Overview of the relationship between Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
Members of the Canadian Royal 22e Regiment in audience with Pope Pius XII, following the 1944 Liberation of Rome
The papacy of Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) began on 2 March 1939 and continued to 9 October 1958, covering the period of the Second World War and the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were murdered by Adolf Hitler's Germany.[1] Before becoming pope, Cardinal Pacelli served as a Vatican diplomat in Germany and as Vatican Secretary of State under Pius XI. His role during the Nazi period has been closely scrutinised and criticised. His supporters argue that Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing his Church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved hundreds of thousands of lives.[2] Pius maintained links to the German Resistance, and shared intelligence with the Allies. His strongest public condemnation of genocide was, however, considered inadequate by the Allied Powers, while the Nazis viewed him as an Allied sympathizer who had dishonoured his policy of Vatican neutrality.[3]
Some post-war critics have accused Pius of either being overly cautious, or of "not doing enough", or even of "silence" in the face of the Holocaust. Supporters have held that he saved thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of Jews by ordering his Church to provide them with sanctuary and aid, and that he provided moral and intellectual leadership in opposition to the violent racism of Nazi ideology.[4][5][6][7]
As Secretary of State, he had been a critic of Nazism and helped draft the 1937 Mit brennender Sorge anti-Nazi encyclical. In his 1939 Summi Pontificatus first papal encyclical, Pius XII expressed dismay at the 1939 Invasion of Poland (without ascribing blame); reiterated Catholic teaching in support of universal brotherhood; and endorsed resistance against those opposed to the ethical principles of the "Revelation on Sinai" and the Sermon on the Mount.[8][9][10] At Christmas 1942, once evidence of the industrial slaughter of the Jews had emerged, he voiced concern at the murder of "hundreds of thousands" of "faultless" people because of their "nationality or race". The degree of Pius's efforts to block Nazi deportations of Jews remains a matter of scholarly debate.[11][12] Upon his death in 1958, Pius was praised emphatically by the Israeli Foreign Minister,[13] and other world leaders. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called him a "foe of tyranny" and a "friend and benefactor to those who were oppressed".[14] His insistence on Vatican neutrality and avoidance of directly naming the Nazis as the evildoers of World War II became the foundation for contemporary and later criticisms from some quarters. Studies of the Vatican Apostolic Archive and international diplomatic correspondence continue.
^Gilbert, Martin (2001). "Final Solution". In Dear, Ian; Foot, Richard D. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 285–292. ISBN 0-19-280670-X.
^Coppa, Frank J. (29 June 2006). "Pius XII: Assessment". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^"Roman Catholicism: the period of the world wars". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 February 2016.
^Bogle, James (31 March 1996). "The Real Story of Pius XII and the Jews". Catholic League.
^"860,000 lives saved—the truth about Pius XII and the Jews". National Association of Catholic Families. Autumn 1991.
^Dalin, David G. (2005). The myth of Hitler's Pope : how Pope Pius XII rescued Jews from the Nazis. Regnery Publ. ISBN 0-89526-034-4. OCLC 266029457.
^Lapide (1967), pp. 214–215.
^Rychlak (2000), p. 274.
^Pius XII (1939), para. 48.
^Pius XII (1939), para. 6 & 7.
^Parks, Tim. "The Pope's Many Silences | Tim Parks". ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
^Hitler's Pope?; Martin Gilbert; The American Spectator; Aug 18, 2006
^Netton, Ian Richard (2006). Islam, Christianity and Tradition: A Comparative Exploration. Edinburgh University Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-748-63025-7.
^West Joins in Tributes to Pope Pius; The Canberra Times; Oct 10, 1958
and 25 Related for: Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust information
Joins in Tributes to PopePius; The Canberra Times; Oct 10, 1958 Gorsky, Jonathan. "PiusXIIandtheHolocaust" (PDF). Yad vashem. "Pius XI". Encyclopædia...
PopePiusXII (born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Italian pronunciation: [euˈdʒɛːnjo maˈriːa dʒuˈzɛppe dʒoˈvanni paˈtʃɛlli]; 2 March 1876 –...
about PopePiusXIIandtheHolocaust. PiusXII's statements have been scrutinized as much, if not more, than his actions during the same period. Pius XII's...
The canonization process of PopePiusXII dates to shortly after his death in 1958. He was declared a servant of God in 1990 and venerable in 2009. Father...
ThePius War (or Pius Wars) refer to debates over the legacy of PopePiusXIIand his actions during theHolocaust. The phrase was first coined in a 2004...
The conversion of Jews to Catholicism during theHolocaust is one of the most controversial aspects of the record of PopePiusXII during The Holocaust...
PopePiusXIIand Russia describes relations of the Vatican with the Soviet Union, Russia, the Eastern Orthodox Church, andthe Eastern Catholic Churches...
In the prelude to theHolocaust, PopesPius XI andPiusXII preached against racism and war in encyclicals such as Mit brennender Sorge (1937) and Summi...
Several authors have alleged that there was a plot to kidnap PopePiusXII by the Nazis when they occupied Rome during World War II. SS General Karl Wolff...
later became PopePiusXII, on behalf of PopePius XI and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of President Paul von Hindenburg andthe German government...
World War II, under the leadership of PopePiusXII. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from September 1943 andthe Allies from June 1944...
institutions. The Finaly case was widely reported in the French press. In 2020, materials released as part of thePopePiusXII Archive revealed that thePope had...
PopePiusXIIand Poland includes Church relations from 1939 to 1958. PiusXII became Pope on the eve of the Second World War. The invasion of predominantly...
through the Enabling Act of 1933, an Act itself facilitated through the support of the Catholic Centre Party. PiusXII became Pope on the eve of war and lobbied...
The "three popes" are PopePiusXII (1939–1958), Pope John XXIII (1958–1963), andPope Paul VI (1963–1978). The Catholic Herald in its review of the book...
relations of PopePiusXII extended to most of Europe and a few states outside Europe. PiusXII was pope from 1939 to 1958, during World War II andthe beginning...
persecution in the European Theater of the war. In March 1939, various members of the German Catholic hierarchy asked the newly elected PopePiusXII to petition...
Global Information