Humani generis unitas

Last updated

Humani generis unitas (Latin; English translation: On the Unity of the Human Race) was a draft for an encyclical planned by Pope Pius XI before his death on February 10, 1939. The draft text condemned antisemitism, racism and the persecution of Jews. Because it was never issued, it is sometimes referred to as "The Hidden Encyclical" or "The Lost Encyclical". Humani generis unitas was written by three Jesuits under the leadership of John LaFarge. The draft text remained secret until published in 1995 in France (by Passelecq and Suchecky under the title L’Encyclique Cachée de Pie XI) and in 1997 in English as The Hidden Encyclical of Pius XI.

Contents

History

In June 1938, Pius XI assigned American Jesuit John LaFarge to prepare a draft of Humani generis unitas. Jesuit Superior-General Wlodimir Ledóchowski assigned two other Jesuits, Gustav Gundlach and Gustave Desbuquois, to assist LaFarge. [1] Working in Paris, [2] they produced a draft of approximately 100 pages. [3] Another Jesuit translated the draft into Latin and presented it to Ledóchowski. [4] The draft was delivered to the Vatican in September 1938. [1]

Some secondary sources, including Cardinal Tisserant, [5] claim that the draft was on Pius XI's desk when he died of a heart attack on February 10, 1939. [3]

Pius XI's successor, Pope Pius XII, did not promulgate the draft as an encyclical. Critics of Pius XII (notably John Cornwell in his controversial work Hitler's Pope ) cited this decision as evidence of his alleged silence toward anti-Semitism and The Holocaust. He utilized parts of it in his own inaugural encyclical Summi Pontificatus on the unity of human society, in October 1939, the month after the outbreak of World War II, [1] [2] and analysis of the draft figures prominently in most comparisons of the policies of Pius XII and his predecessor. [4]

In June 2006, Pope Benedict XVI ordered all documents from the reign of Pius XI in the Vatican Secret Archives to be opened, [6] and on September 18, 2006 over 30,000 documents were made available to researchers. [7]

Content

The first 70 paragraphs, probably authored by Gundlach, are a critique of theological modernism, unorthodox re-interpretation of Sacred Scripture, nationalism, and racism; the remaining 108, likely authored by all three Jesuits, contextualized the first part of the text with the social role of Catholic educational institutions and anti-Semitism. [1]

Although the draft clearly condemned racism and anti-Semitism, the document is deeply grounded in anti-Judaism. [2] The draft criticizes the majority of post-Messianic Jews for not acknowledging Jesus Christ as the true Jewish Messiah. [8]

Racism

Humani generis unitas clearly condemns American racial segregation and racism and Nazi German anti-Semitism, though without explicitly naming these countries. Racism is a denial of the unity of human society, [9] a denial of the human personality, [10] and a denial of the true values of religion. [11] There is no relation between race and religion, [12] because racism is destructive to any society. [13] Racism is destructive not only for social relations within a society but also for international relations and relations between different races. [14]

Persecution of Jews

The draft condemns the persecution of Jews: “persecutions everywhere carried out against the Jews since antiquity… have been censured by the Holy See on more than one occasion, but especially when they have worn the mantle of Christianity." [15] It identifies specific ways Jews were being persecuted at the time of writing:

Anti-Judaic context

But the text hedges with an anti-Judaic theme. “This unjust and pitiless campaign against the Jews has at least this advantage”, according to the draft, "because the true nature, the authentic basis of the social separation of the Jews from the rest of humanity … is religious in character. Essentially, the so-called Jewish question … is a question of religion and, since the coming of Christ, a question of Christianity." [17] The encyclical blames the Jews of the time of Christ for having brought their own Messiah Jesus Christ to death: "The very act by which the Jewish people put to death their Savior and King was, in the strong language of Saint Paul, the salvation of the world." [8] The draft continues by accusing Jews of blind materialism.

Reaction of Pope Pius XII

According to the authors, Pius XII was not aware of the text before the death of his predecessor. [20] He chose not to publish its specific statements regarding Judaism and regarding persecution of Jews. However, his first encyclical Summi Pontificatus (On the Supreme Pontificate, October 12, 1939), published after the beginning of World War II, has an echo of the previous title in its title: On the Unity of Human Society and uses many of the general arguments of the text.

Summi Pontificatus sees Christianity as universalized and opposed to every form of racial hostility and every claim of racial superiority. There are no real racial differences: the human race forms a unity, because "God 'hath made of one [man], all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth.'" [21]

This divine law of solidarity and charity assures that all men are truly brethren, without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures, and societies. [22]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Richard G. Bailey. August 2001. "The Hidden Encyclical of Pius XI." Canadian Journal of History.
  2. 1 2 3 George Sim Johnston. 1999, October 8. "Pius XI's "Hidden Encyclical" on Anti-Semitism: An Appraisal."
  3. 1 2 The Holocaust Chronicle. 2002. "1937: Quiet before the Storm." p. 112.
  4. 1 2 Frank J. Coppa. 1998, September 22. "Pope Pius XI's "encyclical" Humani Generis Unitas against racism and anti-Semitism and the "silence" of Pope Pius XII." Journal of Church and State.
  5. ↑ Passelecq and Suchecky, p. 151.
  6. ↑ Zenit News Agency . 2006, July 2. "Benedict XVI Opens Archives on Pius XI [ permanent dead link ]."
  7. ↑ Frances D'Emilio. 2006, October 13. "Newly opened files helping historians to understand priorities of future wartime pope, Pius XII." Associated Press.
  8. 1 2 Humani generis unitas, paragraph 135.
  9. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 112.
  10. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 113 seq.
  11. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 116 seq.
  12. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 120.
  13. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 123.
  14. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 130.
  15. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 131.
  16. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 132.
  17. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 133.
  18. ↑ Saint Paul adds: "But by their offense," that is, through the Jews' rejection of the Messiah, "salvation has come to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:11). Humani generis unitas, paragraph 136.
  19. ↑ Humani generis unitas, paragraph 136.
  20. ↑ Letter of Father Maher to Father La Farge, March 16, 1939.
  21. ↑ Pius XII, Enc. Summi Pontificatus, paragraph 37, quoting Acts 17:26, 27.
  22. 1 2 Pius XII, Enc. Summi Pontificatus, paragraph 3.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius XII</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958

Pope Pius XII was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with various European and Latin American nations, including the Reichskonkordat treaty with the German Reich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius XI</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1922 to 1939

Pope Pius XI, born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was the Bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to 10 February 1939. He also became the first sovereign of Vatican City upon its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 where he held that position in addition to being the earthly leader of the Catholic Church until his death in February 1939. He assumed as his papal motto "Pax Christi in Regno Christi", translated "The Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ".

Mystici Corporis Christi(The Mystical Body of Christ) is an encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII on 29 June 1943 during World War II. Its main topic is the Catholic Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

Humani generis is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". It primarily discussed, the encyclical says, "new opinions" which may "originate from a reprehensible desire of novelty" and their consequences on the Church.

<i>Summi Pontificatus</i> 1939 encyclical by Pope Pius XII

Summi Pontificatus is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII published on 20 October 1939. The encyclical is subtitled "on the unity of human society". It was the first encyclical of Pius XII and was seen as setting "a tone" for his papacy. It criticizes alleged major errors of the time, such as ideologies of racism, cultural superiority and the totalitarian state. It also sets the theological framework for future encyclical letters such as Mystici corporis Christi (1943). The encyclical laments the destruction of Poland, denounces the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and calls for a restoration of independent Poland.

Generis may refer to:

Unitas may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theology of Pope Pius XII</span>

The theology of Pope Pius XII is reflected in his forty-one encyclicals, as well as speeches and nearly 1000 messages, during his almost 20-year pontificate. The encyclicals Mystici corporis and Mediator Dei advanced the understanding of membership and participation in the Catholic Church. The encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu began opening the door to historical-critical biblical studies. But his magisterium was far larger and is difficult to summarize. In numerous speeches Catholic teaching is related to various aspects of life, education, medicine, politics, war and peace, the life of saints, Mary, the mother of God, things eternal and temporal.

Humani may refer to :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius XI and Judaism</span> Overview of the relationship between Pope Pius XI and Judaism

The relations between Pope Pius XI and Judaism during his reign from 1922 to 1939 are generally regarded as good. The pontiff was particularly opposed to antisemitism, an important issue at the time when Nazi Germany was rising. Certain favourable opinions of Pius XI were subsequently used to attack the perceived silence of Pope Pius XII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust</span> Overview of the relationship between Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust

The papacy of Pius XII began on 2 March 1939 and continued to 9 October 1958, covering the period of the Second World War and the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were murdered by Adolf Hitler's Germany. Before becoming pope, Cardinal Pacelli served as a Vatican diplomat in Germany and as Vatican Secretary of State under Pius XI. His role during the Nazi period has been closely scrutinised and criticised. His supporters argue that Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing his Church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Pius maintained links to the German Resistance, and shared intelligence with the Allies. His strongest public condemnation of genocide was, however, considered inadequate by the Allied Powers, while the Nazis viewed him as an Allied sympathizer who had dishonoured his policy of Vatican neutrality.

Pope Pius XII's 1942 Christmas address was a speech delivered by Pope Pius XII over Vatican Radio on Christmas 1942. It is notable for its denunciation of the extermination of people on the basis of race, and followed the commencement of the Nazi Final Solution program to exterminate the Jews of Europe. The significance of the denunciation is a matter of scholarly debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vatican City during World War II</span> Period in Vatican history

Vatican City pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from September 1943 and the Allies from June 1944, Vatican City itself was not occupied. The Vatican organised extensive humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius XI and Germany</span> Overview of the relationship between Pope Pius XI and Germany

During the pontificate of Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), the Weimar Republic transitioned into Nazi Germany. In 1933, the ailing President von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in a Coalition Cabinet, and the Holy See concluded the Reich concordat treaty with the still nominally functioning Weimar state later that year. Hoping to secure the rights of the Church in Germany, the Church agreed to a requirement that clergy cease to participate in politics. The Hitler regime routinely violated the treaty, and launched a persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany.

Yad Vashem, the state of Israel's official Holocaust memorial, has generally been critical of Pope Pius XII, the pope during The Holocaust. For decades, Pius XII has been nominated unsuccessfully for recognition as Righteous Among the Nations, an honor Yad Vashem confers on non-Jews who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust altruistically and at risk to their own lives.

The public statements of Pope Pius XII on the Holocaust, or lack thereof, are one of the most controversial elements of the historical debate about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust. Pius XII's statements have been scrutinized as much, if not more, than his actions during the same period. Pius XII's statements, both public and private, are quite well documented in the Vatican Secret Archives; eleven volumes of documents from his papacy were published between 1965 and 1981 in Actes et documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John LaFarge Jr.</span> American Jesuit Catholic priest (1880–1963)

John LaFarge Jr. was an American Jesuit Catholic priest known for his activism against racism and anti-semitism. Involved in the heyday of Thomas Wyatt Turner's Federated Colored Catholics. LaFarge founded an offshoot, the Catholic Interracial Council in New York City. Branches also grew in Philadelphia and Chicago. In the run-up to World War II, he worked on a draft of a papal encyclical against racist and totalitarian ideologies for Pope Pius XI; entitled Humani generis unitas, though it was never promulgated due to the death of Pius XI on February 10, 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany</span>

Catholic resistance to Nazi Germany was a component of German resistance to Nazism and of Resistance during World War II. The role of the Catholic Church during the Nazi years remains a matter of much contention. From the outset of Nazi rule in 1933, issues emerged which brought the church into conflict with the regime and persecution of the church led Pope Pius XI to denounce the policies of the Nazi Government in the 1937 papal encyclical Mit brennender Sorge. His successor Pius XII faced the war years and provided intelligence to the Allies. Catholics fought on both sides in World War II and neither the Catholic nor Protestant churches as institutions were prepared to openly oppose the Nazi State.

During the Holocaust, the Catholic Church played a role in the rescue of hundreds of thousands of Jews from being murdered by the Nazis. Members of the Church, through lobbying of Axis officials, provision of false documents, and the hiding of people in monasteries, convents, schools, among families and the institutions of the Vatican itself, saved hundreds of thousands of Jews. The Israeli diplomat and historian Pinchas Lapide estimated the figure at between 700,000 and 860,000, although the figure is contested.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.