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"Most misunderstood Man in the World' Remarkable Tribute by Eleanor Packard .
. .
Rome Representative of United Press
to Avert
War-
His "peace principles" expand Atlantic Charter A notable tribute to Pope Pius
XII
not merely the spiritual father of Catholics, but of all humanity, and of his devotion to the task of ridding the world of hatred and bitterness, is paid by Eleanor Packard, non-Catholic and former second in command of the Rome The arbureau of the United Press. as
ticle, "The Pope and the War,* appeared in the January issue of the "American Magazine." Most Misunderstood. "The Pope is the most misunderstood man in the world to -day,' Mrs. Packard declares in the opening sentence of her account of the efforts of the Holy Father to prevent, at first, and later She bases the spread of the war. her statements on her experience in Rome from two weeks before the death of Pope Pius XI to five months after Italy declared war on the United States. "The position of the Pope and the Vatican in regard to the present war has frequently been misconstrued, not only by Americans, but by the peoples of nearly all the belligerent nations," "Yet the principle she continues. which guides Pius XII and his Catholic Hierarchy is simple in the extreme. In their opinion, it is the duty of the hunch to concern itself only with spiritual and ecclesiastical matters and not to interfere with temporal and political affairs.
"Sometimes this
line
between
the
spiritual and the political is very fine indeed and full of niceties, but the record shows that this is the principle by which the learned Fathers of the Church test every possible action or pronouncement before they make it."
The Pope's Position. Lauding the Holy Father's "great courage and force of character" in resisting the pressure of the Axis, Mrs. Packard says that, "while avoiding political snares, he has yet shown his
determination not to cede one iota of his rights as head of the Church. This stand has made the job of being Pope one of the biggest and certainly the toughest held by any man in the world to -day. "In the eyes of the Church the Pope is spiritual father, not merely to Catholics, but to all humanity-Protestant and pagan, Jew and Mohammedan -as well," she continued. "According to this doctrine, non-Catholics are children who have not seen the light, but they are his children, nevertheless. Although Pius XII had been born an Italian, Italy henceforth had no more claim on his love and consideration than did the most savage tribe of witch doctor -worshipping blacks in Central
Africa.
"It was this doctrinal theory which governed the war policy of the new Pontiff
POPE PIUS XII. .
resisted Axis pressure, July 29, 1941-and has maintained game strict neutrality ever since.
"Non-Catholic Americans and Britons who thoughtlessly criticise the Vatican for not taking a political stand in the war should hear the Nazis and Fascists -as I have frequently heard thembitterly complaining about the Pope's unco-operativeness with them. Strove to Avert War. "From the day of his election until the day almost six months later when the war started, the Pope strove desperately to avert the conflict which he could see was in the making," she says. "In all, he made seven public appeals for the preservation of peace, of which the last was made on August 31, the day before the war started, when he sent messages to the Polish and Ger-
man Governments beseeching them to-
avoid any incident. "It was a great blow to the Pope when war broke out despite all his efforts. However, he immediately concentrated on two objectives: On keeping the conduct of the war as humanitarian as possible, and on preventing its spread beyond Germany, England, France and Poland, which were immeThe Pope has diately involved. nothing against either the German or the Russian people, but opposes the Nazi and Soviet governmental systems because they circumscribe the religious It is a fine liberty of their citizens. nuance, hut one which must be understood to comprehend the Pope's posi(Continued on Back Cover.) .
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