Clearing a Pope’s Name
Can Pope Pius XII still be rehabilitated from the calumny of being dubbed Hitlers pope? Newly released documents from the Vatican Secret Archives suggest that the case for Pius XII as no friend of the Nazis is now beyond doubt.
It has been clear to most Catholics who have occupied themselves with the subject of the Catholic Church and Nazism that Pius XII supported neither the Nazis nor the Holocaust. Opinions begin to diverge on the question of whether his cautious approach of quiet diplomacy was the best way. Yet, even with the benefit of hindsight, there is no final conclusions to that debate.
The latest archive documents present Pius XII, then Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, as a man with a distinct aversion to Adolf Hitler whom he called an avowed enemy of the Church as well as for Italys fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. In another document, Pacelli had strong words of criticism for Austrian bishops who supported Hitlers annexation of their country.
This is quite a different Pacelli to the one exposed in best-selling books such as John Cornwells Hitlers Pope. To his credit, Mr Cornwell has since acknowledged that he had erred in ascribing wicked purposes to Pius XIIs actions (surely an admission that requires a comprehensive revision of his book).
We may well anticipate that the newly-released documents from the Vatican archives (and, perhaps, more that are yet to be released) will clear Pius XII from having been in any way complicit in the Nazis ascent or in the Holocaust.
Alas, it is the calumny that will continue to grab the headlines, and so the slander of Pius XII goes on.
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