The USA, Pope Pius XII, and Containment Policy in the Early Cold War: The Case of Yugoslavia

This paper explores the dynamics of American and Vatican policies in the communist Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito from the end of World War II to the end of Pius XII’s pontificate in 1958. The genocide against the Orthodox Serbs, Jews, and Roma committed by the fascist and devoutly Catholic Ustasha regime of the Axis puppet Independent State of Croatia cast a long shadow on church-state relations in Yugoslavia. The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in that country was considerably compromised on account of its attitude towards the Ustasha regime, but offered vocal opposition to the communist government in 1945. This was in line with the visceral anticommunist policy of Pius XII, who endeavored to enlist the assistance of the USA. For the Vatican, Tito’s Yugoslavia, with its atheistic doctrine and violent treatment of the RCC, was an implacable enemy. Their clash manifested in the Vatican’s “ratline” operations to help the fleeing Ustasha war criminals escape justice and staunch support to the Archbishop of Zagreb, Alojzije (Aloysius) Stepinac, during his trial and imprisonment, which Catholic propaganda turned into a major international event. The American policy towards Tito’s Yugoslavia was informed by political and military requirements, despite lobbying on the part of the American Catholic hierarchy. Initially faced with the hostility of a loyal Soviet satellite, the USA provided a measure of support to the Vatican as a way of bolstering anticommunist opposition of the RCC in Yugoslavia. This included an increasingly benevolent attitude towards the smuggling of Ustasha criminals. However, American diplomacy was reserved in the matter of the Stepinac trial, as it had grave doubts about his wartime record. After the Tito-Stalin split in 1948, Yugoslavia effectively became an American ally. Supporting Yugoslavia was now part of the American containment policy towards the Soviet Union, which ran contrary to the Vatican’s agenda.