A little-known statement from
Time magazine (Dec. 23, 1940) attests to
Albert Einstein's respect for the Catholic Church's uncompromising stand on freedom and moral freedom during the Nazi maelstrom of the Second World War era:
Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolu-tion came to Germany, I looked to the univer-sities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the news-papers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks....Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly." (emphasis added)
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