WI: The Vatican openly endorses Operation Barbarossa?

Well, maybe it's the sort of thing that could only happen in the USA.

Probably. After all, the one lynching recorded to have happened in Canada was committed within 150 meters from the US border, by a band of US criminals who had trespassed. The victim belonged to a Canadian minority group and was, as far as it can be ascertained, innocent.
 
OTL the Vatican seemed to be mute when it came to criticizing the Nazi regime while at the same time quite loudly was against the Soviet Union. So what if the Vatican openly endorsed the invasion of the Soviet Union? What would be the wartime reactions from the allied powers? What kind of repercussions will there be post war?
Could we end up like a split of the Church into a Anti-Nazi faction and a Pro-Nazi faction, lest say it a modern version of the Western Schism
 
The main reason the pope didn't speak out against the Holocaust was because he was hoping to broker a peace treaty between the Western Allies and the Axis. Declaring for one side will destroy these efforts completely. So I would say that this is basically impossible.
But if say a stroke destroys just enough of his brain to make otherwise functional idiot and he actually does make such a declaration, I can well see the Allies refusing to recognize him any longer. He'll probably be forced out of Italy when they occupy it, with his successor possibly being allowed to return if he renounces him. And it wouldn't be surprising if this leads to a schism among Catholics, most likely in the German occupied areas.
 
Hard to imagine any Pope, even Pius XII, endorsing anything that hideous, or condemning it either. They are possessed of the ultimate get-out-of-jail card for such situations, the ability to maintain non-committal silence until the dust has cleared, then justify their action with the explanation of fear of reprisal, against not so much the church as their flock. It's solid, it's believable, and most of the time it's going to be true...
 
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