On 15 April 1945, as WWII was coming to an and and on the same day the US army liberated the concentration camp at Colditz and the British and Canadian army liberated the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, Pope Pius XII issued his encyclical Communium Interpretes calling for the promotion of peace throughout the world.

In the encyclical, Pius XII reflected on the destruction caused by the war and called on the faithful to offer prayers to the Mother of God, especially in May – that month dedicated to her, that Christ might bring healing to all those who were suffering. In addition to the offering of prayers, the Pope called for a return to Christian morality and the renewal of public and private life. For, Pius XII warned that if true justice was not the goal then the world ran the risk of future wars.

The Pope specifically called for prayers for those who had been driven from their homes by the war and those who were imprisoned. Thus the encyclical served as an important document for the development of Catholic social teaching regarding the importance of peace and the care of refugees.

It is interesting to note that this was Pius XII’s first encyclical on the war, even though fighting had been raging throughout Europe ever since September 1 of 1939.

Communium Interpretes Dolorum

In its fourth session, on 8 April 1546, the Council of Trent by a vote of 24 for versus 15 against with 16 abstentions approved the Canon or list of books presently contained within the Roman Catholic Bible. These books included what are commonly called the 12 Deuterocanonical books. The Deuterocanonical books were not added to the Bible, rather the Council of Trent reaffirmed earlier lists of authoritative scriptures in 382, 393, and 397 which contained the Deuterocanonical books. Martin Luther had placed these books into a separate section of his Bible called the Apocrypha and gave them a lesser status to the other Old Testament texts, in part because the Deuterocanonical texts could be used to support Catholic teaching which Luther opposed such as the doctrine of Purgatory.

The Books of the Bible were:

Of the Old Testament: the five books of Moses, to wit, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Josue, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, two of Paralipomenon, the first book of Esdras, and the second which is entitled Nehemias; Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the Davidical Psalter, consisting of a hundred and fifty psalms; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jeremias, with Baruch; Ezechiel, Daniel; the twelve minor prophets, to wit, Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, Malachias; two books of the Machabees, the first and the second.

Of the New Testament: the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke the Evangelist; fourteen epistles of Paul the apostle, (one) to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, (one) to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, (one) to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews; two of Peter the apostle, three of John the apostle, one of the apostle James, one of Jude the apostle, and the Apocalypse of John the apostle.

The Council of Trent also placed an anathema on any who did not accept as valid the scriptures contained in the Latin Vulgate Bible – made the authoritative version of the Bible; prohibited interpretation of the Scriptures contrary to that of the Catholic Church; and prohibited printing of Bibles or commentaries on the Scripture without permission of local Ordinaries.

The Decrees of Trent on the Sacred Scriptures

After the death of Pope Gregory XI, a conclave assembled on 7 April 1378 to choose a new pope.  This conclave was the first since the transfer of the papal see from Avignon to Rome after the end of what was known as the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy.  It was also one of the shortest in the history of the Catholic Church – lasting only until the 9th of April and the first to be held in the old basilica of Saint Peter.

The conclave would meet under pressure and violence from Roman citizenry who demanded an Italian pope after the decades of French dominance during the Avignon Papacy.  Eventually Bartolommeo Prignano, the Archbishop of Bari, would be elected as pope, taking the name of Urban VI.

However by September, frustration over the leadership of Pope Urban would lead thirteen cardinals to claim that their votes for Urban had been coerced by the threats of the Roman mob and were, therefore invalid. Thus they held a new conclave in Fondi and elected Robert of Geneva, the anti-pope Clement VII as a rival pope.  This marked the beginning of the Western Schism – a period of multiple claimants to the papacy that would last until 1417 and the election of Pope Martin V.

For more on the Western Schism
Also listen to episode #155 of Catholic:Under The Hood