WI: Catholic church after a nuclear attack in Rome

What if the cold war heats up during the first half of the 80s and Rome is attacked without warning with two or three nuclear missles, killing Pope John Paul II and a good deal of the Vatican hierarchy?

How would the Catholic Church reacts and reorganize itself with the Holy See destroyed and its leaders dead?
 
It doesn't, because nukes landing in Italy starts up a hot nuclear war between NATO and the USSR. Humanity is essentially destroyed in the resulting conflict.
 

Macragge1

Banned
It doesn't, because nukes landing in Italy starts up a hot nuclear war between NATO and the USSR. Humanity is essentially destroyed in the resulting conflict.

Please don't presume as to understand how thermonuclear war would play out.
 
The Church hierarchy rebuilds in Brazil or Argentina--it's not like South America was a big target for either superpower. As a result, the hierarchy has a more Social Justice orientation (the Latin American bishops). A new Pope is elected if the last one was killed.
 
The church would regroup in South America which will have sustained much less damage than the Northern Hemisphere, Middle East, Southern Africa, Australia and and New Zealand, and won't have decended into sectarien conflict like the survivours in South East Asia will have.
 
It's hard to tell if a "Southern American Catholic Church" would immediately more Social-oriented.....Eugenio Sales, the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro at that time (and one of the strongest candidates to be elected Pope in this WI timeline) was a conservative-oriented Bishop. The Catholic left-wing Liberation Theology was being contested by the Vatican since the late 70s and during the 80s a lot of priests and bishops already had abandoned more left-wing views....
 
Please don't presume as to understand how thermonuclear war would play out.

Well one side randomly nuking Italy is never going to end well is it? Granted humanity wont be destroyed (we're a lot tougher than people think) and the power of the world will shift south. My preditction, new pope elected in Brazila once the dust settles.
 

Macragge1

Banned
Well one side randomly nuking Italy is never going to end well is it? Granted humanity wont be destroyed (we're a lot tougher than people think) and the power of the world will shift south. My preditction, new pope elected in Brazila once the dust settles.

You're absolutely right; it's this fallacy that the life on earth will literally end that is just patently untrue.
 
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