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RTÉ News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
How an Irish Catholic newspaper viewed World War II
Analysis: A supporter of European dictators, The Standard's main enemy before, during and after the war was the Godless Communism of Russia In November 1940, a reader using the pseudonym An Coileach Gaoithe (The Weathercock) wrote a letter to the Dublin-based Catholic newspaper The Standard. Under the eye-catching headline: "If I Were Dictator", the reader outlined various gripes about elements of the Irish Free State which did not function properly. That letter prompted a series of follow-ups from correspondents who had their own ideas about what they would do if given unlimited power. Dictators were, of course, much in vogue in Europe in 1940, and The Standard was well disposed towards most of them. So how did the newspaper view the events of the Second World War, which ended 80 years ago this month? The Standard, published weekly between 1928 and 1978 and called the Catholic Standard from 1963, supported the policy of wartime neutrality adopted by the Irish government. But it had to contend with censorship during the 'Emergency', as the period was known in Ireland. In 1942, it successfully sued the Daily Mail, who accused it of being "the organ of a group that would rather see Germany than England win the war". In 1945, it defended as an "act of international courtesy" the controversial decision of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera to offer condolences to the German Minister in Dublin, Eduard Hempel, on the death of Adolf Hitler. Much of the paper's wartime coverage focused on two Catholic countries which, being neutral, were exempt from censorship regulations. The Standard had been fervent supporters of Francisco Franco since the Spanish Civil War. They were even more enthusiastic about Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, viewing his social reforms as a model for Ireland. In the pre-war era, they also wrote nice things about Benito Mussolini in Italy, whose 1929 Lateran Treaty with the Holy See established the Vatican City as an independent state. From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Prof Diarmaid Ferriter from UCD on the history of Irish neutrality The Standard had been critical of Hitler after his rise to power, highlighting the difficulties experienced by the German Catholic hierarchy, but that criticism tapered off in the late 1930s. The paper's main enemy – before, during and after the war – was the Godless Communism of Russia. Through much of the preceding decade, the paper warned of increased Communist influence in Ireland. When war came, The Standard devoted far more attention to Soviet aggression in Finland and Eastern Poland than it did to German activities in western Poland. When the Germans overran France in 1940, The Standard reacted with something close to glee. France's defeat was attributed in the paper to various factors: "too few children", the "poisoning" influence of liberalism, and the removal of religious orders from schools. The Standard enthusiastically endorsed the actions of the puppet government installed by the Nazis at Vichy under Marshal Philippe Pétain: a ban on secret societies, the introduction of strict film censorship, and changes in French schools. A 1940 article by J.L. Benvenisti warned that if Britain was beaten, "her people will be reduced to conditions paralleled only by those of the Irish in the Famine Years". Commentary about the Soviet Union became officially subject to censorship after it joined the Allied side in 1941. But, as historian Donal Ó Drisceoil notes, The Standard was allowed an anti-Soviet 'bite' by the censors before the shutters came down. The paper ran a series of extracts from the Catholic press in Britain which, "while accepting the fact of Britain's military alliance with Soviet Russia", pointed to "the dangers" that attached to it. From RTÉ Radio 1's Brendan O'Connor show, Suzi Diamond, survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and Caryna Camerino, granddaughter of Auschwitz survivor Enzo Camerino, reflect on the Holocaust By June 1945, the war in Europe was over and public criticism of both Nazism and Bolshevism by Pope Pius XII received prominent coverage in The Standard. An accompanying article disputed the "widely-reported assertion" that this address contained the first Papal denunciation of the Nazis since 1937. "The protest has been clear and continuous," argued The Universe newspaper, the claim that offered The Standard its headline. If there was a sense there that both church and paper were repositioning themselves to take account of the new post-war reality, The Standard was on more comfortable territory discussing the rise of the Iron Curtain. An editorial in mid-June 1945 referred to Soviet-controlled Poland as 'the blackest spot in Europe' and suggested that "the one object for which the war was professedly fought" – the restoration of Polish independence – "has not yet been achieved". Newsreel footage of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald concentration camps was met with "gasps" in Irish cinemas in June 1945. The response in The Standard was more sceptical, as film critic Benedict Kiely argued that the camera is not able "to tell the whole truth". In her book That Neutral Island, Clair Wills suggests that Kiely "tried to mute the horror of the images of the death camps by arguing that they were simply one more example of the atrocity in which all sides had been engaged". The Standard regarded the Nuremberg trials, which investigated Nazi war crimes, as a form of victors' justice. It suggested that all the charges the German leaders had faced could also be "held at the door of Soviet Russia".
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Megyn Kelly defends Pope Leo XIV's past anti-Trump tweets
Conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly defended Pope Leo XIV's controversial anti-Trump tweets, arguing that all Catholic leaders support 'mass migration.' 'There's not going to be a pope who's not pro-mass migration. It's Catholicism,' the former Fox News anchor said during Friday's episode of 'The Megyn Kelly Show.' 'They're very pro-migrant, you know, wash the feet of the poor and the hungry and those who need us, and, you know, we're a bunch of bleeding hearts at bottom.' She then added: 'Unless if you're trans or gay, in which case, no, sorry.' Kelly went on to praise the the first American-born pope for his 'anti-trans' stance and his possible turn away from Pope Francis' progressive policies. 'Pope Francis, God rest him, was very progressive and, like, kind of turned the church in a progressive direction and did some battle with America and our president for a while, when it was Donald Trump, not when it really was Joe Biden, and we didn't much like that,' Kelly said. 'So it's great to see an American pope, and I actually am open-minded to this pope, notwithstanding those tweets,' she added. The newly-elected Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago, posted and re-posted several tweets critical of the Trump administration over the past few months. Like many other Catholics, the 69-year-old took issue with a comment Vice President JD Vance made earlier this year about the theological concept of ordo amoris, Latin of order of love. Vance told Fox News 'that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.' In February, Prevost reposted an article from Pope Francis, who corrected Vance's interpretation of ordo amoris to be 'a fraternity open to all, without exception.' He also boosted an article from the National Catholic Reporter titled, 'JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others.' As a cardinal, he also reposted an article in the Catholic Standard criticizing Trump's meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele earlier this year, when the two seemingly laughed off the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The article asked, 'Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?' 'I really think even a conservative-leaning pope could have sent out those tweets because, I'm sorry, the Catholic Church is very pro-immigration. It's not my favorite thing, but it's the truth,' Kelly said. Kelly claimed the new pope 'voted in Republican primaries in Illinois and he is anti-transing of children and trans ideology,' citing 'a bunch of reporting.' The Chicago native has voted regularly in both Republican and Democratic primary elections, picking Republican ballots in more recent votes, according to state and local records in Illinois. He has made few comments on the LGTBQ+ community, though in 2017 he appeared to critique transgender communities when he spoke out against 'gender ideology' as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. Then-Cardinal Prevost, who holds US and Peruvian citizenship, told local media at the time that this ideology 'seeks to eliminate biological differences between men and women.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts
Prior to being elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV had a presence on Twitter, and later X, where he sometimes shared messages that appeared to be critical of some of President Donald Trump's policies. Cardinal Robert Prevost appears to have an X account with the handle @drprevost and posted, replied and reposted content since 2011, according to his page. A picture of Prevost and Pope Francis holding each others arms in their robes inside a church is the profile image for the account. While most of the new pope's 439 posts involved posting articles about the latest developments from the Vatican and dioceses from around the world, he did share other posts from time to time dealing with political matters. MORE: What we know about Leo XIV, the new American pope He last posted on April 14, when he shared a post from prominent American Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo that criticized Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's controversial immigration policies. " As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds' illicit deportation of a US resident …, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" Palmo's post read. Palmo linked to a Catholic Standard editorial written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, an auxiliary bishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Pope Leo's brother John Prevost in Chicago said immigration is an important issue for his brother. "I think because the way our country is going, I don't think he necessarily will always agree [with] what's happening. I think a big thing for him is immigration and is it right -- what's going on? I think that will be a challenge for him, because I think he'll say something about it, too." Asked about his brother's X account, John Prevost said, "I know that's his feelings, but I didn't know he was putting it out on social media." MORE: Pope Leo XIV pledges to 'build bridges' in 1st remarks as pontiff The pope's last original X post was on Feb. 13, when he posted a link to an America magazine editorial that criticized Vice President JD Vance about his interpretation of the Latin phrase "ordo amoris." Vance contended in a Fox News interview, that the idea meant that one must love their family first before the community. Pope Francis sent a letter to bishops after Vance's comment rebuking that interpretation without naming the vice president. Pope Leo, however, appeared to criticize Vance directly in a Feb. 3 post, where he linked to a National Catholic Reporter editorial that dismissed the vice president's stance on immigration. He shared the headline of the article "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others" and linked to the full story in his post. Leo had not posted on X between July 2023 and Feb. 3. The Vatican has not immediately commented about the social media account or posts. Vance and Trump both congratulated the pope on his election on social media posts. "I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X Thursday. Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts originally appeared on
09-05-2025
- Politics
Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts
Prior to being elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV had a presence on Twitter, and later X, where he sometimes shared messages that appeared to be critical of some of President Donald Trump's policies. Cardinal Robert Prevost appears to have an X account with the handle @drprevost and posted, replied and reposted content since 2011, according to his page. A picture of Prevost and Pope Francis holding each others arms in their robes inside a church is the profile image for the account. While most of the new pope's 439 posts involved posting articles about the latest developments from the Vatican and dioceses from around the world, he did share other posts from time to time dealing with political matters. He last posted on April 14, when he shared a post from prominent American Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo that criticized Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's controversial immigration policies. " As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds' illicit deportation of a US resident …, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" Palmo's post read. Palmo linked to a Catholic Standard editorial written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, an auxiliary bishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Pope Leo's brother John Prevost in Chicago said immigration is an important issue for his brother. "I think because the way our country is going, I don't think he necessarily will always agree [with] what's happening. I think a big thing for him is immigration and is it right -- what's going on? I think that will be a challenge for him, because I think he'll say something about it, too." Asked about his brother's X account, John Prevost said, "I know that's his feelings, but I didn't know he was putting it out on social media." The pope's last original X post was on Feb. 13, when he posted a link to an America magazine editorial that criticized Vice President JD Vance about his interpretation of the Latin phrase "ordo amoris." Vance contended in a Fox News interview, that the idea meant that one must love their family first before the community. Pope Francis sent a letter to bishops after Vance's comment rebuking that interpretation without naming the vice president. Pope Leo, however, appeared to criticize Vance directly in a Feb. 3 post, where he linked to a National Catholic Reporter editorial that dismissed the vice president's stance on immigration. He shared the headline of the article "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others" and linked to the full story in his post. Leo had not posted on X between July 2023 and Feb. 3. The Vatican has not immediately commented about the social media account or posts. Vance and Trump both congratulated the pope on his election on social media posts. "I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X Thursday.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts
Prior to being elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV had a presence on Twitter, and later X, where he sometimes shared messages that appeared to be critical of some of President Donald Trump's policies. Cardinal Robert Prevost appears to have an X account with the handle @drprevost and posted, replied and reposted content since 2011, according to his page. A picture of Prevost and Pope Francis holding each others arms in their robes inside a church is the profile image for the account. While most of the new pope's 439 posts involved posting articles about the latest developments from the Vatican and dioceses from around the world, he did share other posts from time to time dealing with political matters. MORE: What we know about Leo XIV, the new American pope He last posted on April 14, when he shared a post from prominent American Catholic commentator Rocco Palmo that criticized Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's controversial immigration policies. " As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds' illicit deportation of a US resident …, once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?" Palmo's post read. Palmo linked to a Catholic Standard editorial written by Bishop Evelio Menjivar, an auxiliary bishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, Pope Leo's brother John Prevost in Chicago said immigration is an important issue for his brother. "I think because the way our country is going, I don't think he necessarily will always agree [with] what's happening. I think a big thing for him is immigration and is it right -- what's going on? I think that will be a challenge for him, because I think he'll say something about it, too." Asked about his brother's X account, John Prevost said, "I know that's his feelings, but I didn't know he was putting it out on social media." MORE: Pope Leo XIV pledges to 'build bridges' in 1st remarks as pontiff The pope's last original X post was on Feb. 13, when he posted a link to an America magazine editorial that criticized Vice President JD Vance about his interpretation of the Latin phrase "ordo amoris." Vance contended in a Fox News interview, that the idea meant that one must love their family first before the community. Pope Francis sent a letter to bishops after Vance's comment rebuking that interpretation without naming the vice president. Pope Leo, however, appeared to criticize Vance directly in a Feb. 3 post, where he linked to a National Catholic Reporter editorial that dismissed the vice president's stance on immigration. He shared the headline of the article "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others" and linked to the full story in his post. Leo had not posted on X between July 2023 and Feb. 3. The Vatican has not immediately commented about the social media account or posts. Vance and Trump both congratulated the pope on his election on social media posts. "I'm sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!" Vance wrote on X Thursday. Pope Leo shared content critical of Trump, Vance's immigration policies in social media posts originally appeared on
