Decree against Communism

The Decree Against Communism was a 1949 Catholic Church document issued by the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, and approved by Pope Pius XII, which declared Catholics who professed atheistic communist doctrine to be excommunicated as apostates from the Christian faith. It did not prohibit membership in communist parties per se, but applied to Catholic communists who 'abandoned their faith'. The decree was issued in response to pro-communist and state-sponsored Catholic associations being founded in the socialist Eastern Bloc, which prompted fears of schism. The Vatican stopped enforcing the decree after reaching compromises with the socialist states, starting with an agreement reached with the Polish People's Republic in 1950. The decree has since been abrogated, and is no longer valid.

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