B
bones_IV
Guest
Not to mention the offensive caption the Yad Veshem had regarding Pius XII’s alleged silence.
In itallics are what the Yad Veshem said.
**“Pius XII’s reaction toward the killing of Jews during the period of the Holocaust is controversial”
**There’s nothing wrong with controversy. But in this case the evidence is too overwhelming to just call this controversial.
"In 1933, as the Vatican Secretary of State, in order to maintain the rights of the Church in Germany, he signed a Concordat with the Nazi regime even at the price of recognizing the racist Nazi Regime."
For the record! A Concordat signed is an agreement. There’s a difference. Hitler of course had no intention of honoring this Concordat. But this Concordat was to allow the Church to help persecuted peoples escape the hands of the Nazis. Isn’t it amazing how people get their history confused?**
“When he was elected Pope in 1939, he put aside an encyclical against racism and Antisemitism prepared by his predecessor”
**They seem to forget that Pius XI was towards the end of his death preparing an encyclical to directly denounce the Nazi regime and Antisemitism, but he died before he could publish it. Pacelli, after he was elected Pope Pius XII decided to wrote his own encyclical, called **Summi Pontificatus, **which talked about the unity of Jews and Christians.
"Although reports about the assassination of Jews reached the Vatican, the Pope did not protest either by speaking out or in writing
NOPE! Simply not true. According to Inside the Vatican, “Robert M. W. Kempner, former prosecutor at Nuremberg testified, Pius issued scores of protests – both public and private – in his first encyclical and Christmas addresses, in meetings with German representatives, in letters to bishops, in *L’ Osservatore Romano *through Vatican Radio and in many audiences.” (by Inside the Vatican Staff, Inside the Vatican, p. 22).
“In December of 1942, he did not participate in the condemnation by members of the Allies regarding the killing of Jews.”
**An oversimplification! And one that ignores the obvious evidence. There was a reason why Pius did not join the Allies in condemning the killing of Jews. Because the Allies wouldn’t let him condemn the atrocities the communists in Russia were doing to their own people. To participate in the public condemnation would have served as politically correct agenda.
*“Even when the Jews were being deported from Rome to Auschwitz, the Pope did not intervene”***Again, factually inaccurate. Pius XII issued two protests, one through his secretary of State Cardinal Maglione, and via his assistants, to German General Stahel. He tried everything he could to stop it. Jewish historian Michael Tagliocozzo – he was a survivor of the raids, thanks to the Church – says that “the Pope’s efforts did succeed in bringing the round- up to an unexpected end, around 2 p.m. on the day it commenced. The secret daries of Adolf Eichmann, released in 2000, reveal how the Vatican’s actions infuriated the Nazis and obstructed their plans, saving many Jewish lives.” (Inside the Vatican Staff, Inside the Vatican, p. 22).
*“He maintained a neutral position except toward the end of the war when he appealed on behalf of the government of Hungary and of Slovokia”
*No! Pius XII was in contact with those who were opposed to the Nazi regime. He even approved of a plot to remove Hitler from office. Dan Kurzman talks about in his book *A Special Mission: Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII *(Perseus Books) that Hitler hated Pius XII and wanted him dead and deported.
Last but not least.
*“His silence and absence of directives obliged the clergy in Europe to decide independently how they should behave toward the persecuted Jews.”
*You know, I don’t know where this agenda comes from. But again, this is not true! Pius XII wrote directives ordering bishops, priests, nuns and lay people to save Jews and others from the hands of the Nazis, both oral and written.
