Pope dies in 1942

if a Pope died whilst Rome was under a pro nazi state how would the next one be chosen?

Would it be automaticazlly a Fascist apologist and might a rival be elected
 

Pangur

Donor
if a Pope died whilst Rome was under a pro nazi state how would the next one be chosen?

Would it be automaticazlly a Fascist apologist and might a rival be elected

That's a somewhat loaded question to be honest. Pius X11 did not exactly cover himself or the RC church in glory during WW2. Would I go as far as to call him a Fascist apologist? I think I would. Would his successor be the same? On balance I would say yes.

BTW what did you mean about a rival?
 

Cook

Banned
if a Pope died whilst Rome was under a pro nazi state how would the next one be chosen?

Would it be automaticazlly a Fascist apologist and might a rival be elected

Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939, when Italy was a pro-Nazi state. It is worth looking at his performance in comparison with his predecessor, Pope Pius XI, who was a critic of both Mussolini and Hitler (but not, curiously enough, of Franco).

More interesting might be the death of Pius XII in late 1943 or early ’44, when Rome was occupied by the Germans.
 
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They could stack the deck by preventing certain Cardinals from entering Rome to participate, forcing the sickly Cardinals to accept pro-German nurses and having the army 'assist' in security.

I think that the likely result would be an organized resistance by the Cardinals against the Nazis. I would expect a long period of sede vacante. Say what you want about the electors but they would strongly oppose being manipulated.

It would make a good movie. The third act could be the Nazis breaking the Conclave and trying to force the College to make a selection.

That would make for one hell of a drama.
 
if a Pope died whilst Rome was under a pro nazi state how would the next one be chosen?

Fascist Italy was a Nazi ally, but not just that by any means.

Would it be automaticazlly a Fascist apologist and might a rival be elected

There would be great difficulty in holding a conclave of Cardinals in wartime.
Cardinals from Allied countries would be unable to go to Rome.

Possibly the Conclave would be held in a neutral Catholic nation - either Spain or Portugal.

In any case, Mussolini would not dictate the choice of the new Pope. Any move by him to do so would almost certainly backfire. At the same time, the Cardinals would not pick a new Pope who was openly hostile to the Fascist government, or even to Nazi Germany.
 
Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939, when Italy was a pro-Nazi state. It is worth looking at his performance in comparison with his predecessor, Pope Pius XI, who was a critic of both Mussolini and Hitler (but not, curiously enough, of Franco).

Why would he be critical of a Catholic government that was locked in battle with violent, murderous atheists? Over 8,000 priests and nuns were killed by Spanish rojos during the Civil War.

One need not whitewash Franco to see where the Pope's priorities lay.

More interesting might be the death of Pius XII in late 1943 or early ’44, when Rome was occupied by the Germans.

As suggested elsewhere on this thread, the probable result would be sede vacante (seat empty) until Rome was occupied by the Allies. (Even then it would be awkward to hold a conclave, as many Cardinals were in Axis-occupied Europe and their travel to Rome would be difficult, so the election might be postponed until after V-E Day.)

But even the Nazis would not try to stage a packed conclave and dictate a new Pope.

A side effect might be that lacking a Pope's leadership, the Vatican authorities could be less resolute in sheltering Jews within the Holy See. One would have to determine who would be "regent" in the interim period.
 

Cook

Banned
Why would he be critical of a Catholic government that was locked in battle with violent, murderous atheists? Over 8,000 priests and nuns were killed by Spanish rojos during the Civil War.

One need not whitewash Franco to see where the Pope's priorities lay.
The massacre of devout Catholic Basques, including many priests, by Franco’s forces probably should have made the Pope question the ethics of supporting the Nationalist cause unquestioningly.
 
The Pope and it heirachy will protect the Church (a reasonable mission). The Church rightly feared communisim and made a few bad choices that it would later regret (as did many goverments in that time era). Things in hindsight are much easier to see then at at the time when the only two choices are bad, and not as bad. The people running the church are just men, without armies, it can't really even control what its underlings do (even at the Bishop level), so it tries to protect the name of Jesus, its followers, followers of other faiths, and perhaps cynically their own positions. No one in that time era could have predicted the evil the Nazis would do, it is still so incredible that is is hard for some to believe today.
 
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