''Divini Redemptoris'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for the promise of a Divine Redeemer) is an

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and th ...

encyclical issued by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fr ...

. It was published on 19 March 1937. In this encyclical, the pope sets out to "expose once more in a brief synthesis the principles of

atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

as they are manifested chiefly in

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

". Mariano Cordovani O.P. (February 25, 1883 – April 4, 1950) professor of dogmatic theology at the College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' from 1912 to 1921 and

Master of the Sacred Palace In the Roman Catholic Church, Theologian of the Pontifical Household ( la, Pontificalis Domus Doctor Theologus) is a Roman Curial office which has always been entrusted to a Friar Preacher of the Dominican Order and may be described as the pope's ...

under

contributed especially to the encyclical and afterward published his ''Appunti sul comunismo moderno'' treating the Church's position on communism.

Description

The encyclical describes communism as "a system full of errors and sophisms" that "subverts the social order, because it means the destruction of its foundations" as well as removing women from their rightful place in the home. Pius XI goes on to contrast Communism with the ''civitas humana'' (ideal human civilization), which is marked by love, respect for human dignity, economic justice, and the rights of workers. He faults industrialists and employers who do not adequately support their workers for creating a climate of discontent in which people are tempted to embrace

. He refers to two earlier papal writings on this topic, ''

Rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pas ...

'' and '' Quadragesimo anno''. The work expresses concern at the growth of communism in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, and it condemns the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

press for its apparent "conspiracy of silence" in failing to cover such events in those countries. It was published five days after the publication of the more controversial ''

Mit brennender Sorge ''Mit brennender Sorge'' ( , in English "With deep anxiety") ''On the Church and the German Reich'' is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI, issued during the Nazi era on 10 March 1937 (but bearing a date of Passion Sunday, 14 March)."Church and sta ...

'' encyclical, which condemned the German

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

regime and ideology.

Notes

References

External links

''Divini Redemptoris''
complete English text of the encyclical on Vatican.va {{Authority control Papal encyclicals Documents of Pope Pius XI Anti-communism 1937 documents 1937 in Christianity Holy See–Soviet Union relations March 1937 events