The Papacy in Two World Wars: Benedict XV and Pius XII Compared
Author(s)
Pollard, John F.
Abstract
This article will examine the similarities and differences between the response of Popes Benedict XV and Pius XII to total war. In particular, it will consider the influence of Benedict’s experience of the First World War on Pius’s conduct of Vatican policy during the Second. It will also assess the impact made by the intervening experience of the rise of fascist regimes in Italy and Germany, and the double polarization of international relations in Europe during the 1930s – between the democracies and the dictatorships on the one hand, and between the Soviets and the rest on the other – on Pius XII’s policies during the Second World War.; Reprinted by permission of Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
