The lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII : the Roman Catholic Church and the division of Europe, 1943-1950 / Peter C. Kent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kent, Peter C., 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and politics--Catholic Church--History--20th century.

Christianity and politics.

Communism and Christianity--Catholic Church.

Communism and Christianity.

Papacy--History--1929-1945.

Papacy.

Europe--Politics and government--1945-.

Europe.

Pius XII, Pope, 1876-1958.

Pius.

Physical Description:

viii, 321 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII Peter Kent shows how the Catholic Church was able to continue to exist on both sides of the Iron Curtain in spite of the division of Europe after the Second World War. Although Christian democracy became increasingly influential in western Europe, the struggle to preserve the position and rights of the Church in the east was much more difficult. When east European governments, under Moscow's direction, began their offensive against the independence of the Church in 1948, the papacy found that it stood alone, with little assistance from the U.S. Kent offers a new assessment of Pius XII, extending the study of his career and papacy beyond the Second World War. He also examines the origins of the Cold War, the European perspective on American and Soviet policies, and the diplomatic role and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

Contents:

Pt. 1. The Church and the challenge of communism Introduction

The first cold warriors

Pt. 2. The Roman Catholic Church in the Second World War

The Church and the Axis powers

The Church under Nazi occupation

The Church in the Balkans

The Church in the United States

The Soviet Union and the Catholic Church

The papacy and the Second World War

Pt. 3. Il dopoguerra : neither war nor peace

Papal leadership after the war

Early persecution in the Balkans

The Catholic majorities of East Central Europe

Catholics and European reconstruction

The Catholic Church and the occupation of Germany

Pt. 4. The Cold War begins

The martyrdom of Archbishop Stepinac

Vatican resistance to the division of Europe

The impossibility of Vatican neutrality

Communist consolidation and Catholic division

The religious Cold War : communist offensive

The religious Cold War : Catholic counter-offensive.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-308) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86022-4

9786612860225

0-7735-6994-4

OCLC:

929120661