Thanks for mentioning the Church in France.
I long thought Archbishop Roncalli had much to do with that, since he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to France.
But now I see it happened in December 1944, after most of the death camps were already shut down.
So Roncalli's work to save Jews, for which he is rightly applauded, was more directed to Jews in eastern & southern Europe.
I note with interest that six of the 17 French individuals designated as "Righteous Among the Nations" were Roman Catholic clergy, including three archbishops.
So I think a correct understanding of Pope Pius XII himself is that: while he felt compelled to maintain public silence about the Holocaust, at the same time, he encouraged church officials like Roncalli and the French clergy to do whatever they could to help Jews.
The book discusses Church politics a little. Fr. Marie-Benoit worked on Jewish rescue in Rome as well as in France. Many religious houses, both men’s and women’s, provided shelter for Jewish refugees in both countries. However, it was risky for everyone.
Some Vatican officials were extremely cautious, not wanting whole monasteries to be wiped out, as happened in Poland. Others were personally involved in providing funds, documents, and so on. It’s easy in hindsight for people to say more, or something different, should have been done, but we can’t know how things might have turned out.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis named a high school after Archbishop Roncalli. I did not know the origin of the name until today; I assumed it was a local personage. I have learned something new. Thank you.