Anti-Communist Broadcasting and Slovak Catholic Diaspora in the Context of the Post-War Pontificate of Pius XII: Vatican Radio and Radio Free Europe

According to the newest research in the Vatican archives of Pius XII’s post-war pontificate the paper deals with the special role the Slovak post-war emigration played in the creation of anti-Communist strategies of the Holy See in the nascent Cold War. It also examines the activities of the Vatican Radio as an instrument of anti-Communism and as an important tool of communication across the Iron Curtain. It focuses on the role the Vatican Secretariat of State had in this process. Current research confirms that the Holy See respected the religious broadcasts of Radio Free Europe, even though its overall attitude towards it was ambivalent.