“Pius XII Did Help the Jews”
 
By William Doino, Jr.In the fall of 1987, during one of his many meetings with the Jewish community, Pope John Paul II gave animportant speech on the Church and the Holocau
st. Recalling “the strong, unequivocal efforts of the Popes
against anti-
Semitism and Nazism,” he cited Pius XI’s condemnation of Nazism as “an enemy of the Cross of Christ,” 
:“And I am convinced that history will reveal ever
more clearly and convincingly how deeply Pius XII felt the tragedy of the Jewish people, and how hard and
effectively he worked to assist them during the Second World War.” A decade later, John Paul issued a
document on the Holocaust, 
,which again noted Pius XII’s humanitarian acts, and soonthereafter praised Pius’s entire pontificate:
.
 Shortly before Christmas [on December 19, 2009]
, Pope Benedict XVI validated John Paul’s judgment bysigning a decree declaring Pius XII “Venerable,” advancing his cause for sainthood. That decision has
brought forth a flood of commentary, not all of it well-informed.
Benedict’s decision is certainly debatable, but it was not, as some have suggested, rushed, much lessdeliberately “insensitive.” It was the end result of a well
-thought out, conscientious process. In May of 2007, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints 
that the Church
recognize Pius XII’s “heroic virtues.” They did so after considering 3,000 pages of documen
tation on everyaspect of the life of Eugenio Pacelli, the birth name of Pius XII. Many wanted Benedict to declare Pius XIIVenerable then, but he resisted, choosing instead to further study the controversy himself. For two yearsBenedict reviewed all the documentation, pro and con, consulted historical experts and Vatican archivists(who have access to every internal file on Pacelli), reviewed first-hand testimonials, and endorsed a three-day historical conference in Rome, which addressed and answered every major charge against the wartimepontiff. Only then did Pope Benedict finally act, believing Pius XII worthy of the honor. He is not alone inthat view.As someone who has investigated and interviewed many people who personally knew Pius XII, what has
always struck me most is how far apart Pius XII’s critics are from those who actually worked with him, and
personally witnessed his actions.The anti-Nazi Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand,priest-rescuers Henri de Lubac, Michel Riquet,  and Pietro Palazzini,papal assistant John Patrick Carroll-Abbing,and American diplomat Harold Tittmann, among many others, have testified to the heroic, even saintly, qualities of Pacelli. They also bear witness to
the fact that Pius XII, contrary to popular notion, did “speak out.” Palazzin
i, recognized by Yad Vashem as a
Righteous Gentile, always credited Pius for inspiring his actions, and declared: “Under the pressure of 
events, although so very tragic, men rediscovered the Christian message, that is, the sense of reciprocalcharity, according to which it is a duty to charge oneself with the salvation of others. To rediscover it, one
voice was often raised among the din of arms: it was the voice of Pius XII.” Riquet’s testimony is equallystrong: “Pius XII has spoken; Pius XII has condemned; Pius XII has acted….Throughout those years of horror,when we listened to Radio Vatican and to the Pope’s messages, we felt in communion with the Pope, inhelping persecuted Jews and in fighting against Nazi violence.” (
Le Figaro
, January 4, 1964). 
 
: “I do not for one moment overlook his great spiritual qualities. Whether near him, or away from
him, one was always conscious of them....V
ery possibly the future will rate him a saint.” His words now look
prophetic.
In the wake of Benedict’s decree, some have tried to qualify his announcement, pointing to 
 making an alleged distinction between the personal sanctity of Pius XII and his much-debated historical choices. But a careful reading of that statement, issued by Father Federico Lombardi,
includes this key line: “Naturally, such eva
luation takes account of the circumstances in which the personlived,
and hence it is necessary to examine the question from a historical standpoint 
, but the evaluation
essentially concerns the witness of Christian life.” (emphasis added). In other words,
being a saint primarily
involves one’s personal spirituality, fortitude, charity, and commitment to Christ—
qualities Piusdemonstrated in abundance --
but also includes one’s historical judgments and acts.
 
This is particularly true of Pius’s wartime acti
ons--and there is plenty of history to support them.
Pius XII’s first encyclical, 
,issued soon after the War began, is a searing condemnation of racism and totalitarianism, and was hailed by the Allies
even as it infuriated the Nazis. It specifically
quotes St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians (3:10
-11), stressing the unity of the human family,
“where there isneither Gentile nor Jew.” In early 1940, Pius XII personally confronted German Foreign Minister Joachim
von Ribbentrop, garnering this headline from the
New York Times
:
.” (March 14, 1940). Pius’s allocutions condemning race
-based murder
particularlyhis 1942 Christmas address and June 2, 1943 speech to the College of Cardinals--provoked the Nazis to
brand him a “mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals,” and censor his words in occupied lands. 
and sometimes even executed. The oft-heard
charge that Pius XII was “silent” during the Holocaust is disproven by both his friends and enemies alike.
The importance of  Vatican Radio in fighting the Holocaust cannot be overestimated. This courageous station-sanctioned and sustained by Pius XII--helped break the news of Nazi crimes in Poland, highlighting
“the unimpeachable testimony of eye
-
witnesses” who revealed how “Jews and Poles are being herded intoseparate ‘ghettoes,’ hermetically sealed….”
(Broadcast, January 21, 1940). The 
reported: “In
their sermons, Catholic priests have cited the warning by the Vatican Radio that anyone furthering the
persecution of Jews is an accomplice to murder.” (September 20, 1942). And these striking words cameforth from the same Vatican station: “He who makes a
distinction between Jews and other men is
unfaithful to God and is in conflict with God’s commands.” (
New York Times
, June 27, 1943).
Controversy continues to surround Pius XII’s reaction to the Nazi round
-
up of Rome’s Jews, but Michael
Tagliacozzo, the leading authority on the raid, and himself a survivor of it, 
that Pius XII “was
the only one who intervened to impede the deportation of Jews on October 16, 1943, and he did verymuch 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.” On March 12, 1945, Vatican Radio recounted
what was well-known of Pius XII a
t the time, even if it is denied or forgotten today: “During the occupation
of Rome, between 8
th
September, 1943 and 5
th
June, 1944, he gave shelter in 120 institutes for women and60 institutes for men, as well as in other houses and churches of Rome, to more than 5,200 Jews who werethus able to live free from fear and misery. As a father to his children, the Pope has, in these long years of 
war, devoted himself with untiring care….”
 
 
 New evidence has also emerged in recent years
private letters from Pius XII, measures he took to protectJews and others at Castel Gandolfo, 
who acted on his explicitinstruction to rescue those threatened with death;
and revelations about Pius XII’s efforts to 
causing a
. 
Today, historians of the rank of  Sir Martin Gilbert and Michael Burleigh defend him; and Pius is the subject of an authoritative biography by Andrea Tornielli which re-establishes his good name and character.Among
Pius XII’s most impressive (but least known) achievements are the establishment of the Pontifical
Relief Commission, and the Vatican Information Office. The first distributed massive amounts of food,medicine and clothes to people of all creeds and nationalities, throughout war-torn Europe; the secondfielded millions of wartime inquiries, on prisoners of war and other missing or displaced people, helping re-unite countless families. In 2004, the Vatican released over 1,500 pages of documentation on this extraordinary agency, showing 
. The mainstream media, often uninformed about Catholic history, and particularly about Pius XII, has notbeen very helpful in getting this information out. Worse, they have little awareness of  
of 
;and are easily taken in by authors alleging “new” or“explosive” information abou
t Pius XII
freely publishing the wildest accusations
,
but rarely
and corrections.  The Vatican 
 a huge amount of  
 wartime archives(
); butbecause some still remain to be catalogued and released, many people, including some who support thecause of Pius XII, think it might be best to wait for their final publication before moving ahead with the nextstage of 
Pius XII’s sainthood cause. It is not an unreasonable request, especially since the pope and Vatican
are fully confident that the 
.As Benedict prepares to visit a Roman synagogue on January 17
th
[which he did, back in early 2010], heshould be aware that the issue of Pius XII is bound to come up, and be mindful of the sensitivities involved.At the same time, he should not shy away from his support for Pius XII, as there are many people of conscience and integrity who agree with him
and not just Catholics.In 1946, in the wake of the Holocaust,the Conference on Jewish Relations published a well-researched book, 
,
 
pulling nopunches on how that evil prejudice has infected civilization, including certain Christians, who betrayed the
teachings of their faith. It is all the more remarkable, then, that the book’s editor, Professor Koppel Pinson,considering the papacy’s wartime record, went out of his way to make this statement:
 
“We
may agree or disagree with the general lines of political policy of the Vatican. But this much isundisputed fact: never has the papacy spoken in such unmistakable terms against racialism and anti-Semitism as in the words and deeds of the present pope, Piu
s XII, and his predecessor Pius XI.”
 Invoke history to assess Pius XII by all means, but first consult it, before passing judgment.
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