From World War II to Cold War Catholicism

Abstract

The wartime struggle of Pius XII against totalitarianism focuses the identity of the Church on the defense of rights and the important connection between internal national developments and international stability. The American bishops’ adoption of the papal program moves the description of public Catholic identity in ambivalent directions. On the one hand, anti-communism shapes an organic presentation of the Judeo-Christian tradition united to the American way of life as the opposite of an atheistic and totalitarian “system of belief.” The sovereignty of God, obedience to lawfully constituted authority, and the unity between divine, natural, and positive law become dominant characteristics of the faith. On the other hand, this same rapprochement with American political values emphasizes equality, democratic participation, and individual rights. These ambivalences manifest themselves in different ways in the Catholic approach to family life and nuclear warfare.