Vatican City

Preparing the Way for Vatican II: CS Lewis' Mere Christianity
CS Lewis

Preparing the Way for Vatican II: CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity

05/17/2024 Bruce Strom 3

CS Lewis did not wave the flag of ecumenicism, attending this conference or that on interfaith dialogues, but instead prepares the way, saying that what denominational creed you profess is less important than whether you truly believe the core Christian teaching of the two-fold Love of God and neighbor. This was the key change wrought by Vatican II, no longer did the Catholic Church believe you needed to be Catholic to be saved. Likewise, CS Lewis is against the notion that Catholics cannot be saved. […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Could the Pope Have Done More To Save the Jews?

10/12/2022 Bruce Strom 3

The major questions raised about the wartime policies of Pope Pius XII were:
Why did the pope say so little when the Nazis were committing brutal atrocities, both against Jews and also Catholics in Poland?
Why did the pope not protest more forcefully against the persecution of the Jews?
We wonder why Hitler, when the Nazis occupied Rome, didn’t simply march into the Vatican and capture or at least intimidate the pope? […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Allied Powers Turn the Tide of War

10/07/2022 Bruce Strom 4

When do the Italians first realize that Mussolini and Hitler might possibly lose the war? Our beloved author gives us a hint exactly halfway through his book, The Pope At War, when, “late on the night of October 22, 1942, wave after wave of British bombers swooped below the clouds over Genoa, Italy, and released hundreds of bombs.” Later, Milan and Turin would be bombed. Soon after, Rommel’s Afrika Corps would be defeated, and American soldiers waded ashore in North Africa in Operation Torch. […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Axis Powers March Across Europe

10/05/2022 Bruce Strom 3

The complete archives of Pope Pius XII were opened in 2019, then were closed for Covid, and our favorite author David Kertzer was waiting on the steps for the archives to open so he could begin his next enthralling book, The Pope at War, filling in much detail on the years of the war. Maybe he should have titled the book, The Pope Behind Enemy Lines During WWII, but he did not ask me.

Cardinal Pacelli, former Nuncio, or ambassador to Nazi Germany, was crowned Pope Pius XII, taking the same name to signal that no major changes were planned in his papacy, mere months before World War II erupted in Poland. […]