Redemptoris nostri cruciatus
Redemptoris nostri cruciatus is a peace encyclical of Pope Pius XII focusing on the war in Palestine. It was dated: St. Peter's, Good Friday, 15 April 1949.
On Good Friday, the pope recalls the passion of Jesus Christ, and the land in which he lived, shed his blood and died. Although in the previous month,[1] an armistice had brought war between Arabs and Jews in Palestine to an end, these holy places were now faced with difficulties and uncertainty, Pope Pius XII said.[2] The Pope mentioned the numerous refugees who lived in exile and even in concentration camps.[3] He asks for more systematic efforts to allow those people a life in peace. He repeated his call for internationalization of the holy places:
- We have already insisted in Our Encyclical letter In multiplicibus, that the time has come when Jerusalem and its vicinity, where the previous memorials of the Life and Death of the Divine Redeemer are preserved, should be accorded and legally guaranteed an "international" status, which in the present circumstances seems to offer the best and most satisfactory protection for these sacred monuments.[4]
This would provide immunity and protection guaranteed to all the holy places of Palestine not only in Jerusalem but also in the other cities and villages as well. Religious sanctuaries, many of which suffered war damages, should be protected by definite statute guaranteed by an "international" agreement.[5] The Pope instructs the many Catholic institutions in Palestine to help the poor, to educate youth and give hospitality to visitors. They should carry out unimpeded the work they did in the past.[6] The Holy Places, which Catholics during many centuries have acquired and time and again defended, should be preserved inviolate.[7]
