The Great Neutral
MR. GwYNN has done a useful service in exhibiting in its historical setting the doctrinal and diplomatic position of the modern Papacy in the sphere of international ethics and politics. Of the 214 pages of this book of compact information 18o are devoted to a summary of papal action from the latter days of Pius X, before the last war, to the outbreak of the present war. The patient endeavours of Benedict XV to bring the last war to an end are followed in some detail: his peace-proposals of August, 1917, are given in full. For the rest, the principal letters and speeches which show his and his successor's endea- vours to promote a peace of reconciliation and their attitude in the era of attempted reconstruction; Pius XI's denunciation of Communism and Nazism; his attempts and those of the present Pope to avert the present war are faithfully summarised. The connecting narrative flows well. It is the more interesting in that it gives a moving picture of the general history of the period, as seen from the standpoint of the Vatican rather than from any national point of view. The last statement quoted in extenso is Pius 'XII's outline of the basis of " an honourable and just peace " under five heads, which he included in an Allocation to the College of Cardinals on Christmas Eve, 1939. This is the state- ment which has inspired the Sword of the Spirit movement in this country and has been accepted as an expression of their common aims by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Hinsley and the 'Free Church leaders. The first condition of peace which the Pope laid down was
the right to tffe and freedom of all nations, great and small, powerful and weak. One nation's will to live must never re- quire the death sentence upon another nation. Whenever and wherever this equality of rights has been destroyed, injured or endangered, then the order of justice demands reparation to be made.
That seemed to be a clear enough condemnation of Germany's destruction of Poland's freedom, which had occurred a few months before, and a clear enough justification of the efforts of the Poles and their Allies to right the wrong. Why, then, does not the Pope go to the logical conclusion, urge the Catholics of Germany and Italy to refuse to have any part in that sin and bless the arms of those who are fighting to restore the violated rights
of the victims of aggression? It is still possible for Cardinal Faulhaber to say, in a recent sermon at Munich: If you hear it whispered that the Pope is siding with the enemies of the German people, answer this : The Pope, as the father of all Christendom, cannot side with any party but must main- tain a benevolent neutrality, even towards the German people, as evidenced by his programme for a just distribution of the world's wealth and his intervention in favour of the German prisoners.
Mr. Gwynn attempts no clear answer to such questions, though it may well be inferred from his pages. Those who would have the Pope say Fiat justitia ruat caelum may reflect upon the awful responsibility felt by one whose words, while they have no constraining' power, may expose to persecution or death millions of obscure people at the mercy of an unscrupulous government. Is it better to run the risk of seeing all that remains of the Church's life in the German Reich crushed and suppressed, with all the instinct of patriotism aroused against it; or, while adhering to the defence of general principles, to con- serve in being the forces of organised Christianity—the per- manent potential enemy of the totalitarian idolatory—against the day when this tyranny is over-past and the task of reconstruc- tion begins? It is a hard choice. It appears that Pius XII has chosen the latter course. If that be so, the purpose of Radio Vatican's constant exposures of the Nazi persecution, not only of the Church but of national sentiment, in Poland and other occupied territories, is clear. It is a pity that Mr. Gwynn does not give more attention to these broadcasts, since they are now almost the only means by which the Papacy is able to exert its influence upon the peoples who have lost their freedom.
JOHN EPPSTEIN.
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