, (also called ), is a 7 July 1952 Apostolic Letter of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

to all people of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, issued on the feast of saints

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Population of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries, missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs ...

, "Apostles to the Slavs". In it the Pope consecrates all the people of

to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Catholic devotion which refers to the view of the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for ...

Content

The Pope remembered that after he solemnly declared the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

taken up into heaven, many wrote to him, asking that he may dedicate the whole Russian people to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin. He was grateful for this request, since he had a special affection for the great people, who, while separated from him, continued to fight for its Christian identity with all means and great courage. The Pope reviews 1000 years of relations and difficulties and describes the humanitarian efforts of his predecessors,

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...

and

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

for the needy and hungry populations of the Soviet Union. During the war, he himself would not utter one word, which could have been used unfairly, and despite strong pressures, he never approved a war against

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

in 1941. However, he will not remain silent, when religion, truth or justice are at stake, since it is his deepest wish, that nations are ruled not by military might but justice. Everybody must fairly admit that he was impartial during the last war. Now, that the war is over, it is his duty to speak out and to condemn communism, but this does never mean, that the Church rejects those who err. The Pope has great confidence in the people of Russia but is anguished about the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

hostility towards religion in general and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in particular. The Pope laid the groundwork for a collaboration between East and West Christianity against militant atheism. In closing he consecrated the peoples of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: "...as a few years ago we consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mother of God, so now, in a way very special, we consecrate all the peoples of Russia to the same Immaculate Heart," The Pope reminds the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

people, that the

is always victorious. The

gates of hell ''The Gates of Hell'' () is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at 6 metres high, 4&nbs ...

will never prevail, where she offers her protection. She is the good mother, the mother of all, and it has never been heard, that those who seek her protection, will not receive it. All error and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

will be overcome with her assistance and divine grace.Sacro Vergente 12

References

Sources

* Latin Original of Sacro Vergente: ''PIUS PP. XII, Epist. apost. Sacro vergente anno de universae Russorum gentis Immaculato Mariae Cordi consecratione, d universos Russiae populos'' 7 iulii 1952: AAS 44(1952), pp. 505–511. * Richard Cardinal Cushing, ''Pope Pius XII,'' St. Paul Editions, Boston, 1959 *

Alberto Giovannetti Alberto Giovannetti (1913 – 1989) was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church who worked in the Roman Curia and served as the first Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations from 1964 to 1973. Biography Alberto Giovannetti was bor ...

, ''Pio XII parla alla Chiesa del Silenzio, Editrice Ancona, Milano, 1959, German Translation, Der Papst spricht zur Kirche des Schweigens,''Paulus Verlag, Recklinghausen, 1959

External links

''Sacro vergente anno''
{{Pope Pius XII, state=collapsed Persecution of Catholics during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII Mariology Pope Pius XII apostolic writings Catholic Church in Russia Holy See–Soviet Union relations 1952 in the Soviet Union 1952 documents 1952 in Christianity

Content

See also

References

Sources

External links