likewise excommunicate communists)
3. Explicitly say that rescuing the oppressed was a duty of Catholics.

Of course, I'm not Catholic.

134 posted on 02/17/2003 4:48:17 PM PST by rmlew
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