Pius XII

[Church_Militant]

LINK

JEWISH HISTORIAN PRAISES PIUS XII’S WARTIME CONDUCT

Michael Tagliacozzo Works at a Center for Holocaust Studies

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 25, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- The closed-door meeting of the Judeo-Christian Historical Commission, which has been meeting in Rome since Monday 23, ends today.

The commission was established last October by Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, president of the Committee for Religious Relations with Jews, to examine the 11 volumes of archives documents relating to the Holy See’s activities during the Second World War.

In recent years Pius XII and the Holy See have been accused of not doing enough to save Jews persecuted by the Nazis.

To shed light on the Pope’s role in this part of the war, ZENIT interviewed Jewish historian Michael Tagliacozzo, responsible for the Beth Lohame Haghettaot (Center of Studies on the Shoah and Resistance) in Italy. Beth Lohame Haghettaot in western Galilee in Israel is one of the world’s largest museums and centers of documentation on the Holocaust.

• Tagliacozzo: I know that many criticize Pope Pacelli. I have a folder on my table in Israel entitled ‘Calumnies Against Pius XII,’ but my judgment cannot but be positive. Pope Pacelli was the only one who intervened to impede the deportation of Jews on Oct. 16, 1943, and he did very much to hide and save thousands of us. It was no small matter that he ordered the opening of cloistered convents. Without him, many of our own would not be alive.

LINK

A Righteous Gentile: Pope Pius XII and the Jews

About The Author

Rabbi David G. Dalin, a widely-published scholar of American Judaism and the history of Christian-Jewish Relations, is the author or co-author of five books, including Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience, published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 1997 and, most recently, The President of the United States and the Jews. His article, “Pius XII and the Jews,” was published in the February 26, 2001 issue of the Weekly Standard, and was reprinted in the August-September issue of Inside the Vatican, published in Rome. Rabbi Dalin is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal First Things, and a member of the Board of Governors of Sacred Heart University’s Center for Christian Jewish understanding. He is now writing a new book, tentatively entitled: Two Popes and the Jews: Pius XII and John Paul II.

In recent years, Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pope Pius XII in 1939, has been the subject of considerable public criticism, and even vilification, for his alleged failure to speak out against Hitler during the Holocaust. Pope Pius’ alleged “silence,” in the face of the worst Nazi atrocities, has led some of his harshest critics to accuse him of being a Nazi sympathizer or an anti-Semite. In 1999, the British journalist John Cornwell created an international sensation with the publication of his best-selling attack on Pius XII, vilifying Eugenio Pacelli as “Hitler’s Pope.”

Cont’d

 

[Church_Militant]

LINK

PIUS XII AND THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST

Since 1963, when Rolf Hochhuth’s play THE DEPUTY indicted Pius XII for complicity in the Nazi genocide, it has been a commonplace of editorial writers that the Vatican was a silent, and therefore guilty, bystander to the murder of six million Jews.

But an examination of the facts puts to rout all the charges which are made against the pope by certain parties, none of whom are serious historians. The following are the main points to consider:

–Before he became Pope Pius XII, Cardinal Pacelli drafted the papal encyclical, MIT BRENNEDNDER SORGE, in which Pius XI denounced Nazi paganism and racism; the document was smuggled into Germany in March, 1937 and read from all Catholic pulpits, which infuriated the Nazis;

This is all just anti-Catholic propaganda and in some cases the agenda driven posting of Catholics who function more like Sola Scriptura Protestants.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

 

[Church_Militant]

There was a great program on EWTN one time with an author who demonstrated how distorted the book was making the allegations against Pius. One of the funny ones was the picture (believe on the cover) on the Book Hitlers Pope (???). It shows Pius emergeing from a car surrounded by Nazi soldiers. In point of fact this picture was before Hitler came to power according to the author on EWTN and were just plain German soldiers. It was just a smear job on the part of the anti Pius author. I dislike this sort of manipulation. It reminds me of the Michael Moore garbage. …

If someone wants to believe evil things about Pius they will and eat up whatever disotortion is fed to them just like when they hate the Catholic Church- they don’t let facts get in the way.

North

Well said sir! Thank you and God bless you!

 

[Steven_Merten]

There is no cause for confusion. Nobody said Pope Pius stopped Hitler.

One might ask some of the critics what their grandparents did to stop Hitler.

Hello rwoehmke,

Is what Victorious said true? Do you clearly understand that it was Allied Veterans, not the Pope Pius XII, who stopped Hitler and rescued the whole world from holocausts and attrocities?

 

[SORROWS]

Hello rwoehmke,

Is what Victorious said true? Do you clearly understand that it was Allied Veterans, not the Pope Pius XII, who stopped Hitler and rescued the whole world from holocausts and attrocities?

We will never know how much prayer had to do with the end to Hitler and World War II.

We also will never know how many thousands were saved by the brave conduct of Catholics and Pope Pius XII.

 

[Steven_Merten]

It is easy to blame Pius XII for not condemning Catholics who fought for Hitler…

Hello rwoehmke,

Some Catholics see the Pope’s job, and duty to Christ, as guiding Christ’s flock into eternal life. Some Catholics see the loss of even one soul to hell (spiritual death) as far more death than the combine years of life cut short from all the wars and holocausts in human history. Did Pope Pius XII see leading Catholics away from eternal damnation as more important than saving physical life or didn’t he?

Did Pope Pius XII see no threat of eternal damnation or spiritual damage to those Catholics killing for Hitler’s cause?

If Pope Pius XII did see the actions of Catholic Italians and Germans killing for Hitler, rather than accept martyrdom (execution from the Nazis for sedition), as grave evil or mortal sin, then it was his duty to Christ to preach, scream, condemn to Catholics that they repent and give up their evil wickedness in killing for Hitler for the sake of their eternal salvation. If this is the `case, and seeing that Pope Pius XII did not do this, then why should he be glorified?

If Catholics killing and fighting in war on the side of evil and injustice for Hitler’s cause to establish Hitler as an evil world leader, spreading holocaust and attrocities around the globe, is not mortal sin, then it would be ok for Pope Pius XII to focus on saving Jews lives rather than focusing on millions of Catholics killing for Hitler.

Do you see that leading Catholics away from doing evil and into eternal life is not simply an option for a (faithful to Christ) Pope, it is a Pope’s duty to Christ to do so for the sake of the eternal life of the flock. One cannot minimize such a betrayal to Christ and betrayal to the Church if a Pope saw the flock in danger of eternal damnation but chose to remain silent. Saving Jews physical lives is infinitely insufficient of a reason to abandon Christ’s flock to eternal damnation.

 

[Steven_Merten]

We will never know how much prayer had to do with the end to Hitler and World War II.

We also will never know how many thousands were saved by the brave conduct of Catholics and Pope Pius XII.

Hello Sorrows,

Do you think that Allied Veternans destroying Hitler’s war machine had anything at all to do with the end to Hitler and WWII?

 

[SORROWS]

Hello Sorrows,

Do you think that Allied Veternans destroying Hitler’s war machine had anything at all to do with the end to Hitler and WWII?

Like I said, we will never know how much prayer had to do with the strength and bravery of our Allied Soldiers in demolishing Hitler and his army.

I take nothing away from them. They are heroes.
Nothing is impossible with God.

 

[Steven_Merten]

Like I said, we will never know how much prayer had to do with the strength and bravery of our Allied Soldiers in demolishing Hitler and his army.

I take nothing away from them. They are heroes.
Nothing is impossible with God.

Hello SORROWS,

Thank you for your clarification. I was not sure if you were talking about Allied Veterans or not.

I also belive that God was with Allied troops in WWII.

 

[SORROWS]

Hello SORROWS,

Thank you for your clarification. I was not sure if you were talking about Allied Veterans or not.

I also belive that God was with Allied troops in WWII.