DEPLORING THE PREVALENCE OF HATRED IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD, POPE PIUS XI IN AN ENCYCLICAL TODAY CONDEMNED STATE-SPONSORED RELIGIONS, COMMUNISM AND CERTAIN ANTI-COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS WHICH, WHILE DESPISING THE WISDOM OF THE BIBLE, ATTEMPT TO EXCUSE PAGANISM.
THE STRONGLY-WORDED ENCYCLICAL IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ISSUED IN CONNECTION WITH PREMIER MUSSOLINI’S VISIT TO BERLIN AND FEAR THAT ITALY MIGHT AS A RESULT EMULATE NAZI THEORIES WITH RESPECT TO RELIGION.
ALTHOUGH NO COUNTRIES ARE MENTIONED BY NAME, THE POPE’S STATEMENT IS CONSTRUED AS DIRECT CENSURE OF NAZI GERMANY, SOVIET RUSSIA, LOYALIST SPAIN AND THE LEFTIST GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO.
URGING PRAYERS AS A MEANS OF COMBATING THE DANGERS FACING CIVILIZATION, THE POPE DECLARED:
” ON ONE SIDE COMMUNISM RISES, GOING TO THE EXTREME AS TO DENY ALL PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS, AND ON THE OTHER SIDE A STATE CULT AND A DESIRE TO STRENGTHEN AUTHORITY AND PUBLIC ORDER AGAINST COMMUNIST MANEUVERS, FORGET THE WISDOM OF THE GOSPEL AND REVIVE THE ERRORS OF PAGAN CUSTOMS.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
