Pope Pius XII Foreign Relations After World War II - Italy

Italy

In July 1940, L'Osservatore Romano informed its readers:

During the War, the Roman-born Pontiff was very concerned with the question, how to save the eternal city from the fate of destruction. He decided to stay day and night in Rome as not to give an excuse for bombings in his absence. He also communicated with FDR and Churchill regarding a sparing for his city. As German troops withdrew from the South of Italy, he helped to negotiate an open city agreement, by which German military circumvented Rome and thus did not offer military targets there. After the Germans left, the Roman population flocked to St. Pter’s square to thank the “Savior of Rome” One of them was Pietro Nenni, the socialist leader who first refused to kneel down, until his wife forced him to. Later, Pope Pius was named saviour of he city and of civilisation.

But due to the international climate, and the communist persecution of the Church in the East, relations between the Vatican and Communism soured. The 1948 were seen as a watershed for the future of Italy and Europe and became a fight between the Catholic Church and the Communist Party of Italy. In his Easter homily of 1948, Pius appealed to the Roman people:

"There is no room in our conscience for faint-heartedness, for comfort, for the indecisiveness of many who, in this crucial hour, believe they can serve two masters."

With 49% of the vote, the elections of April 18, 1948 went in favor of the anti-Communist Christian Democrats. On July 15, 1948, L'Osservatore Romano published a degree which excommunicated those who propagate “the materialistic and anti-Christian teachings of communism”, which was widely interpreted as an excommunication of the Communist Party of Italy, which however, was not mentioned in the decree. The excommunication extended to any Italian Catholic who was a Communist candidate in the parliamentary elections. It specifically did not include persons, who distributed Communist books, papers or leaflets, although those actions were condemned as well. Azione Cattolica very actively supported the Christian Democratic Party. In 1949, the Holy Office issued the Decree against Communism, which excommunicated any Catholic who joined or collaborated with the Communist Party.