Pope's Christmas

On the vigil of the Feast of the Nativity last week, 29 Roman Catholic cardinals gathered in the Vatican's Consistory Hall to tender greetings to His Holiness Pope Pius XI, to hear his reply which would go to the world as a Christmas message next day. Pius XI spoke only of one sorrow--the state of the Church in Germany--in an emotion-choked voice which was not broadcast because the 80-year-old Pontiff's words no longer sound clear over the radio. Said the Pope:

"We wish to call things by their true names. In Germany, in fact, there is religious persecution. . . . Rarely has there been persecution so grave, so terrible, so painful, so sad in its deep effects. . . . People say the Catholic religion is no longer the Catholic religion, but is politics, and this pretext is taken to justify a persecution. . . . This is the same accusation made against Jesus Christ when he was dragged before Pontius Pilate. . . . We can reply as Jesus Christ did . . . Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo [My kingdom is not of this world]. We are not in politics. We live and work not for politics but to render testimony to the truth and teach the truth--truth that the world appreciates so little and for which it cares so little."

Despite this unusually severe pontifical blast, two days after Christmas the German Ambassador to the Holy See telegraphed holiday greetings to the Holy Father.

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