Hitler's Pope: The Secret History Of Pius Xii. - Review - book reviews

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 19, 1999 by Arthur Jones

As Cornwell has it, Pacelli later uses the code to skewer Germany's bishops and demolish the anti-Hitler, anti-Nazi German Catholic Center Party. Pacelli (now secretary of state) "favored a quiescent, docile church and collaboration with the Nazi Party over the continued existence of the Catholic Center Party, which represented the final obstacle on Hitler's path to dictatorship." Comments the author: "How well these two men [Hitler and Pacelli] seemed to understand each other."

Phew!

Cornwell contrasts that with German Catholic criticism of Nazism, "vehement and sustained" in the press and from the pulpits, with a Mainz diocese bishop and priest both telling the Nazis that "Hitler's Party's policy of "racial hatred" was "un-Christian and un-Catholic." Pius XII never speaks out that directly.

Cornwell produces a 1930 editorial in the Vatican's official paper L'Osservatore Romano. It declares Nazi (National Socialist) Party membership "incompatible with Catholic conscience," but it does so only by adding that membership in any socialist party is incompatible.

In 1939, Pacelli is Pius XII. In 1940, in private, he utters the most important words (by may measure) that he and history have to offer in his defense.

They are not exoneration, but they are illustrative. Contrast Cornwell's handling of the incident with that of Pierre Blet.

The incident: The war is on. Italian ambassador Alfieri conveys to Pius XII Mussolini's protestations over the pope's telegrams to the sovereigns of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. By interference, the telegrams criticize the Nazi invasion. Pius never mentions the Germans directly.

Cornwell: "Pacelli replied that he was not afraid of being put in concentration camp. He said he had been reading the letters of St. Catherine of Sienna, who reminded the pope of her day that God would judge him harshly if he failed in his duty."

Blet: "The pope calmly replied that he did not fear being shipped off to a concentration camp. Alluding to the most critical moments during his stay in Munich, Pius XII added: `We did not fear the revolvers that were aimed at us the first time around; we will have even less fear the second time.' Furthermore: 'The Italians are certainly well aware of the terrible things taking place in Poland. We might have an obligation to utter fiery words against such things; yet all that is holding us back from doing so is the knowledge that if we should speak, we would simply worsen the predicament of these unfortunate people.'"

That was Pacelli's view. Rightly or wrongly, he stayed with it. But it sorely haunted him (see Pius and the nurses in Stransky's preface to Blet in accompanying review.

Cornwell writes of 1942 when the U.S. charge d'affaires at the Holy See tells the U.S. State Department that the pope was (in Cornwell's words) "diverting himself, ostrichlike, into purely religious concerns and that the moral authority won for the papacy by Pius XI was being eroded."

In rebuttal to such an accusation, Pius XII's defenders frequently turn to the pope's Christmas Eve radio address of that year as a pontiff speaking out as clearly as he dared under the circumstances. Without referring to Hitler or the Jews, Pacelli said, "Humanity owes this vow to those thousands who, without any fault of their own, sometimes only by reason of their nationality or race, are marked down for death or gradual extinction."