"Ruler of the World"

Imperial papacy...

On this date in 1939, 10 days after being elected Pope, Pius XII was crowned with the Papal Tiara, as "father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar on earth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever", in the presence of 500,000 faithful. pic.twitter.com/qd3ZdLJZxH

— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) March 12, 2021

May Pius XII Be Vindicated

Crisis: ‘Hitler’s Pope’? Not So Fast by Marek Jan Chodakiewicz

Approval of Tyrannicide?

The Plot to Kill Hitler and the Vindication of Pius XII by Fr. George W. Rutler

Upholding the Status Quo?

Post by Vatican Radio - English Section.

If one is concerned about the possibility of unjust violence or prohibiting [a just] war with little chance of success, then one might have an argument against secession. But for the sake of the "common good"? A misapplication of the concept that only strengthens the hand of the centralizers.

The Holy Father distinguished between "independence for emancipation” and “independence for secession,” giving the former Yugoslavia as an example of the former “where there are peoples and cultures so diverse that they are completely unconnected.”
As for the situations in Catalonia, northern Italy, and Scotland, Pope Francis said “they should be studied on a case-by-case basis.”
“There will be some cases that are just and some that are unjust, but the secession of a nation that hasn’t been previously forced together is an issue that must be taken up with tweezers,” he said.

Even if consolidation was accomplished mostly peacefully (through the consolidation of kingdoms, in which the ruled had no say) that does not mean that consolidation itself was just to begin with. And one must also remember the destruction of local cultures that happened as a result, with the language and culture of those ruling being privileged above all others and even imposed on the rest.

Fr. Rutler on Pope Pius XII

The Tragic Heroism of Pope Pius XII by Rev. George W. Rutler

The Editors of Ethika Politika Address the Pius XII Quotation on Voting

The one I discussed here. Not Voting: A ‘Grave and Fatal Sin’

Pius XII on Voting

There is a photo of Pope Pius XII with these words:

There is a heavy responsibility on everyone, man or woman, who has the right to vote, especially when the interests of religion are at stake; abstention in this case is in itself, it should be thoroughly understood, a grave and a fatal sin of omission. On the contrary, to exercise, and exercise well, one's right to vote is to work effectively for the true good of the people, as loyal defenders of the cause of God and of the Church.

The words are taken from Papal Directives for the Woman of Today, Allocution of Pope Pius XII to the Congress of the International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues, Rome, Italy, September 11, 1947.
(EWTN)

I think we must distinguish between voting for laws and voting for candidates, and in the latter case, between situations in which one has enough information to make an informed choice and one in which one does not. We should vote when there is a clear choice that has a direct impact on a law being passed, or when we know the candidates well enough that we know they differ significantly in character. The more distant you are from the question of actual legislation, the less this precept holds.

I think that this reading can be fitted to the allocution, as this is what precedes the above:

Be present everywhere for the faith, for Christ, in every way and to the utmost possible limit, wherever vital interests are at stake, wherever laws bearing on the worship of God, marriage, the family, the school, the social order are proposed and discussed.

Why do so many people act surprised when politicians lie or break their promises? You didn't know them well enough to begin with to judge them to be trustworthy and reliable.

A more mainstream interpretation, emphasizing that there is duty to vote: What Keeps Me Catholic? Civic Responsibility. Google Search will probably yield some more results in which this interpretation is advanced (like this and this), but I think it would be a premature reading of the Holy Pontiff's words.

It may be that my reading of Pius XII is too narrow, and that he refers to the choosing of candidates for office as well. Are his words to be taken absolutely? Or do we acknowledge their weight and seek confirmation from Tradition? There is no constant witness to the Church on the question of voting in modern nation-states, as it is a relatively recent development in the history of the world. So we must reason from more general principles of moral and political theology.

Of course, there is also section 2240 in the CCC (as pointed out in this thread), which states that citizens have a moral obligation to vote. But I find "voting" here to be vague as well. If it encompasses voting for both laws and candidates, then I have to disagree, though I may judged to be wrong. Kyrie eleison.

Of course, during this presidential election, Catholics aren't the only ones who are talking about the duty to vote.

Ranger Up:

Feast of St. Boniface, June 5

"A true man"

Crisis: St. Boniface, Apostle Among Pagans by Brennan Pursell

CE

Some icons.

Veneration by some Orthodox -


Misc:
SS. PIUS XII P.M. in Basilica Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam

Venerabilis Pius PP. XII cantat Praefatio Paschalis

Items of Interest, 4 November 2011

Clyde Wilson, A Little Rebellion

Patrick Buchanan, Arrivederci, Roma

Elinor Ostrom Outlines Best Strategies for Managing the Commons by Jay Walljasper (EB)

Helena Norberg-Hodge: The Economics of Happiness

As she analyzed the problem further, Norberg-Hodge realized that the basic problem was rooted in the fundamentals of Western economics. “What economics has become as a discipline is a really disgraceful set of myths that were essentially formulated at the time of slavery and colonialism,” she said. “One of the fundamentals that was set in stone was that it’s in everybody’s interests to specialize for export, instead of providing a range of things for their own region or their own people. These theories were put in place at the same time that very wealthy merchants and emerging industrialists were benefiting from turning entire diversified economies into monocultures that produced just cotton, gold or copper, as the whole world was sort of coming under this one umbrella from Europe.

The bolded part makes for a good sound bite, but is it a good history of the discipline? Or bad genealogy?

WWWTW:
Jeff Culbreath, The Social Credit Movement
Paul J. Cella, Monetarism has a conservative pedigree

Counterpunch:
Paul Craig Roberts, On Western Democracy
Andrew Cockburn, Assassination Blowback
Franklin Lamb, Libya’s Liberation Front Organizing in the Sahel
Ismael Hossein-Zadeh, Keynesian Myths and Illusions

The Grand Oligarchy Party:
Kelley Vlahos, No Party for Smart Men

Thomas Fleming, High-Tech Lynchings

OWS:
Occupy Wall Street: An Addendum

Rod Dreher, OWS: The liturgy of Moralistic Therapeutic Progressivism

Local Banking for Global Change
Move Your Money Project

David Walker, Solving the Nation's Deficit

Peak Oil:
New Dept. of Energy Priority-Setting Analysis Seriously Flawed

CNA military advisory board: cut US oil use 30% to reduce "grave national security risks"
Release, CNA (EB)

Transition Voice: Live blogging from ASPO-USA Conference

Dmitry Orlov on Fast Collapse & Alex Goldmark on Crowdfunding (EB) (mp3)

Virtus:
Jack Donovan, Is Masculinity a Matter of Money?

3GW:
Fabius Maximus, Attritionist Letter #10 – Commanders today are too busy to develop subordinates!

Catholic:
Insight Scoop: "It’s not often that a historical novel comes along that is ...

Researcher thinks Pius XII went undercover to save Jews by David Kerr

MoJ: Coptic Christian student beaten to death, by teacher and classmates, in school

Diet and Health:
Does High Circulating Insulin Drive Body Fat Accumulation? Answers from Genetically Modified Mice


Music:
Two from Stift Heiligenkreuz, the second a commercial for their new CD:



(Spem in Alium Productions)

David Ianni

I don't understand why they thought the piano accompaniment was necessary. Trying to be different?

Pius XII on Work and Commerce

The book is available online at UST.

Zenit: Pius XII Letter to Roosevelt Published for 1st Time and Pius XII's Letter to US President Roosevelt

Sister Margherita Marchione on Pope Pius XII

Zenit: Personal Memories of Pius XII
Interview With Sister Margherita Marchione

ZENIT: Can you tell us about this Pope's personality?

Sister Marchione: He had the gifts of the Holy Spirit to a heroic degree, with all the virtues, theological and cardinal. He was prayerful -- a serene, tranquil person dedicated to every duty as Pontiff. By nature he was a timid person, and preferred tranquil environments. Gentleness as opposed to severity, persuasion as opposed to imposition. He was very humble and sincere, for him everyone was equal. I remember him as a saint, that's all.

Related:
Expert on Pius XII gives Benedict XVI bronze bust of WWII Pope
Orbis Catholicus Secundus: Rome Beach of Santa Marinella
SODALITIVM INTERNATIONALE PASTOR ANGELICVS (SIPA)

Sandro Magister on Eugenio Zolli

The Jew, Jesus, Who Changed the Life of the Chief Rabbi of Rome

Related links:
Eugenio Zolli
Oris Catholicus
The Christian Rabbi

New Hope Publications published two of his books in translation, but I do not think they are in print.

Catholic Answers Live: Ron Rychlak and the War on Pius XII

Originally broadcast on February 1, 2010.

The War on Pius XII
Guest Ron Rychlak

BIOGRAPHY: Ronald J. Rychlak is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He has written two books and over twenty articles in law journals and popular periodicals. He makes his home in Oxford, Mississippi.

His latest book, Righteous Gentiles, tells the story of Pius XII and many other Catholics who responded heroically to the plight of Jews under Nazi rule. The army of facts he marshals in this work joins forces with his previous book, Hitler, the War and the Pope, to definitively give the lie to the coterie of anti-Catholic propagandists exemplified by Daniel Goldhagen and John Cornwell.

(rm, mp3)

Professor Rychlak is mentioned in this Zenit article: Incorrect Date on Pius XII Document Explains Silence: Pope Couldn't Be Indifferent to Raid as It Hadn't Happened Yet

His faculty page.
Hitler, the War, and Pope, Revised and Expanded
Righteous Gentiles

RNS: At 88, nun keeps pushing for controversial pope’s sainthood (via NOR)

Is that lying?

Pius XII's real wartime record: Friend to the Jews By GARY L. KRUPP (via VFR)

It is unquestionable that Pius XII intervened to save countless Jews at a time most nations--even FDR's America--refused to accept these refugees. He issued false baptismal papers and obtained visas for them to emigrate as "Non Aryan Catholic-Jews." He smuggled Jews into the Americas and Asia. He ordered the lifting of cloister for men and women to enter monasteries, convents and churches to hide 7,000 Jews of Rome in a single day.

So is the issuing of false documents an instance of lying or not?

Fr. Z: Holy See Press Office comment on Decree of heroic virtues of Ven. Pius XII

Zenit: Israel's Hebrew-Speaking Catholics on Pius XII
"He Left His Mark on the Church in the 20th Century

NLM: Decree on Heroic Virtues of Pius XII and John Paul II