Concordats and Treaties of Pope Pius XII
After WWI, the Church was confronted with a variety of short-lived government styles, monarchies, military rule, fascism, communism, and left-wing and right-wing regimes as well as some democratic governments. To fulfill its mission under changing circumstances, the Vatican insisted on freedom of religion. Already under Pope Benedict XV, but especially under Pope Pius XI, a record number of new concordats were concluded. To Pius XII, Church freedom was the ultimate priority:
- “We turn to the leaders of people, in order for the Church to live in freedom. Concordats are legal instruments. Taking into consideration the best for the population and the State, they are intended to create the space, in which the Catholic Church and the Catholics of a given country can freely live their faith and develop it”.
Pius concluded some thirty concordats and State treaties during his pontificate. Treaties were concluded with Brazil (1950), Canada (1951), France (1952), Great Britain (1953), The Netherlands (1957), United States of America 1957). New Apostolic delegations were established in Indonesia (1947), Palestine and Jordan (1948), Dakar (1948), Pakistan (1950) and Thailand (1957). New nunciatures were established in Uruguay (1939), Lebanon (1947), The Philippines (1951) China (1946), Indonesia (1950), Egypt (1947), India (1948), Liberia (1951), Pakistan (1951), Japan (1952), Syria (1953), Iran (1953), Ethiopia (1957). A personal representative of the President of the United States of America was accredited at the Vatican since December 1939. Representatives of the Vatican were sent to several United Nations Organizations, such as UNESCO and ILO.
Read more about this topic: Pope Pius XII Foreign Relations After World War II
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