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How the pope failed the Jews in the HolocaustA new book sets out damning evidence about the conduct of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War Julie CarbonaraBY Julie Carbonara June 30, 2022 09:06 Timid: Pope Pius XII (Photo: Getty Images)Pope Pius XII, who presided over the Catholic Church during the Second World War, has always divided opinion: was he a Nazi sympathiser who did little to save the Jews? Or has he been wrongly vilified? Only the documentation hidden away in the Vatican archives could provide a definite answer. It looked as if the truth would remain buried...

History hasn't looked kindly on the Catholic Church during WW II. The conventional narrative is not the whole storyAt six in the morning on Sunday, 12 March, a procession snaked toward the bronze doors of St. Peter’s. Swiss Guards led the line, followed by barefoot friars with belts of rope. Pius took his place at the end, borne on a portable throne. Ostrich plumes stirred silently to either side, like quotation marks. Pius entered the basilica to a blare of silver trumpets and a burst of applause. Through pillars of incense he blessed the faces. At the High Altar, attendants...

Below is an excerpt from an address given by Pope Pius XII to the Directors of the Associations for Large Families of Rome and Italy in January 20, 1958, the nineteenth (and final) year of his papacy. Throughout the address the Holy Father eloquently speaks of the joy, sacrifice and generosity so prevalent amongst those families who God has abundantly blessed with the gift of children. “Large families are the most splendid flower-beds in the garden of the Church; happiness flowers in them and sanctity ripens in favorable soil. Every family group, even the smallest, was meant by God to...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Jewish leader expressed concern to Pope Francis on Monday over attempts to make a saint of World War Two-era Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. Francis made no mention of his wartime predecessor during his talks with members of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), but the pontiff repeated the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism. "The Jewish community continues to be concerned about efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII while innumerable documents pertaining to the history of the Church and the Jewish people...

The selection of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to be the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church is being seen as a move that will continue to cement Catholic-Jewish relations and perhaps end the debate over the ChurchÂ’s actions during World War II. Bergoglio, 76, who took the name Francis and is the first Jesuit ever to be chosen pope, has publicly called for the opening of the Vatican archives to learn the true role Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. There have been allegations that Pope Pius XII, who is on track to be canonized by the...

Revealed: Soviets influenced reputation of Pope Pius XII as Nazi collaborator. Documents continue to trickle out from a number of sources, including the Vatican, that may begin to restore the image of the wartime pope who at the time was heralded as a champion of the rights of Europe’s minorities, including the Jewish community... http://www.speroforum.com/a/MEXUNANSQF48/73090-New-book-to-shine-light-on-Pope-Pius-XII-and-the-Holocaust

Many readers of the New York Times no doubt believe that Pope Pius XII was "Hitler's Pope." John Cornwell's bestselling book told them that, and it's been reaffirmed by Garry Wills, Daniel Goldhagen and other writers since. It's been said so often in fact that most well-read liberals know it for a certainty. The only trouble is: it isn't true. Not only does it contradict the words of Holocaust survivors, the founders of Israel, and the contemporary record of the New York Times, but even John Cornwell, the originator of the phrase "Hitler's pope," has recanted it saying that he...

Pope Pius XII, the controversial wartime pontiff, may have saved thousands of Jews by secretly securing visas so they could escape Nazi Germany, a historian has claimed. Pope Pius, who was labelled “Hitler’s Pope” because of his silence during the Holocaust, may have arranged the exodus of about 200,000 Jews from Germany just three weeks after Kristallnacht, when thousands of Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

An image of the Shroud of Turin. Rome, Italy, Apr 8, 2010 / 10:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy Shroud was transferred from Turin during World War II to keep it out of reach of Adolph Hitler, according to a Benedictine priest in a southern Italian abbey. Monks in Avellino, Italy stored the relic until 1946 "officially to protect it from bombs, in reality to hide it from the Fuhrer, who was obsessed with it," the monk said. Sensing the dangers posed by German officials' interest in the Shroud during a visit from Hitler to Italy in 1938, the...

Researchers Welcome Availability of Pius XII InformationVATICAN CITY, MARCH 25, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican announced today that official documents spanning more than 40 years are now available online. The entire collection of the of the Actae Sanctae Sedis (A.S.S.) and of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (A.A.S.) -- i.e., the official Acts of the Holy See from 1865 to 2007 -- are now available in pdf format. Also available is a multi-volume collection of acts from World War II, (), published by order of Paul VI starting in 1965, and edited by a specialized group of four Jesuit historians. The project...

The word “hero” so often conjures up images of the brash and the bold. We may think of Audie Murphy’s WWII exploits, the Spartans at Thermopylae, or the doomed holdouts at the Alamo. But then there are the quiet heroes, people such as Oskar Schindler. Ever since Schindler’s List hit the silver screen in 1993, his clandestine efforts resulting in the rescue of almost 1,200 Jews from Nazi death camps have been well known. Yet that dark time birthed another quiet hero, one who saved as many as 860,000 Jewish lives. Today, however, few know of his accomplishments, few sing...

The controversial wartime pope accused of failing to openly condemn the Holocaust has moved a step closer to sainthood, the Vatican has confirmed. Pope Pius XII will be declared venerable after the current pontiff Pope Benedict XVI approved a "heroic virtues decree", the first of three stages before canonisation. To be declared venerable, a church investigation has to conclude that the person in question lived a life of exemplary holiness and heroic virtue. There must be nothing in the dead person’s writings that enables these characteristics to be challenged. Pope Benedict has also agreed to declare his predecessor Pope John...

To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Ordinaries at Peace and in Communion with the Apostolic See Venerable Brethren, Health and Our Apostolic Benediction St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, glory of the Eastern Church and celebrated champion of the Virgin Mother of God, has always been held by the Church in the highest esteem, and We welcome the opportunity of recalling his merits in this brief Letter, now that fifteen centuries have passed since he happily exchanged this earthly exile for his heavenly home. 2. Our Predecessor St. Celestine I hailed him as 'good defender...

The hostility toward Pope Pius XII in the years following World War II was the unjustified result of his firm stance against communism and an unfair comparison with his successor, Pope John XXIII, said the editor of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. In the introduction to a compilation of essays by historians and church officials, editor Giovanni Maria Vian said that the esteem awarded Pope Pius during and immediately after the war changed after his death into criticism over his failure to strongly condemn the Nazi plan to exterminate Jews. The book, "In Difesa di Pio XII," ("In Defense of...

Many thanks to Patrick Madrid for granting me permission to reprint in my column the section of his book Pope Fiction titled "Pope Pius XII and the Jews" (pp. 285–306; footnotes are not included in this reprint). Mr. Madrid is an author, radio host, and director of the Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College. Pope Pius XII and the Jews By Patrick Madrid Myth: Pope Pius XII was silent in the face of Nazi atrocities against the Jews during World War II, and that silence led to the deaths of many innocent people. If he, as pope, had exercised his...

Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Pacelli, was pontiff during WWII and considered by many one of the greatest heroes of the war. To others, he is simply "Hitler's Pope." The 46-year-old controversy surrounding Pacelli casts a shadow over Pope Benedict's trip this week to the Holy Land. Benedict's visit will include a stop in Israel, where he will pay respects to Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem but refrain from visiting the museum there that features an exhibit critical of Pius. The exhibit includes a photo of the wartime pontiff with a caption that says he failed to protest the Holocaust...

Vatican Official Slams Criticism of Wartime Pope Thursday, November 6, 2008 11:00 AM VATICAN CITY — The Vatican's No. 2 official has slammed as "outrageous" allegations that Pope Pius XII didn't do enough to save Jews during World War II. Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Thursday condemned the criticism by some historians and Jewish groups of the wartime pope. Pope Benedict XVI recently said he hoped the path for sainthood could move ahead but also reportedly agreed to consider freezing the process until the Vatican's wartime archives are opened. Bertone said the possible beatification, the last formal step...

Group says pope will weigh delay of Pius's beatification By Rachel Donadio VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI told Jewish leaders on Thursday that he was "seriously considering" delaying the beatification of Pius XII, the pope during World War II, until the archives of his papacy had been opened, a participant at the meeting said. But the pope's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict's response was not a "public commitment," according to The Associated Press. "You shouldn't read this response for beyond what it is," Father Lombardi said. "It is a polite, serious response. He always takes seriously what he...

Vatican fumes at Israeli minister's remarks on Nazi-era pope By Adi Schwartz, Haaretz Correspondent and Staff Vatican officials are furious over Minister Isaac Herzog's statement in Thursday's Haaretz that the planned beatification of Pope Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, is "unacceptable." Cardinal Andrea Lanza di Montezemolo told the Italian paper Corriere della Serra yesterday that "Israel's interference in the matter of Pius XII must stop. We've had it with this interference. Outside opinions are liable to disrupt [the process], and they look like an attempt to force Pope Benedict XVI to make a decision. The...

French Jewish Group Opposes Pius XII Sainthood Friday, October 17, 2008 4:30 PM PARIS -- France's main Jewish organization warned Friday that efforts to make wartime Pope Pius XII a saint would deal "a severe blow" to relations between Catholics and Jews. The warning from an umbrella organization of French Jewish groups comes as the Vatican mounts a campaign to refute accusations Pius did not do enough to try to stop the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II. "Pope Pius XII, worried about burning his bridges with Germany, never made a clear statement denouncing the singular monstrosity...