What the Popes said about Atheistic Nazis

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On April 28, 1935, Cardinal Pacelli (who became Pope Pius XII) gave an address to 250,000 in Lourdes, France. He said, "[The Nazis] are in reality only miserable plagiarists who dress up old errors with new tinsel. It does not make any difference whether they flock to the banners of social revolution, whether they are guided by a false concept of the world and of life, or whether they are possessed by the superstition of a race and blood cult."

On May 10, 1937, Pope Pius XI released the famous encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (German for "With deep anxiety") which explicitly condemned the pagan Nazi cult. Unlike other papal encyclicals, which are written in Latin, this encyclical was written in German so that all Germans could easily read it. It was addressed to the German bishops and the Pope required that it be read in all parish churches of Germany.

Of the forty-four speeches Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII, made on German soil between 1917 and 1929, at least forty contained attacks on Nazism or condemnations of Hitler’s doctrines. Pacelli, who never met the Führer, called the Nazi atheistic religion ‘neo-Paganism.’"

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Submitted by Bonkers on Sat, 12/01/2007 - 8:33pm.

If we are to condemn the Catholics for Hitler, since he apparently was one, then we are going to have a hard time with all religions!
I don't know what Mussolini was, but wasn't Italy also about 98% Catholic?
I suppose Tojo was Shinto--I think that is correct!
We won't further discuss the Great Crusades which looks bad on the Catholics and the Muslims.
Most of our Presidents have been either Deists, Presbyterians, Baptists,or movie stars, but they didn't go to church much and didn't let it interfere with dropping bombs, etc.
When one actually writes it down it appears that maybe if we didn't even know the leader's religion we may be better off, huh?
It seems religion is the cause of much of the turmoil. At least until oil came along.

Git Real's picture
Submitted by Git Real on Sat, 12/01/2007 - 8:46pm.

Another new moniker? Plus, you forgot to mention Bush. It just ain't like you. Eye-wink


Cyclist's picture
Submitted by Cyclist on Sat, 12/01/2007 - 9:54am.

I'm curious, how would you describe the relationship between Mussolini and the Church?
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