'Hitler's Pope' tried to help Jews, say documents

The Sunday Telegraph ^ | February 16, 2003 | Michael Burleigh

[MadIvan]

I doubt Pius XII's reputation will cease being a matter of controversy, but some food for further thought.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[KickRightRudder]

Buchanan will be thrilled. He's been defending Pius from attacks, saying he did everything he reasonably could considering Nazis occupied the streets. Liberal Jews blaming the Pope is unfair. Its hard to be brave when you're looking down the barrel of a rifle.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

http://www.catholicleague.org/pius/truth.htm

[KarlInOhio]

A second letter to Bishop Palatucci in November 1940 contained a cheque for 10,000 lira that was to be used for the "support of Jews interned in your diocese".

Does anyone have the 1940 exchange rate. I expect that 10,000 lira was more than the current $5.

[NewCenturions]

There was a book called "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" about Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, who hid Jews at the Vatican. Was even made into a movie ("the Scarlet and the BLack" with Gregory Peck(?)
Here's a quote I found:
"Of 9,700 Roman Jews, 1,007 were shipped to Auschwitz. The rest were hidden, 5,000 of them by the official Church—3,000 in Castel Gandolfo, 200 or 400 (estimates vary) as "members" of the Palatine Guard and some 1,500 in monasteries, convents and colleges. The remaining 3,700 were hidden in private homes, including Msgr. O'Flaherty's network of apartments."

Nice to see a "pro Pope" thread for a change.

[NativeNewYorker]

The Vatican can spin all it likes, but its WW2 track record is spotty, at best.

I'm no church/Catholic basher, so don't misunderstand me. But I read that book cited in the link, and the church has lots and lots of blood on its hands, despite the noble and valient efforts of some clergy to save innocents.

[Mercat]

Not Peck, Charlton Heston

[Chi-townChief]

There's a book by the late Malachi Martin (I can't remember the name) which claims that the Catholic Church saved about a million European Jews. I'll try to get the name.

[David1]

Here is a Catholic site which has many articles defending Pope Pius XII actions in the Holocaust.

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ130.HTM

Scroll down till you reach: POPE PIUS XII AND THE NAZI HOLOCAUST

[ultima ratio]

"Spotty" my arse. It is estimated over 800,000 Jews were rescued due to the direct action on their behalf by Pius XII who commanded all monasteries and convents in Italy to hide those who were being hunted down like animals. Under his aegis all of Italy became a nation of Schindlers. Vatican trucks made daily rounds to bring food to these refugees. Tens of thousands of false "official" documents were issued by the Vatican. Pius XII himself hid thousands of Jews in his country villa and at the Vatican. Nor would he partake of any food or drink that was not likewise available for those in his care. That he, of all people, should have been accused of not having done enough is ironic in the extreme.

[Verginius Rufus]

Fiume is now known as Rijeka, Croatia. ("Fiume" and "Rijeka" both mean "river.")

[David1]

Hi, There are more great articles defending Pius XII in the link I posted in post #10.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

bttt

[perform_to_strangers]

I've never read the book, but I saw the movie. It starred Gregory Peck and Captain von Trapp (what was his name?). As I recall, the movie had a rather despicable scene in which a nearly senile Pope Pius XII talks to O'Flaherty at the end of the war and asks if he thinks it was okay that he (the Pope) didn't say or do anything during the war. O'Flaherty (who in the movie, did everything in Pius's name) dissembles, telling the Pope that he's sure he did everything he could (meaning, although the Pope did nothing, O'Flaherty had done everything that could be done, so it was as if Pius had acted), and the pope whispers to himself, "I suppose I should have said something," and shuffles offstage, broken and ineffectual, finally conscience-stricken now that the danger has passed and the harm done.

[Coleus]

http://www.catholicleague.org/pius/piusxii_faqs.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/753131/posts

[Williams]

The anti-catholicism which is running rampant is one of the great disgraces of our time. Pius was an antiNazi bulwark. Because of the left's anti-catholic agenda, I know many jewish people who actually EQUATE the church and Nazis. Even friends of mine. The sad fact of the matter is that the religion in Europe which failed to resist Hitler soon enough was Judaism. Historically, jews believed it had been a mistake to fight against the Roman Empire, which led to the Diaspora. So many jews thought they should ride out Hitlerism. It was a fatal mistake. As a Catholic, I have always hated nazism and knew that the catholic church hated it too. Many people now believe a perverted version of history in which Hitler and the Pope were partners.

[Coleus]

Cardinal Roncolli saved about 800,000 Jews while he was a bishop in Turkey, he later became Pope John XXIII.

After WW II, the chief Rabbi of Rome converted to Catholicism.

Many people believe in what the slanted left-wing press and revisionist teachers tell them.

[Campion]

But I read that book cited in the link, and the church has lots and lots of blood on its hands, despite the noble and valient efforts of some clergy to save innocents.

How about the "noble and valiant" efforts of Pius XII, which saved -- according to Rabbi Pinchas Lapide, former Israeli ambassador to Italy -- between 700,000 and 860,000 Jews from certain death?

That's not a "spotty" record, it's a heroic record, and it makes very understandable the position of people like Rabbi David Dalin, who says Pope Pius should be formally granted the title of "righteous among the nations" for his efforts.