Pope Pius XII and Poland - First Months of The Papacy

First Months of The Papacy

After his March 1939 election to the papacy, Pope Pius XII was mostly concerned with the possible outbreak of a new war, starting with the Polish-German conflicts.

• “Nothing is lost with peace, everything may be lost in a war”, was his message immediately after his election.

Consequently he tried to mediate, not by engaging in border or other disputes, but by creating a readiness to communicate and negotiate on all sides. . The Pope himself attempted to invoke a conference of five belligerents, Poland, Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy, excluding the Soviet Union. Italy was willing, Germany showed little interests, France and Great Britain were open but hesitant. Poland felt safe and informed the Holy See, that she managed to keep the Soviet Union disinterested in the dispute with Germany, thus strengthening the Polish position. The Vatican disagreed with this optimistic assessment, and urged communication and caution. After the media reports of a surprising arrangement between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Polish Ambassador Kazimierz Papée informs the Vatican, that Hitler-Stalin Pact actually strengthens the Polish position, because the Soviet Union shows no more interests in European conflicts.