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What concerns did Pius XII have about the Yalta Conference?
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Pius XII
Pius XII served as pope from 1939 to 1958; photograph by Yousuf Karsh.
Pope Pius XII held serious reservations regarding the Yalta Conference due to the prominent role it envisioned for the Soviet Union in postwar Europe.1
His primary concerns centered on the expansion of Soviet influence and the spread of communism into eastern and central Europe. Pius XII feared that the agreements reached by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin would facilitate the encroachment of Soviet totalitarianism into the region, a fear that was later realized as various religious leaders were imprisoned and communist control solidified across Eastern Europe.1