Pope Pius XII (March 2, 1876 – Oct. 9, 1958) was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958 – which means he was pontiff throughout the Second World War and the Nazi Holocaust. For decades, historians have debated whether Pope Pius and the Church could have done more to help the Jews of Europe. The controversy has been rekindled following release of more documents from the Vatican Archives.
Quotes: “Documents reveal the private discussions behind both Pope Pius XII’s silence about the Nazi deportation of Rome’s Jews in 1943 and the Vatican’s postwar support for the kidnapping of two Jewish boys whose parents had perished in the Holocaust.” | “Several documents that have emerged from the newly opened Vatican Archives on the papacy of Pius XII bolster accusations of indifference to Jewish suffering, but some scholars say the full picture has yet to emerge.”
Sources: Wikipedia, The Atlantic, The New York Times
Learn more about Pope Pius XII on Wikipedia. >>
Read “The Pope, the Jews, and the Secrets in the Archives” by David L. Kertzer. >>
Read “Unsealed Archives Give Fresh Clues to Pope Pius XII’s Response to the Holocaust” by Elisabetta Povoledo. >>
Photo: catholicnewsagency.com
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