Sometime after the war, Albert Camus was invited to speak at a conference about religion. He mentioned that during those terrible years it would have been very good to hear the Pope condemn the Nazis. Any respected voice at a time like that would have at least been of some solace, if nothing else. Then, he said, I learned later that the Pope had spoken against the Nazis — this was in his Vatican Encyclicals, Camus was told. The official pronouncements of the Roman Catholic Church, written in Latin. Ah, I see, said Camus, insider talk, unheard by most of those struggling across Europe. That won't due, suggested Camus. Times so urgent require speech so plain and emphatic that every person, of any background and training, will plainly understand.