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Title: The Hidden Encyclical of Pius XI by Georges Passelecq, Bernard Suchecky ISBN: 0-15-600631-6 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 15 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00

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Average Customer Rating: 1.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: Arrogant and Overly-Presented
Comment: The book has some interesting threads from an historical point of view however after having read through the "super sleuth" story in the lead half of the book, I was somewhat disappointed by the text of the letter itself. It was too academic in my mind and less papal. But back to the detective work - ultimately I found the book to be overly ambitious (the subject doesn't warrent it) and somewhat arrogant as if the encyclical itself is above the Church and must be taken to be heavenly. In the end the work did not receive papal blessing nor was it even published at the appropriate time to evoke the appropriate ecclesial mood amidst a public rally

Rating: 1
Summary: Misleading
Comment: This is an interesting tale of an encyclical that never saw the light of day, especially because it was an encyclical against racism clearly aimed at Hitler. But the authors misintepret the document's import.

They act as if this draft encyclical would have been the first time the Church denounced the Third Reich's anti-Semitism. In fact, Pius XI had solemnly condemned it in the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (1937), written in German and read from the pulpit of every German church. He also denounced it in several addresses to the College of Cardinals.

They also miss the fact that Pius XII incorporated large chunks of this encyclical into the first encyclical he published after being elected pope in 1939. As Pierre Blet shows in his fine work on the Vatican archives, Pius XII continued to hammer home the Church's opposition to anti-Semitism in many cables to papal ambassadors, authorizing them to save Jewish lives through Vatican passports, false baptismal certificates, and the granting of sanctuary in church buidlings.

The "hidden encyclical" only confirms the public words and actions of Popes Pius XI and XII against racism, especially in its Nazi guise. Oddly, however, the authors twist this evidence into something suggesting just the opposite.

Rating: 2
Summary: An overly scholastic look at an interesting document
Comment: The concept of this book was admirable and the text of the encyclical is intriguing but a lot of the narrative is dull and repetitive. Its a good piece of information that could have been presented in a more readable manner.