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The Pope Pius XII Case

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The Pope Pius XII Case
His Defenders

1. Dr. R. Escolales
   Dr. R. Escolales (Canisius College, N.Y.) wrote about Goldhagen’s book (The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and its unfulfilled duty of repair). Goldhagen (page 173) denounces Pius XII for failing to warn Jews about the Holocaust. Yet Goldhagen makes no mention of two major articles in the New York Times of January 23 and 24, 1940. The first article is entitled “Vatican denounces Atrocities in Poland; Germans Called Even Worse than Russians”. It reports Jews and Poles are being herded into separate ghettos, hermetically sealed and pitifully inadequate for the economic subsistence of the millions destined to live there.” So even before the mass murder of Jews began, the Vatican denounced what Germany was doing. And given the tight ship run by Pius XII, it is unlikely the Vatican would announce these things without papal approval.
   
   
2. New York Times (October 11, 1945)
   When the war ended, the Times ran many stories detailing the praise that Jewish leaders bestowed on Pius. Included was the one which recorded a gift of $20,000 to the Vatican by the World Jewish Congress “in recognition of the work of the Holy See in rescuing Jews from Fascist and Nazi persecution.
   
   
3. Michael Novack, Theologian
   From the beginning of his papacy in 1939 until well after his death in 1958, Pope Pius XII was honored with unfeigned warmth by Jewish leaders around the world. Golda Meir was uncommonly effusive in her praise of him. Trees were planted in Israel in his honor. In 1955, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra flew to the Vatican to give a special concert to show the nation’s gratitude. In 1940, Albert Einstein wrote a tribute in Time. At his death, tributes were universal and eloquent, especially by those Jewish groups closest to his efforts.
   
   
4. Rabbi Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
   “The people of Israel will never forget which His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for us unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hours of our history, which is living proof of Divine Providence in this world.”
   
   
5. Pinchas E. Lapide, Israeli Consul General in Italy
   “When an armed force ruled well nigh omnipotent and morality was as its lowest ebb, Pius XII commanded none of the former and could only appeal to the latter in confronting with bare hands the full might of evil. A loud protest, which might turn out to be self-thwarting? Or quiet piecemeal rescue? Loud words or prudent deeds? The dilemma must have been sheer agony, for whatever course he chose, horrible consequences were inevitable. Unable to cure the sickness of an entire civilization, and unwilling to bear the brunt of Hitler’s fury, the Pope, unlike many far mightier than he, alleviated, relieved, retrieved, appealed, petitioned, and saved as best he could by his own lights. Who, but a prophet or a martyr, could have done much more?”
   
   
6. Hardball with Christ Matthews (3-21-00)
   DR. DONOHUE: Let’s get a couple of things straight about Pius XII. He wrote an encyclical in 1937 for his predecessor which condemned Nazism long before a lot of people in the Jewish community were doing so, certainly in the Protestant community and in the Catholic community.
   
   In 1941, he was commended by the New York Times as the lone voice breaking out of the silence in Europe for condemning what was going on. The New York Times again, on Christmas Day of 1942, did the same thing.
   
   When the war was over in 1945, here’s a pope who was congratulated by virtually every single Jewish organization throughout the world. He was given all kinds of money from the World Jewish Congress. We know that in his own backyard in Italy, something like 85 percent of all the Jews survived as a direct consequence of what he did. Who do you think opened up the convents? Who opened up the monasteries? There were Jewish women who gave birth inside these monasteries.
   
   
7. The McLaughlin Group (McLaughlin & Lawrence Kudlow) T.V. Program (3/24/2000)
   MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Have you heard that, Lawrence Kudlow – that the Pope has been too silent on the silence of the – alleged silence of Pius XII?
   
   MR. KUDLOW: No, I don’t think he’s – I don’t think he’s been too silent on it. I mean, I don’t think the case against Pius XII is a very good factual case to begin with.
   
   MR. MC LAUGHLIN: Stop right there. Silence by the Pope? Listen to this and see whether you think Pope Pius XII was silent about the agony of the Jews in the Holocaust:
   
   These are the headlines and quotes from the New York Times during World War II. January 23, 1940: “Vatican denounces atrocities in Poland.” “Jews and Poles are being herded into separate ghettoes, hermetically sealed and pitifully inadequate.”
   
   March 14, 1940: “Jews’ rights defended.” That’s how the New York Times described the pope’s words when meeting with a Nazi foreign minister.
   
   
8. Sr. Margherita Marchione, Ph. D., Professor at Farleigh Dickinson University
   There is documentary proof that the International Red Cross, the World Council of Churches, and the Vatican had agreed not to compromise their neutrality and to refrain from provocative statements in order to assist effectively the Jews and other prisoners.
   
   Even if the pope had been indifferent to the fate of the Jews, he knew the Nazis were also persecuting large number of Catholics. He did not publicly denounce the Nazis for the inhuman treatment of more than 3,000 Catholic priests at Dachau. Why? Because, as he mentioned privately on several occasions, he was convinced that “speaking out” would be ineffectual and self-defeating, to the detriment of all who were suffering at the hands of such a psychopathic-led enemy, “for fear of provoking worse disasters.”
   
   
9. New York Rabbi, David Dalin (John Carroll University)
   In response to those who complain that Pius XII’s voice was not loud enough, Rabbi Dalin quotes the words of Denmark’s Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior, a survivor of the Holocaust, who said: “If the Pope had spoken out, Hitler would have massacred more that the 6 million Jews and perhaps ten times 10 million Catholics, if he had the power to do so.”

   Rabbi Dalin concludes his article affirming that “Pius XII was not Hitler’s Pope, but the closest Jews had come to having a papal supporter, and at the moment when it mattered most.”
   
   It needs to be remembered, as noted earlier, that no other Pope in history has been so universally praised by Jews. So, too, the compelling reason, for this unprecedented Jewish praise for, and gratitude to, a Pope needs to be better remembered that it has been in recent years: Today, more than fifty years after the Holocaust, it needs to be more widely recognized and appreciated that Pius XII was indeed a very “righteous gentile”, a true friend of the Jewish people, who saved more Jewish lives that any other person, including Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler. A new authentically Jewish history of Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust, emphasizing his historic role and accomplishments as a “righteous gentile”, may help to bring some long-overdue recognition to his too little known and appreciated legacy as one of the century’s great friends of the Jewish people.