Pius XII: Much-Maligned Pontiff

Some things never go away. The controversy over Pope Pius XII's actions during World War II was recently reignited when Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree affirming that his predecessor displayed "heroic virtues" during his lifetime. When the pope visited the Great Synagogue of Rome on Sunday, Riccardo Pacifici, president of Rome's Jewish community, told him: "The silence of Pius XII before the Shoah still hurts because something should have been done."

This was not the first time the wartime pope, who is now a step closer to beatification, has been accused of keeping silent during the Holocaust, of doing little or nothing to help the Jews, and even of collaborating with the Nazis. To what extent, if any, does the evidence back up these allegations, which have been repeated since the early 1960s?

On April 4, 1933, Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the Vatican secretary of state, instructed the papal nuncio in Germany to see what he could do to oppose the Nazis' anti-Semitic policies. On behalf of Pope Pius XI, Cardinal Pacelli drafted an encyclical, entitled "Mit brennender Sorge" ("With Burning Anxiety"), that condemned Nazi doctrines and persecution of the Catholic Church. The encyclical was smuggled into Germany and read from Catholic pulpits on March 21, 1937.

Although many Vatican critics today dismiss the encyclical as a light slap on the wrist, the Germans saw it as a security threat. For example, on March 26, 1937, Hans Dieckhoff, an official in the German foreign ministry, wrote that the "encyclical contains attacks of the severest nature upon the German government, calls upon Catholic citizens to rebel against the authority of the state, and therefore signifies an attempt to endanger internal peace."

Both Great Britain and France should have interpreted the document as a warning that they should not trust Adolf Hitler or try to appease him.

After the death of Pius XI, Cardinal Pacelli was elected pope, on March 2, 1939. The Nazis were displeased with the new pontiff, who took the name Pius XII. On March 4, Joseph Goebbels, the German propaganda minister, wrote in his diary: "Midday with the Fuehrer. He is considering whether we should abrogate the concordat with Rome in light of Pacelli's election as pope."

During the war, the pope was far from silent: In numerous speeches and encyclicals, he championed human rights for all people and called on the belligerent nations to respect the rights of all civilians and prisoners of war. Unlike many of the pope's latter-day detractors, the Nazis understood him very well. After studying Pius XII's 1942 Christmas message, the Reich Central Security Office concluded: "In a manner never known before the pope has repudiated the National Socialist New European Order ... Here he is virtually accusing the German people of injustice toward the Jews and makes himself the mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals." (Pick up any book that criticizes Pius XII, and you won't find any mention of this important report.)

In early 1940, the pope acted as an intermediary between a group of German generals who wanted to overthrow Hitler and the British government. Although the conspiracy never went forward, Pius XII kept in close contact with the German resistance and heard about two other plots against Hitler. In the fall of 1941, through diplomatic channels, the pope agreed with Franklin Delano Roosevelt that America's Catholics could support the president's plans to extend military aid to the Soviet Union after it was invaded by the Nazis. On behalf of the Vatican, John T. McNicholas, the archbishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, delivered a well-publicized address that explained that the extension of assistance to the Soviets could be morally justified because it helped the Russian people, who were the innocent victims of German aggression.

Throughout the war, the pope's deputies frequently ordered the Vatican's diplomatic representatives in many Nazi-occupied and Axis countries to intervene on behalf of endangered Jews. Up until Pius XII's death in 1958, many Jewish organizations, newspapers and leaders lauded his efforts. To cite one of many examples, in his April 7, 1944, letter to the papal nuncio in Romania, Alexander Shafran, chief rabbi of Bucharest, wrote: "It is not easy for us to find the right words to express the warmth and consolation we experienced because of the concern of the supreme pontiff, who offered a large sum to relieve the sufferings of deported Jews ... The Jews of Romania will never forget these facts of historic importance."

The campaign against Pope Pius XII is doomed to failure because his detractors cannot sustain their main charges against him - that he was silent, pro-Nazi, and did little or nothing to help the Jews - with evidence. Perhaps only in a backward world such as ours would the one man who did more than any other wartime leader to help Jews and other Nazi victims, receive the greatest condemnation.

 

Dimitri Cavalli is an editor and writer in New York City. He is working on books on both Pope Pius XII and Joe McCarthy, the late manager of the New York Yankees.

This article was first published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

What?..indeed

@ olog-hai

Trying to reason with Monarchist would be a lost cause. So, I would not recommend it.  He is too far removed from reality and rationality, and lives in an alternative universe.  Saying this will get me the label "neocon", as sure as night comes after day.

But, it is disappointing that you seem to confuse "facts" with speculative hypotheses.  It is NOT a "bare fact" that "if PiuS XII had denounced Hitler, the National Socialist movement would have fallen apart like a ton of bricks".  That is a speculative assertion.  It would not be an unreasonable assumption, but it is definitely not a fact.

It is true that history tends to repeat itself in terms of the 'big picture', but not in terms of the specifics. The rest of your second paragraph suggests, to me at least, that you are living too much in the past as far as 'Germans' are concerned.

eh what?

I am trying to figure out what is going on here. Is "Monarchist" trying to turn the comments section into Stormfront, with all that propaganda unrelated to this subject?

Like it or not, the book "Hitler's Pope" is based on information in the Vatican's archives — the same archives that the Vatican has re-sealed and will not let anyone into now. Even apart from that, the bare fact is that if Piux XII had denounced Hitler, the National Socialist movement would have fallen apart like a ton of bricks because the German Catholic population would have abandoned it and left it for dead. But is everyone suddenly pretending that they don't know what the word "Reich" means, especially related to the preceding words "Heiliges Römishces"? Both Santayana and Churchill admonished over what happens when one forgets the past. And people like Otto von Habsburg have called the European Union by the name "Reich" already. And since the Karlsruhe verdict has left Germany as the true overseer of the EU, better shift your gaze to that nation.

@olog

I must disappoint you, I consider stormfront brigade "complete idiots". I'm neither nationalist or socialist, try again... or simply face true.

@ olog-hai

In 1939 there were 33% Catholics in Germany. Certainly not enough to make the nazi leadership tremble.
"Mit brennender Sorge" was published(smuggled) in 1937 without any reaction from anywhere. No support and certainly no turmoil.

Stop rewriting history please.

Nuts! # 2

On second thought, in some cases two-liners are better than long rants.

However, on one thing there should be agreement: "new war is coming!"  It's the lesson of history. It has nothing to do with real or imagined "necons", but everything to do with two permanent features of human nature: (A) intolerance (anti-democratic 'monarchical' tendencies) on one side, and (B) appeasement (lack of courage) on the other.   

@neocon

As far as war is concentrated, neocons are good only in "sending Christian soldiers to fight for their cause". At best their courage reduce to family life, after all this is much easier to punch a wife, rather than stand in front of Muslim fanatic.

Nuts!

Mr Cavalli writes an article on the historical record of Pius XII vis-a-vis the nazis. It certainly presents interesting information that should be placed against the arguments of the jewish detractors of Pius XII. Life is never simple, and ex post judgements should be made in the proper historical context.

In response, a nutty 'representative' of the (minuscule) fundamentalist part of the religious 'right' in Europe presents a two-liner (what else could one expect?), blaming the American army for "unconditionally" protecting jews and suggesting that American opposition to Iran's nuclear program is a 'favor' to the jews.

Leaving aside the question as to whether the American army today is more effective in 'protecting' jews than Pius XII was 70 years ago, the least one can say is that there is a profound misunderstanding in Europe of the dangers that a second islamic nuclear power represents for jews and nonjews alike.

The conclusion is unmistakable. Both antisemitism and irrational anti-Americanism remain alive and well in Europe. They are not the exclusive province of the dominant European secular left, but are also prevalent on the European 'right'.

@neocon

1. Of course this case cannot be treated as just an historical issue. Holocaust Industry love to put the blame for Nazi crimes on Christians and later demand financial reward to satisfy their sensitive souls.

2. You have an extraordinary talent to describe political platform that I represent. This is quite funny picture coming from a neocon nutter. Neocons are hated practically all over the world, including the US. No matter whether one support right or left, this is perfectly clear that neocons are assholes. Unlike neocons, my political platform have no intention to begin wars (neither at home or away) in the name of political system that we support.
3. This was not obligation of Pius XII to protect the Jews, he did as much as he could. So shut up, you and your chauvinist buddies.

4. Hopefully Iran will obtain nuclear weapons, some balance of military force is needed to prevent innocent people from being slaughtered. Democrat nutters are no more worth of our trust than Iranian Mullahs.

5. I did not write that most of Jews or Americans support invasion of Iran. This is of course popular idea among political establishment.

6. I know very well that you hate everything what I write on this website. The fact that you decided to comment this particular comment says a lot. It proof what issue have the biggest importance to neocon crooks. New war is coming!

Even Jewish chauvinists

Even Jewish chauvinists would speak differently if they could not count on unconditional help of American army. Give them another favour and invade Iran, let Christian soldiers to perish without any sense...