16 OCTOBER 1999, Page 32

Wrong pope

From Mr John Coggrave Sir: James McDonald in his letter of 2 October attributes the papal encyclicals Mit Brennender Sorge and Divini Redemptoris to Pius XII. He certainly tidied up the first which was largely drafted by Cardinal Faul- haber, Archbishop of Munich, but both were promulgated by his predecessor, Pius XI, some two years before Pius XII's elec- tion. Any failures of emphasis or direction in their handling of the problems of Nazi- ism and communism were the responsibility of the earlier pope.

John Coggrave

78 Hillcrest, Middle Herrington, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear