აშშ-ვატიკანის ურთიერთობები ცივი ომის პერიოდში
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Date
2021
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უნივერსიტეტის გამომცემლობა
Abstract
World War II changed the world- the world socialist system was
created, religion returned to the place of ideologies, which took an
essential place in public and international relations life. The Holy
See which owns temporal functions in addition to its religious significance
has always played an important role in world politics with a
form of the Vatican. The Vatican, well informed with its intelligence
system, was fighting diligently against the atheistic ideology of Communism
to protect Christian values for decades and carried out considerable
action with the USA to fulfill Cold War politics. This period
is associated with the pontificate Pius XII (1939-1958). For its part, the
Soviet propagandistic machine began an active fight against the Vatican
and proclaimed it as an ideology of an imperialistic camp. The
documents saved in the Russian foreign Policy archive represent a
prominent example of how Soviet ideology sought to undermine the
Vatican’s authority.
In the age of liberal values, the pope’s purpose was to stop
de-Christianization because he considered Catholicism as salvation
for Europe so at the outbreak of World War II Pius XII declared strict
neutrality, herewith the pope continued his diplomatic game. Churchill
had a constant relationship with him and Roosevelt sent his
special ambassador Myron Taylor to the pope who stayed in the Vatican
until the liberation of Rome. The Vatican did not make any official
announcement to defend any side until the end of the war that
made sense pope’s silence and his neutrality encouraged Germany,
however, it should also be mentioned that the pope was responsible
for 40 million Catholics living in the Nazi regime.
The preconditions of the Cold War had still been formed during
the Second World War. Pius XII conception of the Cold War had already
appeared in a conversation with Taylor in September 1942. Pius’s conversations with Churchill and de Gaulle in 1944 reinforced
the Vatican’s strategy to continue the uncompromising war against
the Soviet Union as soon as the war was over. USA influential groups
and New York Archbishop F. Spelman supported the plan that was
exceptionally principal for the Vatican to refrain the US from further
cooperation with the Soviet Union. Pius urged from his nuncio Roncalli
(later Pope Johannes) who was in France, to impact on French
bishops and to form “European Union of Christian People”. The Pope
hoped that de Gaulle would be able to make peace in Europe with
the help of the Anglo-Saxon countries. US Department of State secretary
Catholic R. Murphy, in a letter (June 28, 1945) to D. Eisenhower,
Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces of Western
Europe emphasized the importance of the Vatican strategy to the US
policy. U.S. Catholic Senator McCarthy launched an active anti-communist
campaign with the support of Cardinal Spelman.
The Vatican’s attempt was not in vain. The weapon to fight
against communism was catholic political parties. The pope introduced
a strategic policy to the European leaders of these parties on
February 27, 1947, and advised them to follow the American course.
In May 1947, the Communists were ousted from the governments of
France and Italy with the help of catholic parties. In the same year,
Vatican secretary of State Pietro Gasparri travelled to the USA to establish
political and economic cooperation. First and foremost for
fighting against communism, urgent economic aid was necessary
that was why in 1947 Marshal Plan became emphasized approved in
the Vatican. Besides the economic factor, there was another sturdy
factor-ideology, which was fulfilled successfully by US and Vatican.
These were the anti-communist speeches of Churchill, Truman and
the Pope in 1946.
The correspondence between Truman and Pius XII became its
zenith of US – Vatican relations in the Cold War. On August 26, 1947,
Taylor handed to Pius XII a letter from Truman in which he emphasized
that to achieve a prolonged peace on earth was possible only
through a Christian basis and asked Pope to cooperate. In a reply letter
dated august 28, 1947 Pius XII consented to Truman’s suggestion.
The letters of the pope and president were published in the “New York Herald Tribune” on August 29, 1947, which caused a sensation
and protest. Truman considered it necessary to make a performance
on September 6 and announce that Taylor’s speech was concerned
with “Truman’s Armistice” not only with the pope but also with other
European leaders. By publishing the letters of Truman and Pius XII,
the American side proclaimed joint actions against the Soviet Union
and left-wing forces. In 1949, Cold War reached its apogee. By the
encyclical of March 12, 1950, named „Anni sacri” Pius XII expelled the
communists and their associates from the church. This edict is one
of the culminating points of the Cold War which is related not only
to the newly formed NATO but also to the left-wing movement that
arose in Sicily led by the Christian Democratic Party. Later Pope John
Paul II, who was from socialist Poland, played an important role at
the end of the Cold War and in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Pope John XXIII (1958-1963), the realistic-minded successor of
Pius XII, developed a new tactical line against the USSR in the strategy
of the Vatican’s 30-year struggle. By choosing his name John on the
throne of St. Peter, he symbolically underlined the conciliarism idea.
The new pontiff analyzed in-depth the political situation in which the
Catholic Church was. The confrontation with the Socialist Camp, led
by the USSR, was just one of the major issues that he should resolve.
Firstly, the church had to be transformed according to the world’s
requirements and not the world should be arranged in accordance
with church needs as Pius XII desired. The Pope’s decision to reorganize
the Curia and pursue a new tactical line was met with hostility
in the Vatican. By electing Roncalli, the conclave hoped that the
pontificate of 77 years old Venetian patriarch would be a momentary
and transitional period, but they were severely mistaken. Not only a
reorganization but also a revolution began in the Vatican. John XIII, in
his famous encyclical „Pacem in Terris“, proclaimed world peace and
cooperation. This encyclical made it possible to carry out a dialogue
with various denominations and Marxists. With the recognition of socialist
countries as de Facto, the pope started to find new ways to get
closer with them. The Adjournment and the Second Vatican Council
determined the modernization and radical changes to the Church.
Worship in national languages, pluralism, secularization, freedom of religion, dialogue with other denominations, etc. had revolutionary
importance.
The Vatican has become an accountable supporter of peace and
progress, which has radically changed the vectors of its foreign policy,
restored international authority and returned to world politics.
The heavy bronze doors of the Vatican have widely opened for dialogue
with the world.
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ვატიკანი, ცივი ომი, პიუს XII, იოანე XXIII, ანტისოვიეტიზმი, ენციკლიკა, აჯორნამენტო, Vatican, Cold War, Pius XII, John XXIII, Anti-Sovietism, Enciclica, Ajornamento
Citation
აკადემიკოს კონსტანტინე წერეთლის დაბადებიდან მე-100 წლისთავისადმი მიძღვნილი საერთაშორისო კონფერენცია, თეზისები, 2021, გვ.: 289-297/ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF ACADEMICIAN KONSTANTINE TSERETELI, ABSTRACTS, p.: 289-297