Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII

Persecutions against the Catholic Church took place in virtually all the years of the pontificate of Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

, especially after World War II in Eastern Europe, the USSR and the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. The Catholic Church was under attack in all Communist governed countries and lost most of its existence in Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Yugoslavia

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Communist China and the Soviet Union (including Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

and Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

). This article focuses on the post-war persecutions, leaving out the persecutions during World War II in several countries.

Summary

Over sixty million Catholics were subjected to Stalinist rule from the Elbe river in Germany to Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

after World War II. Massive deportations of Catholic populations from Eastern Europe to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

and Church persecutions followed from the newly acquired territories. During the Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

era, the Church experienced the most systematic persecutions in its history in these Eastern countries. According to John Cornwell

John Cornwell (writer)

John Cornwell is an English journalist and author, and a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for various books on the papacy, most notably Hitler's Pope; investigative journalism; memoir; and the public understanding of science and philosophy. More recently he has been concerned...

, the Church was faced with an agonizing dilemma: compromise with the regimes in order to maintain a structure with which to survive or resist, or confront and risk annihilation. To save its faithful, the Vatican attempted both at varying times.

A few years after the death of Joseph Stalin, in 1956, the situation improved to varying degrees in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

and Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. In East Germany and Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, the Church was subjected to ongoing attacks, but was able to continue some of its activities, however on a much reduced scale. In Albania

Albania

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

and Hungary

Hungary

, persecution continued to the point that the Church faced extinction

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

. In the Soviet Union and mainland China, the Catholic Church largely ceased to exist, at least publicly, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. In the last months of his reign, diplomatic feelers from the Soviet Union indicated a possible Soviet willingness to improve relations with the Vatican.

Church diplomacy

Pius XII was a diplomat who valued diplomatic relations in order to keep contact with the local Church. As previously with Germany under the National Socialist government, Pope Pius refused to break diplomatic relations with Communist authorities.

Thus, after World War II, the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

kept its nuncios in Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

and China, until these countries severed relations, interrupting communication with bishops as well. The Vatican responded, by giving local bishops unprecedented authority to deal with authorities on their own, but without granting the right to define overall relations, viewed as the sole privilege of the Holy See. In encyclicals such as Invicti Athletae

Invicti Athletae

Invicti Athletae is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the Polish bishops and faithful on the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Andrew Bobola.- Background :...

, and Apostolic letters to Czech Bishops, Polish Bishops, the Bishops of Hungary, China, and Romania, the Pope encouraged local bishops to be firm, modest and wise in their dealings with the new communist authorities. He excommunicated all those who imprisoned Cardinals

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

and bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

s as in the case of Stepinac, Mindszenty, Grösz, Beran, Wyszinski and Pacha.

In an attempt to prevent governmental usurpation of ecclsastical offices, The Vatican threatened to excommunicate anyone who do so, or, illegally grant or receive episcopal ordination

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

. Nevertheless, the Vatican was not successful in blocking episcopal enthronements by the regimes of China and Czechoslovakia. These persons were not excommunicated, however. In his last encyclical Ad Apostolorum Principis

Ad Apostolorum Principis

Ad Apostolorum Principis is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on Communism and the Church in China It describes systematic persecutions of bishops, priests, religious and faithful and the attempts of the government to establish a patriotic Catholic Church, independent of Rome.-Background:The...

to the bishops of China, Pope Pius XII expressed the opinion, that schismatic bishops and priests are the final step towards total elimination of the Catholic Church in that country. Questions were raised as to why the Vatican appointed powerful but often inexperienced American bishops as nuncios in some Eastern countries, given the anti-American, anti-imperialist tendencies in these countries. While there is no documentation on Vatican motives, a possible reason could be the relative security of US nationals in foreign countries.

China

For centuries, access to the people of China was difficult for the Catholic Church, because it did not recognize local Confucian customs of honouring deceased family members. To the Chinese, this was an ancient ritual

Ritual

A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....

, to the Vatican, it was a religious exercise which conflicted with Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

. As a result, the Church made little progress in China. Within month of his election, Pope Pius issued a dramatic change in policies. On December 8, 1939, the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of Faith issues at request of Pius XII new instruction, by which Chinese customs were no longer considered superstitious, but an honourable way of esteeming ones relatives and therefore permitted by Catholic Christians. The Government of China

Government of the Republic of China

The Republic of China was formally established by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1912 in Nanjing under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China but this government was moved to Beijing in the same year and continued as the internationally recognized government of China until 1928. In the history...

established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1943, within a short interval. The Papal degree changed the ecclesiastical situation in China in an almost revolutionary way. As the Church began to flourish, Pius XII established a local ecclesiastical hierarchy, and, received the Archbishop of Peking, Thomas Tien Ken-sin

Thomas Tien Ken-sin

Thomas Tien Ken-sin, SVD was a Chinese Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and chair of Fu Jen Catholic University...

, SVD, in to the Sacred College of Cardinals

College of Cardinals

The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...

.

After World War II, about four million Chinese were members of the Catholic faith. This was less than one percent of the population but numbers increased dramatically. In 1949, there existed
* 20 archdioceses,
* 85 dioceses
* 39 apostolic prefectures
* 3080 foreign missionaries
* 2557 Chinese priests

The establishment of Mao Zedong's Communist regime in 1949 put these early advances on hold and led to the persecution

Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...

of thousands of clergy and faithful in China. A patriotic Chinese Church was formed. Since that time, the persecuted Catholic Church exists as a tiny fraction in secrecy and underground only. The losses were considerable. For example, in 1948, the Catholic Church operated some 254 orphanages and 196 hospitals with 81628 beds. Catholic clergy experienced increased supervision. Bishops and priests were forced to engage in degrading menial jobs to earn their living. Foreign missionaries were accused of being foreign agents who would turn the country over to imperialist forces.

Soviet Union

Relations between Soviet authorities and the Vatican were always difficult. January 23, 1918, the Soviet government declared separation of Church and State and began with the systematic dissolution of Catholic institutions and the confiscation of Catholic properties. Two years later, in 1920, Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...

issued Bonum Sana in which he condemned the philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

and practices of Communism. Pius XI followed this line with numerous statements and the encyclicals Miserantissimus Redemptor, Caritate Christi, and Divini Redemptoris

Divini Redemptoris

Divini Redemptoris is an anti-communist encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI. It was published on 19 March 1937. In this encyclical, the pope sets out to "expose once more in a brief synthesis the principles of atheistic Communism as they are manifested chiefly in bolshevism"...

The pontificate of Pius XII from the very beginning faced problems, as large parts of Poland, the Baltic States

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

and their Catholic populations were incorporated into the USSR. At once, the United Catholic Churches of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

and Ruthenia

Ruthenia

Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...

were attacked.

Catholic Ruthenian and Ukrainian Churches

Soviet attempts to separate the United Churches from Rome, reflected not only Soviet policy, but were a continuation of centuries-old Russian policies towards the Papacy, already viewed as anti-Russian. He also was aware, that in months preceding the encyclical

Encyclical

An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...

Orientales Omnes

Orientales omnes Ecclesiae is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It commemorates the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Union of Brest....

, all Catholic bishops of the Ukrainian Church had been arrested. Josyf Slipyj, Gregory Chomysyn, John Laysevkyi, Nicolas Carneckyi, Josaphat Kocylovskyi Some, including Bishop Nicetas Budka perished in Siberia. Subjected to Stalinist Show Trials, they all received severe sentencing. The remaining leaders of the hierarchies and heads of all seminaries and Episcopal offices were arrested and tried in 1945 and 1946.

After the Church was thus robbed of all its leadership, a "spontaneous movement" for separation from Rome, and unification with the Russian Orthodox Church developed. Mass arrest

Mass arrest

A mass arrest occurs when the police apprehend large numbers of suspects at once. This sometimes occurs at illegal protests. Some mass arrests are also used in an effort combat gang activity. This is sometimes controversial, and lawsuits sometimes result...

s of priests followed. In Lemko, some five hundred priests were jailed in 1945 or sent to a Gulag, officially called, "an unknown destination because of political reasons". Church institutions were confiscated and expropriated; churches, monasteries and seminaries closed and looted, Catholic United Churches were integrated under the Moscow Patriarchy, after all residing bishops and apostolic administrators were arrested. The Catholic Church of the Ukraine was thus liquidated and its properties turned over to the Orthodox Church under the Patriarch of Moscow.

After Joseph Stalin died in 1953, "peaceful coexistence

Peaceful coexistence

Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed and applied by the Soviet Union at various points during the Cold War in the context of its ostensibly Marxist–Leninist foreign policy and was adopted by Soviet-influenced "Communist states" that they could peacefully coexist with the capitalist bloc...

" became subject of numerous discussions. In his Christmas Message of 1954, Pius XII defined possibilities and preconditions for peaceful coexistence. He indicated Vatican willingness to practical cooperation

Cooperation

Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...

, whenever possible in the interest of the faithful. The slow pace of de-Stalinisation and the Soviet crack-down of the Hungarian Revolution did not produce major results, aside from modest improvements in Poland and Yugoslavia after 1956. In January 1958, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko expressed willingness of Moscow, to have formal relations with the Vatican in light of the position of Pope Pius XII on world peace and the uses of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, a position, which he claimed was identical with Kremlin

Kremlin

A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...

policy.

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia

The small Catholic Church of Estonia and the Church in Latvia were completely annihilated after the Soviet Union reintegrated these countries into its territory in 1945. All Church organizations were outlawed and all bishops jailed.

In 1939, Pope Pius received the ambassador of Lithuania

Lithuania

for a final meeting prior to the Soviet occupation. Catholic Lithuania suffered especially under the new Soviet regime. At the outbreak of World War II there were 800 parishes, 1500 priests, 600 candidates for the priesthood in four seminaries. As a part of the Soviet crackdown, the complete hierarchy, a large part of the clergy and about a third of the Catholic population was deported.

Poland

With the war over, the Pope discontinued his war-time policy of neutrality, stating that he had abstained from protests during he war, despite of massive persecutions. The communist party of Poland assumed governmental control in 1947, and began to confiscate Church properties in the months thereafter. By late 1947, Catholic educational institutes, kindergartens, schools, orphanages were expropriated as well. Starting in 1948, mass arrest and show trials began to take place against Catholic bishops and clergy.
Pope Pius XII responded with an apostolic letter Flagranti Semper Animi,, in which he defended the Church against attacks and Stalinist persecution tactics. However, pressures against the Church increased with the de facto outlawing of religious meetings and organizations. Pope Pius responded with a letter commemorating the 10th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, Decennium Dum Expletur

Decennium Dum Expletur

Decenium Dum Expletur Decenium Dum Expletur Decenium Dum Expletur (September 1, 1949, is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius XII to the bishops of Poland about the suffering of the Polish People....

. He writes, that while the Polish people had suffered like nobody else during the war, ten years afterwards, the suffering continues. Cum Jam Lustri

Cum Jam Lustri

Cum Jam Lustri September 1, 1951, is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius XII to the bishops “and brave people” of Poland about their sufferings during Stalinist persecution...

commemorates the death of two Polish Cardinals, Hlond and Sapieha and gives courage to the Church in Poland. In honour of Saint Stanisław, Pope Pius XII issues Poloniae Annalibus

Poloniae Annalibus

Poloniae Annalibus is an apostolic letter of Pope Pius XII commemorating the seven hundredth anniversary of the canonization of Saint Stanislaw AAS and encouraging the Polish episcopate to be united and strong in face of persecution....

, giving consolation and again expressing his certain conviction, that Christ will win and the persecution end. By 1952 some 1000 priests are incarcerated, all seminaries of religious orders closed On November 19, 1953, the pontiff addressed the Diplomatic Corps

Diplomatic corps

The diplomatic corps or corps diplomatique is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body.The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission who represent their countries in another state or country...

to issue a protest against the incarceration of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski. After the arrest of the Cardinal, Communist authorities support patriotic priests, who aspire a separation from Rome. At the 300th anniversary of the successful defence of Jasna Góra, Pope Pius XII writes again to Poland, congratulating the courageous defenders of the faith in his time. Gloriosam Reginam

Gloriosam Reginam

Gloriosam Reginam is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius XII to the Polish episcopate, to protest against the persecution of the Church in Poland, and, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Jasna Góra, the Polish sanctuary of the Virgin Mary...

salutes the modern day Polish martyrs and expresses confidence in victory of the queen of Poland. He salutes Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski upon his return from arrest in October 1956.

In 1957, Pope Pius addressed with Invicti Athletae

Invicti Athletae

Invicti Athletae is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the Polish bishops and faithful on the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Andrew Bobola.- Background :...

in strong words the Polish episcopate, which celebrated the 300th. Anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

Andrew Bobola

Andrew Bobola was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls".-Biography:...

through the Russians. "The haters of God and enemies of Christian teaching attack Jesus Christ and his Church" The Pope asks for endurance and bravery. The people and clergy must overcome many obstacles, and even sacrifices in time and money, but they must never give in. The Pope urges his bishops in Poland not to be overwhelmed by the situation but to mix courage

Courage

Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...

with prudence

Prudence

Prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues .The word comes from Old French prudence , from Latin...

, and knowledge

Knowledge

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...

with wisdom

Wisdom

Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...

- Act boldly, but with that Christian promptness of soul, which goes hand in hand with prudence, knowledge, and wisdom. Keep Catholic faith and unity.

Czechoslovakia

They can take away your freedom, but they cannot tear the Catholic faith from your hearts. They can turn you into martyrs, but they can never turn you into traitors. In 1945, the Czechoslovakian government expelled its Hungarian and German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

populations from Czechoslovakian territories, thus greatly reducing the percentage of Catholics in the country. After the Communist coup in 1948, the regime expelled the Papal Nuncio

Nuncio

Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...

and closed Catholic seminaries for the formation of priests. Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

outlawed all religious orders and Catholic associations and gradually suppressed the Catholic press. Attempts were made, to divide the clergy into opposing camps by creating a peace loving association of priests headed by Bishop Joseph Plojhar. Archbishop Josef Beran and others refusing to participate were subjected to public show trial

Show trial

The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...

s and long incarcerations. In 1949, the governmental "Church Office" assumed all functions of the Catholic Church.

Hungary

After the occupation of Hungary by the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

in 1945, socialist policies gaind only gradually ground in the country. But in the following five years, the Church lost three thousand and three-hundred schools, numerous hospitals and newspapers. 11.500 Religious were asked to leave their convents and monasteries and institutes. The nuncio

Nuncio

was expelled already in 1945. The Church attempted to come to agreements with the regime in 1950, when the continuation of about ten Catholic schools was permitted. The overwhelming experience of Hungarian Catholicism were the public show trials and degradations of Archbishop Jozsef Grosz and Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty. They resulted in a complete exclusion of the Church from all public life and Hungarian society.

Jozsef Mindszenty

Jozsef Mindszenty had been jailed by the Germans

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, freed by the Soviet army and was ordained Bishop

Bishop

in 1944. After coup of the communist party in Hungary, a reign of terror

State terrorism

State terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...

backed by the Soviet army was instituted
Pope Pius XII named Mindzenty Primate of Hungary and received him in the College of Cardinals

College of Cardinals

in 1946. "After a propaganda campaign, he was arrested on charges of collaboration with the Nazis, spying, treason, and currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

fraud

Fraud

In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

. None of the accusations were true. He was torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

d, mentally and physically, beaten daily with rubber truncheons until he signed a confession

Confession

This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...

. His show trial was condemned by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

... The trumped up proceedings, fully reported in the West, gripped and horrified Catholics the world over." The Cardinal remained in prison until 1956, when, during the Hungarian Revolution he was freed. After the failure of he revolution, he lived in the American embassy for the following 15 years.

Romania, Bulgaria and Albania

After World War I, Romania inherited large parts of Catholic Hungary including large Catholic populations, which were not always treated well between the wars. The Apostolic Constitution

Apostolic constitution

An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...

Solemmni Conventione of 1930 includes a concordat

Concordat

A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...

between Romania and the Vatican. It allowed for four dioceses and free exercise of religion within the country. Because of rival interpretations the concordat was enacted ten years later in 1940. In 1948, the Communist regime withdrew from the concordat and closed most Catholic institutes. Only two small dioceses were permitted to continue, the others were considered non-existent. The six united bishops and several Latin rite bishops were jailed to long sentences. All schools were closed, Catholic activities were outlawed.

Bulgaria became a People's Republic

People's Republic

People's Republic is a title that has often been used by Marxist-Leninist governments to describe their state. The motivation for using this term lies in the claim that Marxist-Leninists govern in accordance with the interests of the vast majority of the people, and, as such, a Marxist-Leninist...

on October 15, 1946. The new constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

of 1947 limited religious activities. Massive Church persecution followed. The Church lost all its bishops, organizations, religious institutes. Most of the priests and religious perished within five years, many of them in Siberia.

In Albania, the communist regime assumed the role of liberator, since the country was under Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

occupation

Military occupation

Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...

since 1939. The Catholic Church was denounced as the Church of the oppressor

Oppressor

Oppressor was a technical death metal band from Chicago, Illinois, which formed in 1991 and finished in 1999. They released three albums. Three of the band's members went on to form alternative metal band Soil.-History:...

s. All foreign priests and religious were expelled. Domestic bishops, priests and religious were killed, jailed or sent to unknown destinations. As in other countries, a peace-loving national Church was attempted as well. The government prided itself on having eradicated religion and closed every Catholic Church.

Yugoslavia

After defining relations with the Orthodox Church in 1929, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s in 1931, Protestants and Jews in 1933, a Concordat

Concordat

was signed in 1935 between Yugoslavia and the Vatican. After the Orthodox Church excommunicated all politicians involved in its parliamentary passing, the government withdrew the text from final vote in the upper house. De Facto however, the spirit of the concordat was accepted and the Church began to flourish in the years prior to World War II. The war was difficult for the Church, as the country was largely occupied by Italian and German forces. In Croatia, which declared independence from Belgrade, a nationalistic regime was open to the needs of the Church, which led to open collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...

of several Church officials with Croatian government policies.

After the war, the systematic persecution of the Church began as it did in all the other socialist countries. Some 1300 of the clergy was assassinated among them 139 Franciscan monks, 50% of the clergy was jailed. As in Czechoslovakia and other countries, Belgrade created peace loving organizations of progressive priests, in an attempt to divide the clergy. A major bone of contention was Aloysius Stepinac

Aloysius Stepinac

Aloysius Viktor Stepinac , also known as Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, was a Croatian Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 to 1960. In 1998 he was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope John Paul II....

, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1953. To President Tito "a provocation", this represented to Pope Pius "a just recognition of his extraordinary merits and a symbol of our affection and encouragement for our beloved sons and daughters, who testify their faith with steadfastness and courage in very difficult times. The Pope explained that he did not intend to insult the Yugoslavian authorities, but neither did he agree with any of the unjust accusations which resulted in the punishment of the Archbishop. Stepinac was not permitted to receive the red hat in Rome, and remained under house arrest until his death in 1960. Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

beatified him. After his death, relations to the Vatican improved significantly. In 1974, the Church in Yugoslavia counted 15500 priests, religious and nuns

Persecution of Religious Orders

Religious orders and institutions are historically visible targets in time of conflict and strife. Their houses, convents or monasteries were looted, burned or destroyed throughout Europe for centuries in virtually all European countries. The beginning of the pontificate of Pius XII coincided with the end of the Civil War in Spain, in which in addition to thousands of faithful, some 4184 secular priests, 2365 religious and 283 female religious were killed within a three year period.

In World War II, the Religious of Poland suffered from an exceptionally brutal German occupation. A thirteen point Program from 1940 provided that "all religious institutes, convents and monasteries will be closed because they do not reflect German morality and population policy." The German policy, to treat Poles as subhuman "Untermenschen," was especially brutal against representatives of religious orders. Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

raids let to the murdering, assassination and deportation to concentration camps of numerous religious, including the Franciscan monk Maximilian Kolbe

Maximilian Kolbe

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM Conv was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.He was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and...

.

In the Dachau concentration camp alone, some 2800 Polish priests and Religious incarcerated of which approximately 1000 were killed or died of hunger. Between April and October, 1942, 500 Polish Religious died in Dachau, in part due to mistreatment, hunger or the gas chambers. Long time inmate Bishop Kozlowiecki reports "What a happy day, if I was beaten only once or twice". Especially brutal was Holy Week in 1942. One thousand and eight hundred Polish priests and Religious went through punishment drills and exercises uninterrupted from morning to night every day. Pope Pius XII informed the Cardinals in 1945, that among all the horrors, which priests and religious had to endure in concentration camps, the fate of Polish inmates was by far the worst.

After 1945, Poland was resurrected, but the Polish government continued the attacks against the Catholic Church. All religious were forced to leave hospitals and educational institutions, their properties were confiscated. Within seven years, fifty-four religious were killed. One hundred and seventy priests were deported into gulags. However, after a change of government in 1956, the condition of the Church improved. Harassment and persecution of the Church continued but religious vocations were permitted and Poland became the only Eastern country which contributed in great numbers religious missionaries to worldwide service.

In all Eastern countries, after World War II, persecution of Religious assumed new dimensions. All religious houses in the Ukraine were confiscated and its inhabitants either jailed or sent home. All religious houses were confiscated and closed in Lithuania as well. In Albania, all religious orders were forcibly closed. In Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, all monasteries and religious institutes were erased after 1950. In Hungary, 10 000 members of religious orders were ordered to leave their residences within three months. Some 300 were permitted to remain. The Hungarian hierarchy entered an agreement with the authorities, which permitted the reopening of eight Catholic schools

In Yugoslavia, all orders were closed after the war and properties confiscated. In Bosnia

Bosnia (region)

Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...

, numerous religious were killed, among them 139 Franciscan priests. However, as the Tito regime distanced itself increasingly from Moscow, significant improvements were noticed in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

and Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

during the last two years of the Pacelli pontificate. In China and North-Korea Catholic religious do no longer exist. Foreign missionaries were expelled, the fate of most domestic religious is unknown.

Decrees of the Holy Office on Communism

The Vatican, having been silent during the war on communist excesses, displayed a harder line on communism after 1945.

Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII on Church persecutions

The name of a Papal Encyclical is always taken from its first two or three words

Incipit

Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...

No.	Title		Subject	Date	Text
No.	Latin Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...	English translation	Subject	Date	Text
1.	Orientales Omnes Orientales Omnes Orientales omnes Ecclesiae is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It commemorates the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Union of Brest....	"All the Eastern Churches"	On the 350th Anniversary of Reunion of the Ruthenian Church Ruthenian Catholic Church The Ruthenian Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church , which uses the Divine Liturgy of the Constantinopolitan Byzantine Eastern Rite. Its roots are among the Rusyns who lived in the region called Carpathian Ruthenia, in and around the Carpathian Mountains... with Rome	December 23, 1945	(English)
2.	Anni Sacri Anni Sacri Anni Sacri issued on the twelfth anniversary of his coronation, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on a program combating atheism.The encyclical states:- Quotations from the encyclical :...	"On the Holy Year Jubilee (Christian) The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly... "	On a Program For Combating Atheistic Atheism Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities... Propaganda Throughout The World	March 12, 1950	(English)
3..	Ad Sinarum Gentem	"To the Chinese people"	On the Supranationality of the Church	October 7, 1954	(English)
4.	Luctuosissimi Eventus Luctuosissimi Eventus Luctuosissimi Eventus, issued October 28, 1956, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII urging public prayers for peace and freedom for the people of Hungary....	"Sorrowful events"	Urging Public Prayers for Peace and Freedom for the People of Hungary	October 28, 1956	(English)
5.	Laetamus Admodum Laetamus Admodum Laetamur Admodum issued November 1, 1956, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII renewing his request for prayers for peace for Poland, Hungary, and the Middle East....	"We are most pleased"	Renewing Exhortation for Prayers for Peace in Poland Poznan 1956 protests The Poznań 1956 protests, also known as Poznań 1956 uprising or Poznań June , were the first of several massive protests of the Polish people against the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland... , Hungary, and the Middle East Middle East The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...	November 1, 1956	(English)
6.	Datis Nuperrime Datis Nuperrime Datis Nuperrime , is an Papal encyclical of Pope Pius XII concerning the Soviet invasion of Hungary to suppress the Hungarian revolution of 1956. This is a second encyclical protesting the bloody oppression of the Hungarian people...		Lamenting the Sorrowful Events in Hungary, and Condemning the Ruthless Use of Force	November 5, 1956	(English)
7.	Invicti Athletae Invicti Athletae Invicti Athletae is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII to the Polish bishops and faithful on the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Andrew Bobola.- Background :...	"Of the unconquered athlete"	On St. Andrew Bobola Andrew Bobola Andrew Bobola was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls".-Biography:...	May 16, 1957	(English)
8.	Meminisse Juvat Meminisse Juvat Meminisse Iuvat is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII, asking for prayers of the persecuted Church in the East and criticizing harmful cultural developments in the West...	"It is helpful to recall"	On Prayers for the Persecuted Church	July 14, 1958	(English)
9.	Ad Apostolorum Principis Ad Apostolorum Principis Ad Apostolorum Principis is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on Communism and the Church in China It describes systematic persecutions of bishops, priests, religious and faithful and the attempts of the government to establish a patriotic Catholic Church, independent of Rome.-Background:The...	"At the Prince of the Apostles"	On Communism Communism Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production... and the Church in China	June 29, 1958	(English)

Summary

Church diplomacy

China

Soviet Union

Catholic Ruthenian and Ukrainian Churches

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia

Poland

Czechoslovakia

Hungary

Jozsef Mindszenty

Romania, Bulgaria and Albania

Yugoslavia

Persecution of Religious Orders

Decrees of the Holy Office on Communism

Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII on Church persecutions

See also