Pope Pius XII: Friend and Rescuer of Jews
The astonishing, almost unknown story of hundreds of Jewish refugees, shipwrecked in the Aegean Sea, who turned to Pope Pius XII for help By William Doino, Jr. Inside the Vatican, January, 2012, pp. 10-18 Editorial Note: There has been no major figure of the World War II period (1939-1945) more inaccurately depicted than Eugenio Pacelli […]
When Rome’s Religious Houses Saved Jews
Interview With Historian Sister Grazia Loparco ROME, JAN. 21, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Testimonies and documents reflect that Pius XII gave ecclesial institutions instructions to shelter and help Jews in Rome when Nazi persecution broke out during World War II. No one knows exactly how many Jews were hidden and saved by the Church, but according to […]
Was the Pope a Nazi?
Mark Riebling Pius XII, pope from 1939 to 1958, has been accused of complicity in the Holocaust because he failed to denounce explicitly the extermination of the European Jews. This allegation has strained relations between Catholics and Jews, and has led many prominent liberal Catholics to repudiate the “centralized model of papal power” which Pius […]
Towards an Evaluation of Pius XII
Pietro De Marco My Christian formation took place in the Church of Pius XII. My parish priests, my religion teachers were men of the Church of Pius XII. No anti-Semitic attitudes were transmitted to me, unless one maintains that the Creed, the Catechism, the Mass, and the Gospels were or are anti-Semitic. For years, I […]
The Silence of Pius XII: The Origins of the Black Legend
Giovanni Maria Vian The controversy of Pius XII’s silence during the second world war – mainly in the light of the horrendous, genocidal attempt of the Nazis to exterminate Europe’s Jews, one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century – is by now a part of history. A great deal has been written on […]
The Search for the Historical Pius
José M. Sánchez The four-decades-old controversy over Pius XII and the Holocaust has always been more political than historical, but never more so than now. The International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission appointed to review the Vatican-published documents on the wartime pontiff has foundered on politics. Books on the contentious topic come out almost monthly, most of […]
The Record of Pius XII’s Opposition to Hitler
Was Pius XII “Hitler’s Pope”? No. In Fact, The Opposite Is True: He Was Perhaps Hitler’s Greatest Foe. The Following Chronology of Pius XII’s Opposition to Hitler Sets Forth the Evidence Below is a chronology of Eugenio Pacelli’s efforts against the Nazis and their regime (1933-1945). During his years as Nuncio to Germany, 1917 to […]
The Good Samaritan: Jewish Praise For Pope Pius XII
Inside the Vatican has given considerable space in its pages to coverage of the fierce debate over the wartime role of Pope Pius XII and his alleged “silence ” in the face of the Nazi persecution of the Jews (see particularly our June 1997 and our October 1999 issues). We will continue to do so as […]
The End of the Pius Wars
Joseph Bottum Copyright (c) 2004 First Things 142 (April 2004): 18-25. The Pius War is over, more or less. There will still be a few additional volumes published here and there, another article or two from writers too slow off the mark to catch their moment. But, basically, in the great argument that has raged […]
The Devil’s Advocate
WILLIAM D. RUBINSTEIN As Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli was the most controversial of modern Popes. Regarded during his lifetime as truly a prince among men, since his death he has been subject to endless debate, criticism, and defense, especially for his alleged “silence” during the Nazi genocide against the Jews. One interesting feature of the […]