This work offers a summary of the pontificates of the 20th century, from that of St. Pius X to that of St. John Paul II. The focus is placed on how these popes, many of them to be declared saints later on, faced the challenges of their time. This period can be said to be marked by the crisis of modernity and the beginning of post-modernity. In the author’s own words: “Eight Popes and the Crisis of Modernity […] is not a work of history or theology or even biography, although it contains some elements of all three” (p. 17).
Russell Shaw is a well-known writer and journalist. He was for almost twenty years Secretary for Public Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops for the United States. He has more than twenty books to his credit. To name a few: Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church and American Church; The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America; and Ministries or Apostolates: What should the Catholic Laity be doing?
Shaw, a person who is well-informed on the history of the Church in the contemporary period, offers an essay in a journalistic style that is pleasant, informative and easy to read, as well as carefully expressed with a well-chosen vocabulary.
Writing from a Catholic perspective, but without ignoring the difficulties that readers with little historical or doctrinal formation, non-Catholics, or non-believers may have, the author dwells on the most controversial or difficult to understand topics in the said pontificates. The book is thus presented as an apologetics of the Catholic faith and of the papacy, explaining how the barque of Peter was steered during this delicate period. To understand the legacy of these pontiffs, Shaw draws from pontifical teaching and the texts that most clearly illuminate the thought of the different pontiffs.
Studies on the papacy and on the criticism of modernity by various thinkers are abundant, so the book is not ground-breaking. However, Shaw does not limit himself to summarizing. Beyond the effort to synthesize, which is already important, the originality of his work lies in the proposal of an underlying theme that runs through and unifies the various pontificates. This could be described in a few words as the understanding of the dignity and destiny of the human being. This would be the central question, to which we will return later.
In the Introduction, Shaw makes a detailed explanation of the terms and characteristics of Modernity and Post-Modernity, citing the theologian Romano Guardini and the philosopher Charles Taylor. The author puts the emphasis on Darwin, Marx and Freud as the fathers of the present cultural crisis, saying that “their ideas contributed significantly, if unintentionally, to the decline in mankind’s collective self-esteem that certainly occurred” (p. 11). Along with these, he also cites Nietzsche and his specific atheistic position.
One of the characteristics of the crisis of modernity and postmodernity is secularism, which Taylor defines as: ‘“a humanist mindset that looks entirely to this world for an ideal human fulfilment considered as a goal reachable by unaided human effort, without reference to God or transcendence”’ (p. 15). This is a process which we could say reaches our times with the transhumanist proposal of Yuval Noah Harari in his Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2017).
For Shaw, as highlighted from the first page of the book – and as we anticipated – the problem of God in contemporary society is the problem of man, of whom these popes have made a fierce defence in their pontificates: “it would be an exaggeration to say that these eight popes spent a great deal of their time grappling directly either with what they recognized as personalist issues or with the implications of the crisis of modernity […] but those other matters themselves were often ones generated by modernity, and questions pertaining to the dignity and destiny of the human being were at least implicit in many of them” (p. 18).
From this perspective, which is the main thesis of the book, Shaw dedicates each of the chapters to a 20th century pope. The subtitle under the name of the respective pontiff highlights one aspect of each pontificate.
In Chapter I, Shaw refers to the pontificate of Pius X (1903–1914) as “The First Outbreak of the Modern Mind,” for it was during this period that the law of separation of Church and State was passed in France; and Theological Modernity appeared openly on the scene. With respect to the first problem, Shaw explains that despite the negative consequences for the Church, it also meant something positive: “For the first time in French history, indeed for the first time in any of Europe’s historically Catholic countries except Ireland, the government swore hands-off in choosing bishops, leaving the pope a free hand, without interference from the state” (p. 24).
On the then-pope’s performance in the face of theological modernism, the author says, in the words of Joseph Ratzinger, that ‘“Pius X’s counterattack on Modernism was “over-zealous”; but he also acknowledged that it was a matter of “historic necessity” in the face of a genuine threat’” (p. 22). As Shaw points out, more problematic than the pope’s actions were “the activities of an entity called the Sodality of Saint Pius V. Directed by a Vatican official, Monsignor Umberto Benigni, this was a clandestine network of informers whose job was to report anyone suspected of Modernism to headquarters in Rome” (p. 29).
The chapter on Benedict XV (1914–1922) is entitled: “Never Was There Less Brotherly Activity.” Of this pontificate, Shaw highlights the diplomatic action of the Holy See and the Pope's efforts in favour of peace. Among the achievements of the pontiff he points out the publication of the Code of Canon Law and the apostolic letter Maximum Illud on missions, where “the pope set out a farsighted vision of missionary work that anticipated the end of the colonial era” (p. 37).
From the pontificate of Pius XI (1922–1939), which Shaw characterizes as “Facing Up to the New Men of Violence,” the author highlights the context in which he developed with the rise of totalitarianism, and the persecution of the Church in Mexico and Spain. He also reviews the papal encyclicals, including the one condemning Fascism, Nazism and Communism. At the end of the chapter, there are two extracts from the encyclicals Casti Connubii (1930) on marriage, and Mit Brennender Sorge (1937) condemning Nazism.
Shaw defines the period of Pius XII’s pontificate as “The Modern Age in Arms.” Pope Pacelli had to face both Nazism and Communism. In his first encyclical Summi Pontificatus, he “condemned the German and Soviet invasions of Poland, anti-Semitism, and totalitarianism” (p. 66). The pontiff’s attitude during the Second World War was, says Shaw “traditional policy of official neutrality” (p. 66). Regarding the criticism levelled at Pius XII for his alleged silence in the face of the Shoah, Shaw reiterates the condemnation that the pontiff himself, in his 1942 Christmas Address, directed at the fact that: ‘“hundreds of thousands of persons … without any fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or a slow decline”’ (p. 70). From his analysis of the world conflict, Pius XII concluded that ‘“[peace] could only be found in the restoration of solidarity grounded in the Christian vision of humanity’s fundamental unity”’ (p. 72).
The author presents St. John XXIII (1958–1963) as “The Provisional Pope Who Launched a Revolution,” which synthesizes two characteristics of his pontificate, being considered transitional, and at the same time having initiated the Second Vatican Council. One of the objectives of the pope in opening the council was the aggiornamento of the Church, understood as “– a return to the spiritual and doctrinal sources of Christianity – so as to preach Jesus Christ and his message convincingly to a world that so desperately needed them” (p. 81). Among his encyclicals, Shaw dwells especially on Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem in Terris (1963).
Shaw dedicates a chapter to the Second Vatican Council, which he introduces with the words “Innovation in Continuity,” the words which will be, according to Benedict XVI, the hermeneutical keys to correctly interpret the Council. The author points out the disagreement of some cardinals with regard to the convocation, as well as the crisis and disorder that followed its conclusion. In the words of historian John Pollard, quoted several times throughout the book, the conciliar event is described as ‘“the great “Pandora’s box” that opened the door to the emergence – not infrequently noisy and unsettling – of ‘forces for change’ that had been suppressed in the Church since the early years of the century and Pius X’s condemnation of Modernism”’ (p. 90).
On the Second Vatican Council, the author goes through the main documents, shedding light on the most controversial points: from the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, he quotes that “no one else, ‘not even a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority’” (p. 98); from the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum that “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture comprise ‘a single sacred deposit of the Word of God.’ The responsibility for providing the ‘authentic interpretation’ of this body of revealed truth in either form belongs to ‘the living teaching office of the Church alone’” (pp. 98–99); in the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium he points to the theme of episcopal collegiality, citing: “‘Together with their head, the Supreme Pontiff, and never apart from him, they [the bishops] have supreme and full authority over the universal Church”’ (pp. 99–100). From the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes the universal call to holiness stands out, and he quotes the document saying that: “separating faith from life is ‘one of the gravest errors of our time’” (p. 101). In addition, the author considers that “the most important contribution of Gaudium et Spes may be its insistence on the dignity of the human being as seen in the light of a Christological anthropology” (p. 103).
The chapter on St. Paul VI (1963–1978) is entitled “Am I Hamlet or Don Quixote?” referring to the pontiff’s indecisive personality and sense of duty. Shaw transcribes some words of the historian Eamon Duffy which characterise the pontificate of Pope Montini in this way: ‘“no pope since Saint Gregory the Great has faced “so daunting a task” as Saint Paul VI’” (p. 109). The context was none other than the post-conciliar crisis and the reaction within and outside the Church to the encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968), in which Paul VI reiterates “the condemnation of all forms of contraception that had long been part of the Church’s teaching” (p. 114). Shaw also cites the encyclical Populorum Progressio (1967), and the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975) from which he draws several paragraphs at the end of the chapter. In both documents, the defence of man in an industrialised and secularised world is highlighted.
“The Smiling Pope” are the words with which Shaw characterises John Paul I (1978), a pope who stands out for his humility (the motto on his papal coat of arms) and his desire to serve everyone. As with the other pontificates, Shaw does not overlook the controversial nature of some events, in this case that of his death.
In the last chapter of the book, Shaw confronts the figure of St. John Paul II as “The First Postmodern Pope,” and in the words of historian James Hitchcock “‘perhaps the most intellectually formidable man ever to ascend the papal throne’” (p. 133). Despite his popularity, Shaw notes that the Polish Pope “had his critics. Some complained about his teaching on sexual morality, others about his insistence that the Church can’t ordain women, or his continued emphasis on celibacy for priests of the Western Church, or his centralized leadership,” but that in spite of this he cannot be considered in any way “‘a pope against modernity,’” or opposed to modern man's aspiration to freedom, a pope of “‘rollback’” and “‘restoration’” (p. 135), as is illustrated on the following pages.
The conclusion of the book returns to the central theme of this essay, the subject of man and his understanding in the light of the mystery of the Redemption. “But is it not precisely the lesson taught by the eight popes of the twentieth century that this optimism must continue to move Christians in confronting the terrible challenges that lie ahead in postmodern times? And is not the name for this optimism hope?” (p. 150).
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy
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References
- Harari, Yuval Noah. 2017. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. New York: HarperCollins.