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(More customer reviews)For all of the closeness of Poles and Catholicism during the Communist era, this closeness was not as pronounced during the interwar era. A notable feature of this work is the inclusion of information seldom mentioned anywhere else. For instance, we learn that Roman Dmowski was irreligious most of his life, and did not join the Church and receive his First Holy Communion until 1937 (p. 137), which was near the end of his life. Even then, he probably remained an atheist. (p. 84). Pilsudski was also not particularly religious. (p. 175).
Contrary to those who are obsessed with Polish anti-Semitism, and accuse Pease of excusing it, he does no such thing. He merely tries to rationally understand it, realizing that it is fallacious to see Jews as scapegoats: "...the Church harbored not only bigots, but also advocates of toleration who urged protection of this vulnerable minority. In addition, Christian attitudes and rhetoric regarding Jewry should not be considered in isolation, as often happens, but rather in the context of the widespread belief that the Jews were just one part of a general modernist assault on Catholic morality and society; an enemy, to be sure, but by no means the only or even the worst enemy." (p. 118).
Nor is Fr. Kolbe merely excused by the fact that the publication of anti-Semitic articles took place while he was out of the country. Kolbe scolded his journalists for their anti-Semitic zeal. (p. 123). In any case, all this brouhaha about Kolbe is misplaced. Pease should have noted that non-flattering portrayals of other religions were a common, if not universal, feature of pre-ecumenical times. In fact, the publication associated with Kolbe also wrote unfavorably of Protestants and other non-Catholics. See the Peczkis review of: Mary's Knight: The Mission and Martyrdom of Saint Maksymilian Maria Kolbe. Finally, any objective discussion of anti-Semitism must recall the fact that prejudices went both ways: Traditional Jewish teachings against Christ and Christians were at least as hostile as Christian teachings against Jews. How many Jewish publications, at the time, contained articles unfavorable to Christianity?
Pease accuses the Church of wanting it both ways: Speaking out against Jewish conduct and then condemning the animosities and outrages against Jews that this presumably incited. (p. 119). This is a non-sequitur. Speaking out against somebody is not synonymous with encouraging violence against them. Also, considering the fact that Jewish authors and journalists have been writing much ill against Poland since time immemorial, could it not equally be said that this materially contributed to an atmosphere of little regard for Poland, facilitating such outcomes as the Teheran-Yalta betrayal of Poland?
The author has a fine analysis of Freemasonry. (p. 115-on). He adds: "As a student in Rome in 1917, he [Kolbe] was shocked and galvanized by the antireligious brazenness of a massive Masonic demonstration outside the Vatican walls, and resolved to dedicate his life to converting the sworn enemies of Christ." (p. 122). Not mentioned is the fact that not only Catholicism, but also some branches of Protestantism, had regarded Freemasonry as fundamentally incompatible with Christianity, if not actively anti-Christian.
Interestingly, Pease realizes that the frequently-combative attitudes of the Church had a rational foundation. He writes: "After all, on the whole, Masons and politically active Jews did support the laicization of Polish education and society, and the noticeable Jewish presence in the Polish Communist movement was axiomatic...The difference was that the threats in other lands were distant or theoretical were in Poland seen as immediate and tangible." (p. 112; see also p. 124).
Pease includes a chapter on the beginnings of WWII. The conduct of Pius XII must be kept in perspective: "Often overlooked is the fact that the papal `silence'--if it can fairly be called--in response to the Shoah was preceded and foreshadowed by the analogous and painfully cautious reaction of the Holy See to the German assault on Catholic Poland that touched off the Second World War." (p. 195).
Click Here to see more reviews about: Rome's Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914-1939 (Polish and Polish American Studies)
When an independent Poland reappeared on the map of Europe after World War I, it was widely regarded as the most Catholic country on the continent, as "Rome's Most Faithful Daughter." All the same, the relations of the Second Polish Republic with the Church—both its representatives inside the country and the Holy See itself—proved far more difficult than expected.Based on original research in the libraries and depositories of four countries, including recently opened collections in the Vatican Secret Archives,Rome's Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914-1939presents the first scholarly history of the close but complex political relationship of Poland with the Catholic Church during the interwar period. Neal Pease addresses, for example, the centrality of Poland in the Vatican's plans to convert the Soviet Union to Catholicism and the curious reluctance of each successive Polish government to play the role assigned to it. He also reveals the complicated story of the relations of Polish Catholicism with Jews, Freemasons, and other minorities within the country and what the response of Pope Pius XII to the Nazi German invasion of Poland in 1939 can tell us about his controversial policies during World War II.Both authoritative and lively,Rome's Most Faithful Daughtershows that the tensions generated by the interplay of church and state in Polish public life exerted great influence not only on the history of Poland but also on the wider Catholic world in the era between the wars.
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