Summi pontificatus

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Coat of arms of Pope Pius XII.

Summi pontificatus is the first encyclical of Pope Pius XII. of October 20, 1939. Pius XII. warned against theories that denied the unity of the human race and against the deification of the state, all of which led to a true "hour of darkness".

Against racism and all tyranny

In his encyclical published shortly after the outbreak of war , Pius XII. against racism and the claim to power of dictatorships and the occupation of Poland. It contained the condemnation of the fundamental errors of the time, above all of the total state. She emphasized the inviolability of the family, since people and families are pre-state. To this end, he reminded them that the creator wanted the worldly state power so that it would make it easier for people to achieve physical, spiritual and moral perfection in the temporal realm and help them to achieve their supernatural goal.

He refers to natural law and its unchangeable laws to which peoples and states have to adhere. In doing so, he criticized the racial ideology of National Socialism . The words were so clearly anti-racist that Allied planes dropped thousands of copies over Germany in support of anti-racism. This encyclical was banned in Germany , at that time the Hitler Youth was commissioned to collect and destroy all copies. The Pope warned clearly against Europe's dictators and recalled St. Paul's idea of a world in which there were neither Gentiles nor Jews, but all were one in Christ.

Among other things, Pius XII. expresses that the destiny of humanity is subject to natural law, which is based in God, the Creator and Father of all, the Almighty Judge.

Solidarity and society

Pius XII leads to this. in his encyclical that a common mistake is to let the law of solidarity and love between people fall into oblivion. Recognition of the royal rights of Christ and the return of the individual and society to the law of his truth and love is the only way of salvation. Because every institution is based on a view of people and their fate, to which they would relate their judgment criteria, their hierarchy of values ​​and their line of behavior. This applies to the highest degree to the state: “An erroneous view of people at this level has serious consequences for all areas of social life. Only the divinely revealed religion has clearly recognized the origin and goal of man in God, the Creator and Redeemer. "

Summi pontificatus as the successor to the “hidden encyclical”?

In the planned encyclical Humani generis unitas (on the unity of the human race; partly also cited as Societas Unio ) by Pope Pius XI. National Socialist racial ideology should be condemned. The Pope had commissioned his German adviser Gustav Gundlach and two other Jesuits to write a draft. However, the encyclical was not published, work on the text could not be completed during the Pope's lifetime, and the effects of publication were uncertain. Parts of the concept of the "hidden encyclical" were later adopted by Pius XII. incorporated in the encyclical Summi pontificatus , probably from No. 27 to No. 77 (German text).

literature

  • Guido Knopp: VATICAN - The Power of the Popes. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-570-12305-7 .
  • Bruno Moser (ed.): The papacy - epochs and shapes. Südwest Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 978-3-517-00809-7 .
  • Rabbi David Dalin: The Myth of Hitler's Pope. Regnery, Washington DC 2005, ISBN 0-89526-034-4 (English).
  • José Sanchez: Pius XII. and the Holocaust. Schöningh, Paderborn-Munich-Vienna-Zurich 2002, ISBN 978-3-506-77553-5 .
  • Michael Hesemann: The Dark Men: Myths, Lies and Legends about Church History. Sankt Ulrich Verlag, Augsburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86744-016-5 .

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