Pius XII Saved Thousands of Jews
Like so many “truths” which have been repeated against the Catholic Church, apparently the “truth” that Pius XII was “Hitler’s Pope” doesn’t hold water in light of the actual evidence. Much of the evidence exonerating the Catholic Church from centuries of false witness by her enemies is coming not from the Catholic Church but from secular academic sources.
Here is a news article in which an academic posits a source for the slander against Pius XII. Too bad the secular media isn’t interested in setting the record straight.
Pius XII Saved Thousands of Jews, “Black Legend” Spread by the Soviets
Rome, Apr 16, 2007 (CNA) - Italian historian and professor Gian Maria Van of the Sapienza University of Rome said the “black legend,” which claims that Pope Pius XII did not help the Jews during World War II, was originally spread by the Soviets during the years of the conflict.Van’s comments came in response to the recent refusal of the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, Archbishop Antonio Franco, to participate in the annual ceremony of the commemoration of the Shoah at the Museum of the Holocaust in Jerusalem. Museum officials had denied a request to remove or change of photo of Pius XII with a caption that indicated his “ambiguous” position regarding the Jews, when history shows that in reality he saved thousands. “This is an undeniable fact,” explained Professor Van.
Commenting about the way in which Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI combated the black legend about Pius XII, Van said there are “three points of continuity between these three Pontiffs: one, the historical defense of the memory of Pius XII, of his actions during the World War II and in response to the scandalous tragedy of the Holocaust;” second, “the honor to the memory of the six million victims of the Shoah,” and third, “the unquestionable will, on both parts, to proceed down the road of peace and reconciliation, as Benedict XVI has said in Auswitz, as John Paul II constantly and tenaciously preached and as Paul VI did during the time of the Council and during his pontificate.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Obed Ben-Hur, said this week, “We say one simple thing: as soon as it is possible to investigate, see and read the documents at the Vatican that pertain to the years of the war, an historical judgment will be able to be made.”
“After the letter by then-Nuncio Pietro Sambi (who also requested the caption be changed or the photo be removed), there was a response, there was consideration, a promise to re-examine, to the see the possibility of healing this situation, looking at it together. Meanwhile, apart from this, the memory of the Holocaust is what is being respected,” Ben-Hur said.
There are books being written as well for those who are interested in going a little deeper than “well everyone knows that the Catholic Church…..”: The Myth of Hitler’s Pope; How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (this one is worth the read if for no other reason than it tells the part of the Galileo story that got left out of every telling I had ever heard); The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision (Yale University Press); Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church. Sinful Catholics have made plenty of mistakes through the 2,000 years of church history, it isn’t necessary use trumped up charges to make that point. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said:
There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues”; because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God”; because they say “indulgence is a permission to commit sin”; because the Pope “is a Fascist”; because the “Church is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do….
If you wish to reject the Catholic Church because of the sinful actions of some of her members throughout the centuries, make sure that you are basing that opinion on the actual historical record and not slanders perpetuated as truth. Just as if you wish to reject what the Catholic Church teaches, make sure you are rejecting what she actually teaches and not what the anti-Catholics report as the truth. Read up!
