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Italian news outlets reported yesterday that two documents about Pius XII’s role during World War II have been found in an English archive. One is a brief report of a conversation between Pius XII and an American diplomat in October 1943, in which Pius XII does not address the round-up of Roman Jews by the Nazis. The second, a year later, reports a session between Pius and a British envoy in which the pope discusses balancing criticism of the Nazi crackdown on Jews in Hungary with also speaking out against Soviet war crimes in Poland and the Baltic states.
Upon review, experts have raised questions about both documents. In the first case, some historians say the document from October 1943 has been misdated, and that the conversation between Pius XII and American Ambassador Harold Tittmann came two days before the round-up of Jews in Rome – hence explaining the absence of any reference from the pope. In the second case, experts note that Pius XII actually sent a telegram of protest to the Hungarian government defending those persecuted “because of their nationality or race” five months before Pius XII’s meeting with the British ambassador.
Such clarifications, however, have not silenced the drumbeat of debate over Pius XII in the international press. The following is an NCR translation of an interview with Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, a veteran Vatican diplomat who served under Pius XII early in his career. The interview appeared on Monday in the Italian daily La Stampa.
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Upon review, experts have raised questions about both documents. In the first case, some historians say the document from October 1943 has been misdated, and that the conversation between Pius XII and American Ambassador Harold Tittmann came two days before the round-up of Jews in Rome – hence explaining the absence of any reference from the pope. In the second case, experts note that Pius XII actually sent a telegram of protest to the Hungarian government defending those persecuted “because of their nationality or race” five months before Pius XII’s meeting with the British ambassador.
Such clarifications, however, have not silenced the drumbeat of debate over Pius XII in the international press. The following is an NCR translation of an interview with Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, a veteran Vatican diplomat who served under Pius XII early in his career. The interview appeared on Monday in the Italian daily La Stampa.
More…