Pact of the Catacombs

[3] Laying the theological foundation for the pact, Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, Archbishop of Bologna, in December 1962 addressed the Council at length on the centrality of poverty.

Others included the Brazilian Bishops Antônio Batista Fragoso of Crateús and Jose Maria Pires of Araçuaí; Manuel Larraín Errázuriz of Talca, Chile; Tulio Botero of Medellín, Colombia; Marcos Gregorio McGrath of Santiago de Veraguas, Panama; and Leonidas Proaño of Riobamba, Ecuador.

He felt the document was forgotten because Pope Paul VI, given the Cold War environment of his papacy, preferred not to be associated with its implicit criticism of capitalism.

[2] The document itself has been lost (but re-produced – see reference below), but as the fiftieth anniversary of its signing approached, the pact gained increasing notice due to the efforts of theologians and historians, especially in Germany, to draw attention to its significance.

He began his speech with words reminiscent of the pact: "It is a consolation to be with those who carry on the apostolate of the Church; religious men seeking to bear witness against worldliness".