Chapter 4, "The Pope Speaks" Summary and Analysis

The ever-present symbol and embodiment of the Catholic Church is the Pope, Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII. His picture is everywhere the author goes as a young boy. He attends grade school at St. Mary's School and begins high school in the Priory School at a Benedictine monastery. He is preceded by Joe, who is a good student. James sees the Pope's picture everywhere so he feels as if he knows him. Pope Pius XII is known by 1950s Americans as a crucial ally in struggles against atheistic communism. Despite neutrality with Fascists and Nazis, the Pope excommunicates all Communists in 1949. This action endears him to Americans and confirms their sense of moral purity. He restates the Catholic Just War theory and emphasizes acceptability of predictable, though unintended, consequences. Pope Pius XII further...