Pope Pius XII and the Jews
Nathan Barker has asserted that Pope Pius XII was "silent" during World War II with regard to the Nazi persecution of Jews in Europe, when in fact it is an indisputable fact that Pius XII saved more than 800,000 Jews through various means. Barker's statement is based on a profound ignorance of the facts which, listed below, prove without any doubt that the entire world gratefully acknowledged Pius XII's tireless work to save the Jewish people.
Pius XII directed the hiding of Jews in Catholic monasteries and other buildings. They helped forge false papers for Jews including baptism papers to make them appear Catholic. The Vatican gave money, food, and supplies to help Jews throughout Europe. In unmeasurable ways, the Vatican under Pius XII's leadership saved more Jews during the Nazi persecution than any other relief organization combined - a fact acknowledged by Jewish authorities as well. Because Pius XII's efforts were so well known, the entire world praised him and thanked him. Rabbi Abraham Zolli, the chief Rabbi of Rome, was so influenced by the pope's efforts that he converted to Catholicism!. Even in America, Pius XII's efforts were praised in the New York Times editorials in 1941 and 1942:
"The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas. The Pope reiterates what he has said before. In general, he repeats, although with greater definiteness, the five-point plan for peace which he first enunciated in his Christmas message after the war broke out in 1939. His program agrees in fundamentals with the Roosevelt-Churchill eight-point declaration. It calls for respect and the end of the possibility of aggression, equal treatment for minorities, freedom from religious persecution. It goes farther than the Atlantic Charter in advocating an end of all national monopolies of economic wealth, and so far as the eight points, which demands complete disarmament for Germany pending some future limitation for all nations.
The Pontiff emphasized principles of international morality with which most men of good will agree. He uttered the ideas a spiritual leader would be expected to express in time of war. Yet his words sound strange and bold in the Europe of today, and we comprehend the complete submergence and enslavement of great nations, the very sources of our civilization, as we realize that he is about the only ruler left on the Continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all. The last tiny islands of neutrality are so hemmed in and overshadowed by war and fear that no one but the Pope is still able to speak aloud in the name of the Prince of Peace. This is indeed a measure of the "moral devastation" he describes as the accompaniment of physical ruin and inconceivable human suffering.
In calling for a "real new order" based on "liberty, justice, and love", to be attained only by a "return to social and international principles capable of creating a barrier against the abuse of liberty and the abuse of power", the Pope put himself squarely against Hitlerism. Recognizing that there is no road open to agreement between belligerents "whose reciporcal war aims and programs seem to be irreconcilable", he left no doubt that the Nazi aims are also irreconcilable with his own conception of a Christian peace. "The New order which must arise out of this war", he asserted, "must be based on principles". And that implies only one end to the war." (New York Times, December 25, 1941)
Does this sound like the Pope didn't speak out? Nate's mind has been so poisoned by anti-Catholic lies that he ignores the facts. The very next year, a similar editorial was written:
No Christmas sermon reaches a larger congregation than the message Pope Pius XII addresses to a war-torn world at this season. This Christmas more than ever he is a lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent. The Pulpit whence he speaks is more than ever like the Rock on which the Church was founded, a tiny island lashed and surrounded by a sea of war. In these circumstances, in any circumstances, indeed, no one would expect the Pope to speak as a political leader, or a war leader, or in any other role than that of a preacher ordained to stand above the battle, tied impartially, as he says, to all people and willing to collaborate in any new order which will bring a just peace.
But just because the Pope speaks to and in some sense for all the peoples at war, the clear stand he takes on the fundamental issues of the conflict has greater weight and authority. When a leader bound impartially to nations on both sides condemns as heresy the new form of national state which subordinates everything to itself: when he declares that whoever wants peace must protect against "arbitrary attacks" the "juridical safety of individuals": when he assails violent occupation of territory, the exile and persecution of human beings for no reason other than race of political opinion: when he says that people must fight for a just and decent peace, a "total peace" - the "impartial judgment" is like a verdict in a high court of justice.
Pope Pius expresses as passionately as any leader on our side the war aims of the struggle for freedom when he says that those who aim at building a new world must fight for free choice of government and religious order. They must refuse that the state should make of individuals a herd of whom the state disposes as if they were a lifeless thing." (New York Times December 25, 1942)
EVEN BEFORE PIUS XII BECAME POPE
He personally wrote the only papal encyclical written in German for then Pope Pius XI entitled Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Anxiety) in 1937. It was a direct condemnation of anti-Semitism obviously directed at the German Nazi Party.
He also helped to write Non Abbiamo Bisogno condemning Italian fascism as well as Divini Redemptoris condemning Soviet Communism and the death of 10 MILLION Russians.
OFFICIAL STATMENT AS POPE
His very first encyclical in 1939 as Pope Pius XII, entitled Summi Pontificatus echoed the sentiments of the other two but directed also against Nazis - so much so that the Nazis issued orders to prevent its distribution.
DURING AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE WAR
In 1940, the great Jewish scientist Albert Einstein published in Time Magazine a statement of admiration and gratitude for Pius XII's efforts: "Being a lover of freedom, whe nthe revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universites immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom. But they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I had never any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence
to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess, that what I once despised, I now praise unreservedly." (Time, December 23, 1940)
At the end of the war he was praised as "the inspired moral prophet of victory" (Murphy, Francis X., The Papacy Today, Macmillan: NewYork, 1981 p. 64)
He "enjoyed near-universal acclaim for aiding European Jews through diplomatic initiatives, thinly veiled public pronouncements, and, very concretely, an unprecedented continent-wide network of sanctuary" (Doyle, Kevin M., "Robert Graham, S.J.", First Things June/July, 1997 p. 16)
Indiana Congressman Samuel B. Pettengill said "I am far from being a Roman Catholic, but it sometimes seems to me that the present Pope is the most sane and sagacious leader on the stage of action at this time" (Doyle, Charles Hugo. A Day with the Pope, Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y. 1950 p. 48)
He was thanked by Dr. Alexander Safran, Chief Rabbi of Romania for the Vatican's help for concentration camp prisoners (Graham, Robert A. Pius XII's Defense of Jews and Others: 1944-45, Catholic League Publications: Milwaukee, 1987 p. 20)
Pinchas Lapide, the Israeli consul in Italy, wrote "The Catholic Church saved more Jewish lives during the war than all other churches, religious institutions and rescue organizations put together. Its record stands in startling contrast to the achievements of the International Red Cross and the Western Democracies... The Holy See, the nuncios, and the entire Catholic Church saved some 400,000- Jews from certain death" It should be noted that Lapide later increased his estimate to between 800,000 and 860,000 Jews saved (Holmes, J. Derek. The Papacy in the Modern World: 1914-1979, Crossroad: New York, 1981, p.158)
Grand Rabbi Isaac Herzog of Jerusalem sent a message of thanks on behalf of Jews (Gaspari, Antonio. "Justice for Pius XII", Inside the Vatican, June 1997, p. 20)
The World Jewish Congress expressed thanks and donated two million lira to Vatican charities "for repeated interventions of the Holy Father on behalf of Jewish communities throughout the world. These acts of courage and consecrated statesmanship on the part of His Holiness will always remain a precious memory in the life of the Jewish people." (M. Perlzweig, Actes et Documents, vol. X. p. 140)
In 1944, the National Jewish Welfare Board wrote to Pius XII "from the bottom of our hearts we send to you, Holy Father of the Church, the assurance of our unforgetting gratitude for your noble expression of religious brotherhood and love." (Actes et Documents, vol. X., p. 358-59)
Dr. Joseph Nathen, representative of the Hebrew Commission: "Above all, we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff and the religious men and women who, executing the directives of the Holy Father, recognized the persecuted as their brothers and, with great abnegation, hastened to help them, disregarding the terrible dangers to which they were exposed." (Marrgherita Marchione, "Pope Pius XII and the Jews", Crisis, January 1997, p. 20)
A letter sent to major newspapers and published in the Jewish Newsletter, William Zukerman called "the rescue of thousands of Jewish Nazi victims by the Vatican... one of the greatest manifestations of humanitarianism in the 20th Century as well as a new, effective method of fighting anti-Semitism." (Marchione, The Deputy, 1999)
In 1946 the Italian Jewish community sent a letter of thanks: "The delegates of the Congress of the Italian Jewish Communities, held in Rome for the first time after the Liberation, feel that it is imperative to extend reverent homage to Your Holiness, and to express the most profound gratitude that animates all Jews for your fraternal humanity toward them during the years of persecution when their lives were endangered by Nazi-Fascist barbarism. Many times priests suffered imprisonment and were sent to concentration camps, and offered their lives to assist Jews in every way. This demonstration of goodness and charity that still animates the just, has served to lessen the shame and torture and sadness that afflicted millions of human beings." (Marchione "The Jewish Community", L'Osservatore Romano, April 5, 1946)
The Encyclopedia Judaica acknowledges the Catholic Church's stand against anti-Semitism.
An editorial in the Protestant Publication Christian Century wrote this about Piux XII: "it is to be regretted that no equally impressive Church statesmanship, no equally commanding message, has as yet come to this post-war wold from any other authoritative body or leadership." ((Doyle, Charles Hugo. A Day with the Pope, Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y. 1950 p. 62)
Dr. Herman Datyner, member of the Inter-Allied Conference for Refugees and special representative of Italian Jewish refugee groups was granted an audience with the Pius XII to thank him for assistance during the war (Rychlak, Hitler, the War, and the Pope, Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington, 2000, p. 241)
In 1947, King Gustav V of Sweden honored Pius XII with the Prince Carl medal for his "tireless work in relieving the misery of the war victims" (Smit, L'Osservatore Romano March 1, 1947)
The War Refugee Board, representing the united effort of various American-Jewish organizations publically acknowledged the Vatican's assistance of Jews during the war (Telegram from the Secretary of State to the Consul General at Naples, June 13, 1944. Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1944, vol. I. U.S. Printing Office, Washington D.C. 1966 p. 1068-69)
Maurice Edelman, President of the Anglo-Jewish Association stated that Pius XII "was responsible during the war for saving the lives of tens of thousands of Jews." (Murphy, P. La Popessa, Warner Books: New York, 1983, p. 208)
On the tenth anniversary of their liberation in 1955, Italian Jews declared April 17 as "The Day of Gratitude". Thousands of Jews made a pilgrimage to Rome to pay their respects to the Pope, and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra gave a special performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony as an expression of gratitude (Jerusalem Post, May 29, 1955)
The Jewish Post in November 6, 1958, wrote that Pius XII's actions during the war had made new understanding between Jews and Christians possible: "Organized and intstitutionalized Christianity realized that the old religious bitterness and hatred between Christians and Jews no longer had meaning or reason and that the failure to remove them in time had almost brought Judeo-Christian civilization to its end. It is to the credit of Pope Pius XII that he, a great leader of Christianity, not only recognized this truth in time, but also that he visualized a positive method of acting upon it in a grand manner: Instead of merely preaching Christianity, he and other church leaders practice Christian principles and set an example by their acts and lives, as did the founder of Christianity. This was the uniqueness of the achievements of Pope Pius XII"
AFTER HIS DEATH
When Pius XII died, 53 nations sent representatives to the requeim mass in his honor (Elliott, Lawrence. I will Be Called John: A Biography of Pope John XII Berkley Publishing Corp: New York, 1973. p. 2)
Israel sent an official delegation and many people in Israel wrote to newspapers suggesting that a forest in the Judean hills be established in his name.
The Anti-Defamation League, the Synagogue Council of America, the Rabbinical COuncil of America, the American Jewish Congress, the New York Board of Rabbis, the American Jewish Committee, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the National COuncil of Jewish Women all expressed sorrow for his passing and thanks for his efforts. Rabbi Joachim Prinz, National President of the American Jewish Council said: "The Pontiff will be remembered wherever men of good will gather for his profound devotion to the cause of peace and for his earnest efforts in the rescue of thousands of victims of Nazi persecution, including many Jewish men, women, and children." (Rychlak, Hitler, the War, and the Pope, Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington, 200 p. 247)
American President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "The world is a poorer place with the death of Pius XII" (Cardinal Thomas Winning, "Pius XII - friend of the Jews and Hitler's foe" The Daily Telegraph, London: October 5, 1999)
Israeli representative to the United Nations and future Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, said: "During the ten years of Nazi terro, when our people went through the horros of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to condemn the persecutors and to commiserate with their victims." (Lichten, Joseph L. A Question of Judgment: Pius XII and the Jews)
Nahum Goldmann, President of the World Jewish Congress said: "With special gratitude we remember all he has done for the persecuted Jews during one of the darkest periods of their entire history." (Lapide, Pinchas Three Popes and the Jews, 1957, p. 118)
Future Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, said: "More than anyone else, we have had the opportunity to appreciate the great kindness, filled with compassion and magnanimity, that the Pope displayed during the terrible years of persecution and terror, when it seemed that there was no hope left for us." ( (Lichten, Joseph L. A Question of Judgment: Pius XII and the Jews)
Jews in Rome hung a plaque in their synagogue in honor of Pius XII's efforts to save them ("The Jews, Pius XII and the Black Legend" Zenit News Agency, December 8, 1998)
The November 5, 1958 edition of The Jewish Post said: "It is understandable why the death of Pope Pius XII should have called forth expressions of sincere grief from practically all sections of American Jewry. For there probably was not a single ruler of our generation who did more to help the Jews in their hour of greatest tragedy, during the Nazi occuption of Europe, than the late Pope."
Much of the information was taken from Ronald J. Rychlak's invaluable masterpiece Hitler, the War and the Pope(Our Sunday Visitor Books: Huntington, Indiana. 2000)
|back|