Venerable Brothers, greetings and Apostolic Blessings.
    We deem it advisable to recall that when new dangers threaten the Christian people and the Church, Spouse of the Divine Savior, We, as Our Predecessors have done in past centuries, turn Our prayer to the Virgin Mary, Most Loving Mother, and We invite all the flock entrusted to Us to place themselves confidently under her protection.
    When the world was assailed by a frightful war We did everything to exhort the cities, the peoples and nations to peace and to recall the minds torn by contention to mutual agreement in the name of Truth, of Justice and of Love.
    Nor did We restrict Ourselves to this but, seeing that We were about to exhaust human means and resources, We, with several Letters of admonition, instituting a Holy campaign of Prayer, invoked Heaven's help through the powerful intercession of the great Mother of God to whose Immaculate Heart We Consecrated the whole human family together with Ourselves. ("Acta Apostolicae Sedia," 1942, pp. 345-46)

Universal Extermination Possible with New Weapons
    At present, though the warlike clash of peoples has calmed, a just peace does not yet reign.  Men have not been brought together in brotherly understanding.  Latent seeds of discord in fact insert themselves and from time to time threateningly erupt and hold minds in anxious trepidation, so much so that the frightful weapons now discovered by human genius are of such inhuman power that they can drag down and submerge in universal extermination not only the defeated but also the victors and the whole community.

    If we examine with thoughtful minds the causes of so many present and future dangers, we can easily see that the decisions, the forces and the institutions of men are inevitably destined to fall short wherever the Authority of God--which enlightens minds with His Commands and His Prohibitions and which is the beginning and guarantee of Justice, source of Truth and Foundation of Laws--either is neglected, not given its just place or even is suppressed.  Every house not based on solid and sure foundation collapses.  Every intelligence not enlightened by the light of God separates itself little by little from the fullness of Truth.  Discords arise, increase and grow, if citizens, peoples and nations are not inspired by fraternal Charity.
    Only the Christian Religion teaches this full Truth, this perfect Justice and this Divine Charity which eliminates hatreds, animosities and rivalries.  It alone has been entrusted with Truths by the Divine Redeemer, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Light (John 14:6.), and the Church with all its strength, must insure that they be put into practice.  There is no doubt, then, that those who deliberately wish to ignore the Christian Religion and the Catholic Church or who endeavor to hinder them, to scorn them, to suppress them, thereby weaken the very bases of society or substitute for them (Christian Religion and Catholic Church)  others which absolutely cannot support the edifice of human dignity, liberty and well-being.
    It is therefore necessary to return to the Precepts of Christianity if one wishes to form a solid, just and equitable society.  It is harmful and imprudent to come into conflict with the Christian Religion, whose eternal duration is guaranteed by God and proven by history.  One should reflect that a state without Religion cannot have moral rectitude or order.  The formation of minds to Justice, Charity and Obedience to Just Laws depends on it: it condemns and outlaws vice; it stimulates citizens to virtue, indeed controlling and regulating their public and private conduct; it teaches that the best distribution of riches or wealth may not be obtained with violence and revolution, but with just regulations, so that the proletariat, which has not yet the necessary means and opportunities of lfe, can be lifted up to a better condition with the happy solution of social competitions.  In this way it brings a valuable contribution to good order and to Justice, though it was not exclusively instituted to create an increase in the ease of life.
    Therefore, thinking over these things with that outlook of mind which places Us above human differences and which makes Us paternally love the peoples of all races, We bear two things in mind which disturb  Us.

Church Is Harmed by Distortion of Catholic Precepts
    We see in fact on the one hand that in not few a countries Christian Precepts are not given necessary consideration.
    Crowds of citizens, particularly those of the less educated people, are easily attracted by widely publicised errors, which are often vested with the appearance of Truth.  The flattery and incentives of vice  which disturb minds with fatal influences through publications of all kinds, through cinema and television entertainments, corrupt especially incautious youth.  Many write and spread their works not to serve truth and virtue or to give readers a true diversion but to excite turbid passions for the purpose of gain or to offend and soil with lies, calumnies and abuses all that is Sacred, Noble and Beautiful.
    Very often--it is sad to state--truth is distorted and public display is made of false and shameful things.  It is necessary, therefore, to see how much danage is bought upon society itself and how much harm is done to the Church.

Catholic Church is Oppressed in Many Countries
    On the other hand, We see with supreme pain to Our fatherly heart that the Catholic Church, whether of Latin or Oriental Rite, is in many countries oppressed by serious vexations.
    The faithful and Clergy are, if not in words, certainly in deed, brought face to face with this dilemma: either abstain from professing and publicly spreading their Faith or suffer the consequences, even grave consequences.
    Many Bishops already have been expelled from See cities or prevented from freely exercising their MInistry, or imprisoned or exiled.
    In short, one fearfully recalls "I will strike the shepherd and scatter the flock" (Matt. 26:31; Zach. 13:7.).
    Furthermore, newspapers, nagazines, Catholic publications are almost completely silenced, as if truth were the exclusive dominion and decision of him who commands, and as if Divine and human sciences and the liberl arts had not the right to be free so as to be able to blossom to the advantage of the public welfare.
    Schools once opened by Catholics are forbidden and abolished.  Others have been created in their place which either do not teach notions of God and Religion at all, or which proclaim and spread maxims of atheism, as often happens.
    Missionaries, who have abandoned their homes and their sweet native lands and have undergone serious and numerous discomforts to give to others the light and strength of the Gospel, have been expelled from many places as harmful and dangerous individuals.
    Thus the remaining Clergy, numerically out of proportion to the territorial extent facing them and often hated and persecuted, can no longer provide for the demands of the faithful.
    We see with sorrow that sometimes the rights of the Church are trampled on, rights which include, in the mandate of the Holy See, the right to choose and Consecrate Bishops destined to govern Legitimately the Christian flock--as if the Catholic Church we an internal matter of but one nation alone, dependent on the civil authority, and not a Divine Institution destined to embrace all peoples.

Most Catholics in Oppressed Countries Remain Faithful
    Despite these serious and painful anxieties, there is however, something which provides great comfort to Our paternal heart.  We know in fact that the greater part of the faithful of the Latin and the Oriental Rites remain attached with all their strength to the inherited Faith, though they are deprived of that spiritual help which their Pastors could administer to them,were they not prevented.
    They continue therefore with courage and place their hope in Him Who knows the weeping and sufferings of those "who suffer persecution for Justice's sake" (Matt. 5:10); He "does not delay in His Promises" (2 Pet. 3:9), but will finally console His sons with the Just reward.
    We regard therefore, with paternal affection in particular those Venerable Brothers and Our beloved sons who are pressed in every manner, even underhandedly and insidiously, to loose the firm, solid and constant union with the Church and the most strict loyalty with that Apostolic See without which such unity cannot have a sure foundation.
    No one in fact is unaware that in some places this unity is plotted against and attacked with deceiving opinions and all the arts.
    But let all remember that the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church, must be closely joined and knit together through every joint of the system according to the function, in due measure, of each single part (Eph. 4:16) until We all attain to the unity of the Faith and of the deep knowledge of the Son of God, to perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13)  of which the Roman Pontiff as successor of Peter is by Divine Disposition established Vicar on earth.

The Unity of the Church
     Let them reflect and remember these very wise words of St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr:
    "The Lord spoke this to Peter: 'I say to you that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church . . . (Matt. 16:18),  On him alone He erects the Church. . . . We must firmly hold and defend this unity, particularly we Bishops who govern in the Church. . . Also, the Church is One and it extends widely over a great multitude with the unending increase of its fruitfulness; in the same way as rays of the sun are many, but the light is only one; and many are the branches of the tree but the trunk is only one, which goes deep into the ground with strong roots; and when one spring of water produces several rivulets, though it would seem that their number divides with the abundance of the overflowing water, there is however only one source.
    "You can pluck a ray of the sun but the unity of the light is not divided.  You can tear a branch from a tree but the tree continues to bear fruit.  You can cut off a stream from its source but the source will not dry up.
    "Thus also the Church, inundated by the light of God, casts its rays throughout the whole world, but there is only one light, that which spreads eveerywhere, and the unity of the organism is not divided.  It extends its branches over the whole world with luxurious richness.  It pours out abundantly flowing streams everywhere but the trunk is one and the spring is One. . . .
    "And he who has not the Church as a mother, cannot have God as a father. . . . who does not preserve this unity, does not preserve the Law of God, does not preserve the Faith of the Father and of the Son, and has not life and salvation" (Cyprian, "De Unitate Ecclesiae," 44.).
    These words of the Saintly martyred Bishop will be of comfort, of exhortation and of defense, especially for those who, not being able to be in contact with the Holy See, or having it only with difficulty, find themselves in danger and have to overcome various obstacles and deceits.
    However, they must trust in the help of God and not neglect to invoked Him with fervent Prayer.  They must remember that all the persecutors of the Church--as history teaches--have passed as a shadow, whereas the sun of Divine Truth never sets, because "the Word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:25).
    The Society founded by Christ can be attacked but not defeated because it derives its strength not from men, but from God.
    Indeed there is no doubt that it must be martyred throughout the centuries by persecutions, contradictions, slanders, as happened to its Divine Founder, according to Prophecy: "If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you also" (John 5:20.).

The Church Will Triumph over Its Enemies
    But it is equally certain that at the end, the Church, like Christ Our Redeemer, Who triumphed, will have a peaceful victory over all enemies.
    Be confident, therefore; be strong and constant.  We exhort you again with words of St. Ignatius, though We are certain that you need no exhortations; "Be you pleasing to Him for Whom you fight. . . . May none among you become deserters.  May your Baptism be as an armament, your Faith as a helmet, Charity as a lance, patience as a covering armor.  May your works be your treasures, so that you may deserve due mercy" (St. Ignatius to St. Polycarp.),
    Furthermore, the most beautiful words of Bishop St. Ambrose give you a sure hope and unshakable fortitude: "Grasp the helm of Faith so that the stormy tempest of this world will not disturb you.  It is very true that the sea is vast and immense, but fear not; for He hath founded it upon the seas and hath prepared it upon the rivers (Psalm 23:2.).  Therefore, it is not without reason that the Church of the Lord remains unmoved in the midst of so many waves because it is founded on the Apostolic Rock and perseveres on its Foundations, unmoved by the furies of the sea (Matt. 16:18.).  It is battered by the waves, but it is not shaken.  The world may break resoundingly about it; it nevertheless has a safe port to welcome weary seamen" (St. Ambrose, 2nd Epistle.).

    As once in Apostolic times, when Christians somewhere suffered special persecution, all the others, united by the bond of Charity, raised their Prayers and supplications to God, Father of Mercies, with united fraternal accord, so that He might give them strength and bring about as soon as possible better times for the Church; in the same way today, Venerable Brothers, We hope that the help and Divine comforts implored by your brothers may not be wanting to all those who in the regions of Europe and eastern Asia have been tried for so long by an adverse and painful state of affairs.
    And since We trust so much in the patronal intercession of the Virgin Mary, We express the ardent wish that in every part of the earth Catholics, during the novena which usually precedes the Feast of the Assumptionof the august Mother of God into Heaven, should raise up public prayers, particularly for the Church which, as has already been stated, is in certain areas vexed and afflicted.
    We nourish the hope that the Virgin Mother, proclaimed by Us during the 1950 Holy Year as assumed into Heaven body and soul (Dogmatic Bull "Munificentissimus Deus," AAS, 1950, pp. 753 ff.); she whom We Solemnly declared Queen of Heaven and to be venerated as such by all (Encyclical Letter "Ad Caeli Reginam,"  AAS, 1954, pp. 625 ff.); she to whom We invited the multitude of pilgrims to benefit from her maternal Graces (Apostolic Constitution "Primo Exacto Saeculo," AAS, 1957, pp. 1051 ff.; and Encyclical Epistle "Le Pelerinage de Lourdes," AAS, 1957, pp. 605 ff.) -- We nourish the hope with certainty that she will not in any manner put aside and reject these Our wishes and the universal prayers of Catholics.

Urges Special Prayers to the Blessed Virgin for Her Intercession
    Strive therefore, Venerable Brothers, that by your exhortation and example the faithful entrusted to you may come on the established days in as great a number and as prayerfully as possible to the Altar of the Mother of  God who "for the whole human race has pleaded salvation." (St. Irenaeus, "Contra Haereses," 3, 22.)
    With one voice and one heart let them implore that the freedom of the Church may be recognized everywhere--that freedom which serves it not only for the obtaining of the eternal salvation of men but also for the confirmation of laws with due conscience and for the consolidation of the foundations of civilized society.
    Let them implore in a special way the Patronage of the Blessed Mother that the Holy Pastors who are kept from their flocks, or are impeded in the free exercise of their Ministry, may be reinstated as soon as possible, as is befitting their proper state: that the faithful disturbed by deceits, errors and discords may reach complete accord and Charity in the full light of truth; that all those who are in the uncertainty of doubt and weakness may be strengthened by Divine Grace so that they may be ready and willing to suffer anything rather than break away from the Christian Faith and Catholic unity.
    May the individual Dioceses--and this is the object of Our ardent desires--have their own Legitimate Shepherds.  May they Promulgate Christian Law freely in all regions and among all classes.
    May youth in elementary and high schools, in workshops and in the fields not be ensnared in the ideologies of materialism, atheism and hedonism, which weaken the flight of the mind and rob virtue of its vigor.  May they instead be enlightened by the light of Evangelical Wisdom which  urges them, lifts them and guides them toward all that is best.
    May the road to truth open everywhere and may no one place obstacles in its way.  May all understand that nothing can resist truth in the end and that nothing can lastingly oppose Charity.*
    Finally, may Missionaries return as soon as possible among those people whom they have won to God with Apostolic zeal and the sweat of their labors, and whom they ardently wish to make progress in Christian civilization even at the cost of difficulties, sacrifices and sufferings.
    May all the faithful implore these things of the Divine Mother.  But let them not forget to ask for forgiveness for the same persecutors of the Christian Religion in keeping with the impulse of that Charity for which the Apostle of the Gentiles did not hesitate to ask, "Bless those who persecute you" (Rom. 12:14); nor should they neglect to pray that they be given the Heavenly Graces and Lights which together can dissipate the darkness and set consciences in right order.

    But as you well know, Venerable Brothers, Christian reform of customs must be added to these formal prayers, without which our prayers are vain sounds which cannot be wholly pleasing to God.
    Through that tender and ardent Charity with which all Christians love the Catholic Church, may they not only raise their pious prayers to Heaven, but may they also offer sentiments of penance, virtuous works, sacrifices, sorrows and all the pains and bitternesses, all those hardships which are a necessary part of this mortal life, as well as those to which one must sometimes submit freely and with a generous spirit.
    Through this desired moral renewal, added to suppliant prayers, the faithful will not only make themselves pleasing in the sight of God but they will also benefit the Church, which they must love as they would a most affectionate mother.
    May there be repeated among them, every time circumstances demand it, that spectacle which was described with such marvelous and expressive beauty in the letter to Diognetus:
    "The Christians . . . are in the flesh but they do not live according to the flesh.  They live on earth but their citizenship is in Heaven.  They obey approved Laws and with their tenor of life exceed the Laws themselves.  They love all, and all persecute them.  They are ignored and condemned.  They are put to death but they are vivified. . . . They are mocked and in the midst of their ignominies they glory.
    "Their fame is distorted and turned as testimony against them in justice. . . . They conduct themselves as honest men and are punished as criminals.  While they are punished, they rejoice as those who are exalted" (Letter to Diognetus, Chapter 5).
    In short, to express all this briefly, "What the soul is to the body, the Christians are to the world" (Ibid.).
    If Christian customs flourish again as they did at the time of the Apostles and Martyrs, we can then hope with certain trust that the Blessed Virgin Mary will obtain for us a most benevolent fulfillment of our prayers, desirous as she is that as many of her sons as possible be preserved in virtue.  And in the solicitous prayers directed to her by so many voices, we may also hope for more peaceful and happier times for the Church of her Only Begotten Son and for the whole human society.
    It is Our wish, Venerable Brothers, that you make these Our wishes and Our exhortations known on Our behalf to the faithful entrusted to your care in the way that you deem best.
    Meanwhile, in pledge of Heavenly Gifts and as a token of Our benevolence, We impart with all Our heart the Apostolic Benediction to you individually and to the flocks entrusted to you, and in a special way to those who, in defense of the rights of the Church and out of love for her, are undergoing persecution.
    Given at St. Peter's in Rome on July 14, 1958, the twentieth year of Our Pontificate.

                                                                                                            POPE PIUS XII

* NOTE: Brethren: If I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not Charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.  And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I should have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not Charity, I am nothing.  And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be to be burned and have not Charity, it profiteth me nothing.  Charity is patient, is kind: Charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the Truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  Charity never falleth away: whether Prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. (Cor. 13, 1-13.)

    As Peter was given a new name so does the new Supreme Pontiff become known by another.  After the election he extends his first blessing to the people -- a Benediction which was not given in the open for years until Pope Pius XI established the custom.
    The Coronation, one of the most magnificent of Vatican Ceremonies, takes place shortly after the election.  With the Pope carried high in a golden chair and attended by brilliantly attired chamberlains and soldiers, the Coronation Mass is an unrivaled spectacle of beauty, dignity, and ancient pageantry.  At the Coronation, in the midst of the pomp and splendor, a master of ceremonies recites in Latin: "Holy Father, thus does the glory of the world pass away."  As the first Cardinal Deacon places the three-crowned Tiara on the head of the Pope, he says: "Receive the three-crowned Tiara, and know that thou art the Father of Princes and Kings, the Pastor of the earth, and Vicar of Jesus Christ, to Whom be honor and glory forever.  Amen."
    The CORONATION of Pope Pius XII took place on the balcony of St. Peter's in March 1939.  (From the book "The Vatican and Holy Year" by Stephen S. Fenichell & Phillip Andrew -- 1950 edition.)

    (Tradition is an equal part [along with the Bible] of the Authoritative Teaching of the Church -- From the book "The Immaculate Way" by Brian Farrelly, S.S.M. -- 1963 edition.)

 The True Answer To World Peace -- qwest site
 Triumph Of Church -- qwest site

 The True Answer To World Peace -- reagan site
 Triumph Of Mary -- reagan site