|
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Erin
wrote:
|
Hi, guys —
How does the Catholic Church maintain tax
exempt status, while violating the Separation
of Church and State, by telling its members
how to vote?
Thank you, from a former Catholic.
Erin
|
{
How does the Church maintain a tax
exempt status while telling its members
how to vote? }
|
Eric
replied:
Hi Erin,
Because the Catholic Church doesn't
tell people which candidates to vote
for, only what moral issues are important.
For example, Catholic Answers has
a voting guide for serious Catholics that
discusses five essential issues that
Catholics are obliged to take a stand
on:
- abortion
- euthanasia
- cloning
- embryonic stem-cell research,
and
- gay marriage
It specifically says what positions
Catholics must hold. This guide was
approved by the IRS because it covers
issues, not candidates. For information
on the legal reasons why, see
This only makes sense since, after
all, it's the nature of a Church
to take moral stands. One can hardly
fault it for doing so.
Eric
|
Richard
replied:
Hi Erin,
To find out about the advice that
the Catholic bishops of the US are
giving to voters, see their web site:
Best wishes —
— Richard Chonak
for AskACatholic.com
|
John
replied:
Erin,
The so-called Separation of Church
and State is phrase found nowhere
in the Constitution.
The phrase itself
comes from a letter written by Thomas
Jefferson to a Baptist Congregation
in Danbury, Connecticut.
In that letter Jefferson addressed
the concerns of the Baptists that
Congregationalism would become the
official Church of the State and
citizens of the United States would
be forced to join it, hence the Jefferson's
phrase, in context, refers
to the Government interfering with
Churches.
The Constitution simply says that
the Government will not establish a
national religion and that everyone
has the right to worship according
to his or her convictions.
In the mid-20th Century, the Supreme
Court starting quoting Jefferson's
phrase and indeed wrenched it out
of context. So much so, that one
dissenting Justice said,
if we keep quoting this phrase,
people will begin to think it's
in written in the Constitution!
None of this precludes the influence
of religion in making of laws. Our
basic laws are based on the laws
of God: Don't commit murder, don't
steal, don't bear false witness and
so forth.
I don't know of anyone that would
say,
We should abolish laws which prohibit
murder and theft because the violate
the "separation of Church
and State"
Moreover, the Church as individual
has a protected right to free speech
under the same amendment of the Constitution
to which the so-called Separation
of Church and State appeals.
More importantly, the Church cannot
and will not allow governments to
dictate Her moral theology.
Finally, the Separation of Church
and State was actually instituted
by Christ Himself, when He said render
unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and
unto God what is God. (Matthew 22:21)
It is only because of Christianity that
governments practice the separation
of Church and State but we render
unto Caesar only what is Caesars,
not what is Gods. Matters of life
and death, marriage, and so forth
are not Caesar's purview, they are
God's!!
The Church has every right to admonish
those who condone immoral marriages
and perpetuate the unconscionable
genocide of children in womb under
the banner of false freedom.
John
|
Erin
replied:
This is completely untrue.
Catholic
priests and pundits are telling their
followers to vote for McCain. McCain
promotes the killing of adults through
war.
A priest on EWTN specifically pronounced
that abortion is the only issue for
Catholics. Catholic web sites are
specifically stating that Palin (who
supports illegal wars and killing
animals) is a better choice than
Obama because he follows the constitution.
Catholics are lying by saying that
Obama is pro-abortion.
They are misleading their followers
on many issues. If what you stated
were true, the Catholic Church would
be against both candidates.
I thank you for your time, and I
pray that Catholics will be blessed
with clarity and cease to promote
right wing politics.
- Perhaps a closer
look at the actual teachings of Jesus
Christ is called for?
Erin
|
Eric
replied:
Hi Erin,
You said:
This is completely
untrue. Catholic priests and pundits
are telling their followers to vote
for McCain.
Unfortunately Catholic priests don't
speak for the Catholic Church, only
the bishops do. Priests should not
be telling the faithful to vote for
McCain.
You said:
McCain promotes
the killing of adults through war.
In Catholic theology, it is worse
— far worse — to deliberately kill
the innocent, including the unborn
innocent, than to kill a combatant
in war, or to unintentionally kill
an innocent civilian. Also, millions
of innocents are killed through abortion,
whereas only a few thousand have
been killed in total in the Iraq
war. The two just don't compare.
You said:
A priest on EWTN
specifically pronounced that abortion
is the only issue for Catholics.
That is true, but again, that is
a moral issue, not an endorsement
of a candidate.
You said:
Catholic web sites
are specifically stating that Palin (who
supports illegal wars and killing animals) is
a better choice than Obama because he
follows the constitution.
Again, Catholic web sites don't speak
for the Catholic Church. If they
are not non-profits they can say
whatever they wish, too.
I really doubt that Catholic web
sites are saying that Palin is a
better choice because Obama follows
the constitution. In all likelihood,
it is your opinion that he is following
the constitution for certain reasons
and Palin is not. They disagree with
your opinion, so you conclude, wrongly, I
would submit, that they are
opposing the constitution in some
way. In all likelihood, they believe
they are consistent with it, they
just don't agree with your interpretation.
I'm not sure what issue you are referring
to since the constitution has no
bearing on the Iraq war or killing
animals.
You said:
Catholics are lying
by saying that Obama is pro-abortion.
He gets the top score from NARAL
and Planned Parenthood.
- Do you think
he could do so if he was not pro-abortion?
Note: By pro-abortion we mean pro-choice — he supports legislation that legalizes
abortion.
Obama is the most pro-choice candidate
in national politics today. If he's
not pro-abortion, no one is. In our
mind, if someone is personally
opposed to abortion but supports
keeping it legal or reducing legal
barriers to it, that person is pro-abortion because
from a policy standpoint they support
abortion.
Now you may disagree with
our semantics but that does not mean
that we are lying when
we say he's pro-abortion.
You said:
They are misleading
their followers on many issues. If what
you stated were true, the Catholic Church
would be against both candidates.
There is such a thing as choosing
the lesser of two evils. Many feel
that Obama would be a total catastrophe
and the only way to prevent him from
being elected is to support McCain.
You said:
I thank you for
your time, and I pray that Catholics
will be blessed with clarity and cease
to promote right wing politics. Perhaps
a closer look at the actual teachings
of Jesus Christ is called for?
If you look at actual teachings of
Jesus Christ, as preserved in the
traditions handed down in Christianity
throughout the centuries, then the
Catholic Church is the one who preserves
them.
Eric
|
Erin
replied:
You are in complete denial.
- How can
you say with honesty that this war
has only killed a few thousand adults?
- What about all the innocent Iraqis?
You should feel deep shame for your
ignorance and for the spreading of
lies.
- Do Catholic priests make it clear
that they are not speaking for the
Church when telling their followers
who to vote for?
- Why didn't the Republicans, who the
Catholic Church endorses and promotes,
rule abortion illegal with all the
power that they held for six years?
Clearly the Constitution (or, as
George Bush put it, "just a
god damned piece of paper") is
no obstacle considering the Patriot
Act and other various signed statements.
Not only is John McCain reprehensible
when it comes to the killing of innocents,
but also, along with all Republicans,
clearly contradict Christ's teachings
on the issues of poverty and equality.
I thank you very much for your replies.
You have given me much insight and
data.
These e-mails, in addition to
my knowledge concerning the Vatican's
assistance to the Nazis, and the
rampant instances of pedophilia have
further proven to me what the Catholic
Church truly is.
I will make good use of this information.
Erin
|
Eric
replied:
You said:
You are in complete
denial.
- How can you say with honesty
that this war has only killed a few
thousand adults?
- What about all the
innocent Iraqis?
You should feel
deep shame for your ignorance and
for the spreading of lies.
If I am ignorant, then I am not guilty
of spreading a lie. Unless you are
going to tell me that over a million
people a year are being killed by
the war -- according to the pro-abortion,
or if you wish pro-choice, Alan Guttmacher
Institute there are about 1,200,000
abortions in the U.S. every year
-- then it simply doesn't compare.
According to icasualties.org,
civilian casualties reached a high
of at least 3,500 civilian and Iraq
security force deaths a month. Assume
that's the average (which definitely
overestimates it), adding the five
thousand or so total coalition military
deaths, does not compare with 100,000
deaths by abortion a month.
You said:
- Do Catholic priests
make it clear that they are not speaking
for the Church when telling their
followers who to vote for?
No, but they should not be telling
people who to vote for.
You said:
- Why didn't the
Republicans, who the Catholic Church
endorses and promotes, rule abortion
illegal with all the power that they
held for six years?
Clearly the Constitution
(or, as George Bush put it, "just
a god damned piece of paper")
is no obstacle considering the Patriot
Act and other various signed statements.
Because Congress can't make abortion
illegal because the Supreme Court
ruled in Roe v. Wade that they could
not. Surely, as well informed as
you are, you should know that.
You said:
Not only is John
McCain reprehensible when it comes
to the killing of innocents, but
also, along with all Republicans,
clearly contradict Christ's teachings
on the issues of poverty and equality.
That very well could be, but at least
he's not in favor of killing 1,200,000
children a year.
You said:
I thank you very
much for your replies. You have given
me much insight and data.
These e-mails,
in addition to my knowledge concerning
the Vatican's assistance to the Nazis,
Now it is you who are misinformed.
If the Vatican gave so much assistance
to the Nazis:
- Why did the chief rabbi of Rome,
during the war, convert to Catholicism,
and take the Pope's given name
as his own?
- Why did Pius XII receive the
highest award from the Jews that
a Gentile can receive?
- Why, on December 25, 1941, and December
25, 1942, did the New York Times
editorials speak of "a
lonely voice" to describe
the pope's intervention on behalf
of Jews and other victims of the
Nazis?
I urge you to read the
attached text files at the
end of this posting. They give
a lot of evidence I'll bet you've
never heard.
You said:
and the rampant
instances of pedophilia have further
proven to me what the Catholic Church
truly is.
Curiously, people never use pedophilia
as a reason to reject other churches,
even though other churches have pedophiles.
Nor do people seem to care about
so many teachers sexually abusing
minors. but all of a sudden, a tiny
minority of Catholic priests do what
a tiny minority of the rest of the
population does and it is used as
proof that somehow the religion is
nefarious.
I think you need to examine your
heart on this question.
Eric
|
Mary
Ann replied:
Hi Erin,
In addition to what my confreres
have said so well, I would like to
add that the only way that the Catholic
Church in today's world could be
said to be like those who supported
Nazis (and the Church did not) would
be this:
Those bishops and priests who
have not spoken out forcefully
against abortion, euthanasia,
and embryo farming, are guilty
of the same sin as those who did
not speak out against the Nazis.
If the issue today were the destruction
of Jews, or the destruction of blacks,
would you say that the Church is
wrong to speak out and tell people
that it's a moral imperative to vote
against those practices?
These are not political issues, they
are issues of basic moral principle.
They are not issues of the prudential
application of moral principle, but
of the principle itself, that one
must never intentionally take innocent
human life.
Mary Ann
|
Documents Speak for Themselves on Church, Pius XII, and Nazism
Pacelli Is Pope Who Received Greatest
Recognition from Jewish People
JERUSALEM, MAR 24
(ZENIT.org).- No Pope ever used such
strong words to condemn anti-Semitism
as John Paul II did yesterday at
the Memorial to the Holocaust in
Jerusalem. "As Bishop of Rome
and Successor of the Apostle Peter,
I assure the Jewish people that,
motivated by the evangelical law
of truth and love and not by political
considerations, the Catholic Church
is profoundly saddened by the hatred,
acts of persecution and displays
of anti-Semitism directed against
the Jews by Christians at any time
and in any place."
And yet, leaders
of the Jewish world have criticized
the Pope for not asking forgiveness
for Pius XII's "silence" in
face of the Holocaust.
The solemn petition
for forgiveness that Pope Wojtyla
pronounced on March 12 is not enough
for Grand Rabbi Meir Israel Lau,
who spoke yesterday on Italian television;
the Pope must go a step further,
he asserted.
When John Paul II
was asked by reporters on the airplane
headed for Nigeria a couple years
ago what he thought of Pius XII,
without hesitation the Holy Father
replied: "He was a great Pope." In
spite of their enormous difference
in temperaments, Pacelli and Wojtyla
have many things in common, especially
in regard to their teachings on moral
issues, their love for the Virgin
Mary, their opening to the Church's
universality, and the latter's of
government. Similarities that have
been acknowledged by John Cornwell
himself, author of "Hitler's
Pope," an attack on Pius XII.
However, in his lifetime,
Pius XII received more praise and
expressions of gratitude from the
Jewish people than any other Bishop
of Rome in history. According to
several Jewish historians living
in Italy, Pius XII and the Church
saved between 740,000 and 860,000
Jews from extermination. In Rome
alone, during the Nazi occupation
4,447 Jews were hidden in over 155
Catholic houses, ecclesiastical institutions,
parishes and schools. In several
churches in Rome there are Jewish
plaques thanking the Church for saving
Jewish lives. This rescue work was
done at the express wish of the Pope.
In December of 1940,
Albert Einstein wrote a letter to "Time" magazine
stating, "Being a lover of freedom,
when the revolution came in Germany
I looked to the universities to defend
it, knowing that they had always
boasted of their devotion to the
case of truth; but no, the universities
immediately were silenced. Then I
looked to the great editors of the
newspapers whose flaming editorials
in days gone by had proclaimed their
love of freedom. But they, like the
universities, were silenced in a
few short weeks. Only the Church
stood squarely across the path of
Hitler's campaign for suppressing
truth. I never had any special interest
in the Church before, but now I feel
a great affection and admiration
because the Church alone has had
the courage and persistence to stand
for intellectual truth and moral
freedom. I am forced thus to confess,
that what I once despised, I now
praise unreservedly."
After the War, Moshe
Sharrett, former Foreign Affairs
Minister and Prime Minister of Israel,
went to see Pius XII "to thank
the Catholic Church for what it did
to save the Jews in all parts of
the world." Like Sharrett, Rabbi
Herzog of Jerusalem, as well as the
Rabbis of the Italian, U.S., Rumanian,
and Hungarian Jewish communities
came to Rome or sent messages thanking
Pope Pacelli for the way in which
he mobilized the Church in their
behalf.
At least three of
the volumes of the "Acts and
Documents of the Holy See Relating
to the Second World War, are full
of documents written by the Jewish
communities worldwide thanking Pius
XII and the Catholic Church for the
assistance offered to persecuted
Jews.
When Pius XII died,
Golda Meir wrote: "During the
Nazi terror, when our people were
subjected to a terrible martyrdom,
the Pope's voice was raised to condemn
the persecutors and to offer mercy
to their victims. We mourn over the
death of a great server of peace."
Jacob Philip Rudin,
president of the Central Conference
of American Rabbis, said: "His
sympathy for all, his wise social
vision and his extreme understanding
made him a prophetic voice in the
service of justice everywhere. May
his memory be a blessing for the
life of the Roman Catholic Church
and the world."
On that same occasion,
London's "Jewish Chronicle" recalled
that "before, during and after
the Second World War, he tried to
carry a message of peace. Confronting
the monstrous cruelties of Nazism,
fascism and communism, he continually
proclaimed the virtues of humanity
and compassion."
The idea that Pacelli
was a philo-Nazi from his time as
nuncio in Germany, one of Cornwell's
theses in his book, doesn't match
up with the facts. When Pacelli was
elected Pope, the "Berliner
Morgenpost," a pro-Nazi newspaper,
stated that "the election of
Cardinal Pacelli is not of Germany's
liking, as he has always been opposed
to Nazism."
The international
communist newspaper, "La Correspondance
Internationale," dedicated an
article to Pope Pacelli's election,
saying it was a good election, because
he was a man cleared opposed to Nazism.
Following Pius XII's
1942 Christmas radio message, the
Gestapo wrote the following in a
report: "the Pope has rejected
the new National Socialist European
Order. He has not attacked National
Socialism directly, but he has severely
criticized everything we believe...
He has spoken clearly in favor of
the Jews."
These documents explain
the reasons why John Paul II has
not asked for pardon for Pius XII's
conduct during the Second World War,
as forgiveness cannot be asked for
faults that have not been committed.
These testimonies have also advanced
Pope Pacelli's cause for beatification.
ZE00032406 |
The New York Times, Thursday, March 16, 2000
Letters: After the
Pope's Apology, a Range of Voices
To the Editor:
"The Pope's Apology" (editorial, March
14) speaks of "the failure
of Pope Pius XII to speak out against
the Nazi genocide."
In September 1939,
The New York Times reported the Vatican's
disclosures of Nazi atrocities against
Jews and non-Jews in Poland. In 1940,
the newspaper reported the Vatican's
condemnation of the herding of Jews
and Poles into ghettoes as well as
Pius XII's publicizing of the mass
execution of Poles by the Nazis and
his defense of the rights of Jews
against the Nazis. In 1942, The Times
reported the pope's efforts to save
Jews in France. In December 1943,
there was an article on Pius XII's
denunciation of the Nazi attempt
to wipe out the Jews in Italy.
On Dec. 25, 1941,
and Dec. 25, 1942, New York Times
editorials spoke of "a lonely
voice" to describe the pope's
intervention on behalf of Jews and
other victims of the Nazis.
(Rev.) Vincent A.
Lapomarda
Worcester, Mass., March 14, 2000
The writer is coordinator
of the Holocaust Collection, College
of the Holy Cross. |
Some Issues of the New York Times Dealing with the Actions Of Pope Pius XII on Behalf of Jews and other Victims of the Nazis
September of
1939:
Following the
outbreak of the war at the start
of the month, the newspaper has
articles and editorials this month
dealing with the disclosures by
the Vatican of Nazi atrocities
against Jews and non-Jews in Poland.
January 23, 1940:
"Vatican
Denounces Atrocities in Poland"
"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."
January 24, 1940:
"Vatican
Amplifies Atrocity Reports / Weight
of Papacy Put Behind Exposure
of Nazi Excesses in Poland."
"Poland's Agony" (editorial
on same day):
"Now the
Vatican has spoken, with authority
that cannot be questioned, and
has confirmed the worst intimations
of terror which have come out
of the Polish darkness."
January 29, 1940:
"Memorandum
Presented to Pope"
"Mass Shootings in Poland
Laid to Nazis by Cardinal"
March 14, 1940:
Action by Pope
in meeting Nazi Foreign Minister:
"Jews' Rights Defended"
December 25, 1941:
Editorial speaks
of Pope:
"a lonely voice"
August 27, 1942:
In article, "Vichy
Seizes Jews; Pope Pius Ignored," it
is stated:
"These arrests are continuing
despite appeals to Marshal Henri
Philippe Petain .
. . by leading Catholic clergymen,
with the support of the Pope."
December 25, 1942:
Editorial speaks
of Pope:
"a lonely voice"
December 4,
1943:
Speaking of Vatican:
"Denounces Decision
to Intern and Strip All Jews in
Italy"
|
Pius XII and the Jewish Holocaust
Catholic apologetics must address
the subject of Pope Pius XII and
the Jewish Holocaust. Since 1963,
when Rolf Hochhuth's play THE DEPUTY
indicted Pius XII for complicity
in the Nazi genocide, it has been
a commonplace of editorial writers
that the Vatican was a silent, and
therefore guilty, bystander to the
murder of six million Jews.
But an examination
of the facts puts to rout all the
charges which are made against the
pope by certain parties, none of
whom are serious historians. The
following are the main points to
consider:
- Before he became
Pope Pius XII, Cardinal Pacelli
drafted the papal encyclical,
MIT BRENNEDNDER SORGE, in which
Pius XI denounced Nazi paganism
and racism; the document was smuggled
into Germany in March, 1937 and
read from all Catholic pulpits,
which infuriated the Nazis;
- It is well documented
by Jewish scholars like Joseph
Lichten of B'nai B'rith that Pius
used the assets of the Vatican
to ransom Jews from the Nazis
and that the Vatican under Pius
ran an extensive network of hide-outs.
Even the Pope's summer residence,
Castel Gondolfo, was used to hide
fugitive Jews. The Pope, moreover,
took personal responsibility for
the children of deported Jews;
- Largely as a
result of the Church's efforts,
the Jews in Italy had a far higher
survival rate under Nazi occupation
than was the case in other countries;
estimates of the number of Jews
saved by the Vatican's efforts
range up to several hundred thousand;
this was one reason why the chief
Rabbi of Rome converted to Catholicism
at the end of the war;
- In appreciation
of what Pius did for the Jews,
the World Jewish Congress made
a large cash gift to the Vatican
in 1945; in the same year, Rabbi
Herzog of Jerusalem sent a "special
blessing" to the Pope "for
his lifesaving efforts on behalf
of the Jews during the Nazi occupation
of Italy"; and when Pius
died in 1958, Israel's Foreign
Minister Golda Meir gave him a
moving eulogy at the United Nations
for the same reason;
- We share the
grief of the world over the death
of His Holiness Pope Pius XII.
During a generation of wars and
dissensions he affirmed the high
ideals of peace and compassion.
During the ten years of Nazi terror,
when our people went through the
horrors of martyrdom, the Pope
raised his voice to condemn the
persecutors and commiserate with
their victims. The life of our
time has been enriched by a voice
which expressed the great moral
truths above the tumults of daily
conflicts. We grieve over the
loss of a great defender of peace.....What
was to be gained by Pius's getting
up on a soap box and lashing out
at the Nazis? Both the International
Red Cross and the World Council
of Churches came to the same conclusion
as the Vatican: relief efforts
for the Jews would be more effective
if the agencies remained relatively
quiet; yet, you never hear anybody
attacking the Red Cross for its "silence" about
the Holocaust;
- In 1942, the
Catholic hierarchy of Amsterdam
spoke out vigorously against the
Nazi treatment of the Jews; the
Nazi response was a redoubling
of round-ups and deportations;
by the end of the war, 90 percent
of the Jews in Amsterdam were
liquidated. Jewish relief officials
were in complete agreement that
a public attack by the Vatican
against the Nazis would a) not
have the slightest effect on Hitler
and b) would seriously jeopardize
the lives of Jews who were being
hidden in convents, monasteries,
etc.;
- Nevertheless,
Pius's Christmas message in 1942
decried the fact that hundreds
of thousands were being persecuted "solely
because of their race or ancestry." The
German ambassador to the Vatican
complained that Pius was "clearly
speaking on behalf of the Jews." A
NEW YORK TIMES editorial on Christmas
day, 1942 praised Pius as "a
lonely voice crying out of the
silence of a continent";
- The scurrilous
lie that Pius somehow quietly
abetted the Final Solution began
with Rolf Hochhuth's 1962 play
THE DEPUTY, which is a total fabrication.
One does not need to be a psychologist
to understand why a German playwright
might do this; it's called guilt
transference;
- Finally, apropos
of the Vatican's 1933 concordat
with the Nazi government, which
Pius XI signed with great misgiving:
The Vatican throughout history
has had to sign concordats with
governments of which it disapproves;
the Church has a fundamental duty
to serve Catholics wherever they
may be and it must have a MODUS
OPERANDI with all governments,
even (or especially) bad ones.
The German concordat guaranteed
Catholic marriages, protected
Catholic education and allowed
the creation of new dioceses;
it was not meant to endorse the
Nazi government, which the Church
condemned on many occasions.
That is a simple
outline of the case. The Church's
record was not perfect, but how many
other institutions did this much? |
From A Question
of Judgment: Pius XII and the Jews,
1963 by the late Dr. Joseph Lichten,
then head of the Intercultural Affairs
Department of the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith:
"An indictment has been brought
down on Pope Pius XII, and by extension
on the Catholic Church, of criminal
implication in the extermination
of some six million Jews during World
War II.....What is the case against
Pius XII? In brief, that as head
of one of the most powerful moral
forces on earth he committed an unspeakable
sin of omission by not issuing a
formal statement condemning the Nazis'
genocidal slaughter of the Jews,
and that his silence was motivated
by reasons considered in modern times
as base: political exigency, economic
interests and personal ambition.
What is the case for him? That in
relation to the insane behavior of
the Nazis, from overlords to self
styled cogs like Eichmann, he did
everything humanly possible to save
lives and alleviate suffering among
the Jews: that a formal statement
would have provoked the Nazis to
brutal retaliation, and would substantially
have thwarted further Catholic action
on behalf of Jews. To the Sacred
College of Cardinals Pius XII wrote
on June 2, 1943: "Every word
that We addressed to the responsible
authorities and every one of Our
public declarations had to be seriously
weighed and considered in the interest
of the persecuted themselves in order
not to make their situation unwittingly
even more difficult and more unbearable." |
Pius XII Fed Thousands of Jews in Rome for Two Years
New Book Reveals Vatican Work During
World War II
VATICAN CITY, MAR
12 (ZENIT).- Sr Margherita Marchione
has written a new book, entitled "Pius
XII and The Jews," covering
the difficult years of the Second
World War and the Holocaust. She
presented her book today at Vaticana
Radio headquarters, accompanied by
Cardinal Edward Isdris Cassidy, President
of the Pontifical Commission for
Religious Relations with Judaism.
Debate over Pope
Eugenio Pacelli's relations with
the Jewish people still rages. Some
circles accuse him of keeping "silent" during
the Holocaust. John Paul II, on the
other hand, has consistently defended
the work of his predecessor, to the
point of encouraging his cause for
beatification.
In order to shed
new light on the debate, the Italian
edition of Sr Margherita's book has
just been published, offering the
testimony of Jews saved by the Church
and by the Pontiff during those dark
years. Pius XII "did everything
possible," Sr Margherita explained. "Suffice
it to quote the commissar of the
Italian Union of Jewish Communities
who on September 8, 1945, said to
L'Osservatore Romano: 'In the first
place, we offer our reverent homage
of recognition to the Supreme Pontiff,
to the men and women religious who,
putting into practice directives
from the Holy Father, have looked
upon us as brothers, rather than
persecuted Jews.' "
Renzo de Felice,
one of the most rigorous Italian
historians, has proven that there
were 150 monasteries and convents
in the city of Rome in which Jews
were hiding to defend themselves
from the Nazi occupation.
The author of the
book has not the slightest doubt: "faced
with the drama of genocide, Pius
XII was not an impassible spectator." The
documentation which supports this
claim is momentous. "There
are twelve volumes of documents in
the Vatican archives in which there
is proof that the Holy Father did
everything possible and that the
Jews were extremely grateful. Here,
at the Vatican, there was a center
where our religious went every day
to help the Holy Father answer letters
from prisoners all over the world,
as well as from their families."
Some sectors of the
Jewish world criticize Pope Pius
XII, but the book proves they do
not represent the majority. Cardinal
Cassidy believes that "an important
aspect of this book is the collection
of testimonies of Jews in Rome and
other places who were saved by religious
with the help of the Holy See, which
gave them their food almost every
night for two years. If the Pope
had spoken out, how many would have
survived? We are speaking about thousands
of people. It is a question we must
keep in mind. A strong word from
the Holy Father would have created
a very negative reaction against
these persons, even here in Italy."
ZE99031209 |
Additional Evidence of Pius XII's Help to Jews
Church Saved One Million Jews From
Certain Death
VATICAN CITY, MAR
15 (ZENIT).- Throughout World War
II, Pius XII remained in the Vatican
at the heart of occupied Rome, seemingly
separated from the action of the
war. Many claim today that he was
cowardly hiding from the Nazis, refusing to speak out against the
atrocities committed around him.
The speakers at the Vatican presentation
of Sr. Margherita Marchione's new
book, "Pius XII and the Jews," paint
a different picture.
"The document
'We Remember: A Reflection on the
Shoah,' published by the Holy See
on March 12, recalls that, at the
end of World War II, Jewish communities
and personalities expressed their
gratitude for what Pius XII and his
representatives did to save the lives
of thousands of Jews," noted
Cardinal Edward Isdris Cassidy, President
of the Pontifical Commission for
Relations with Judaism.
During his address,
Cardinal Cassidy said, "Cardinals,
bishops, priests and religious sheltered
Jews, at times for months. Even cloistered
religious did not hesitate, there
severe canonical restrictions notwithstanding,
to save Jews and expose themselves
and their communities to grave reprisals
by the German occupation. Sister
Margherita Marchione's congregation,
the Pious Philippine Teachers, cared
for 114 Jews whose lives were in
danger. Recently, Israel's ambassador
in Italy gave the Medal of the Just
to the Sisters of Sion who saved
187 Jews."
"In reflecting
on the Holocaust, we are not trying
to deny that there were Catholics
who did not offer as much help as
they could have to the persecuted,
but we do have some heroic Christian
testimonies. They were witnesses
of evangelic love, of the love Jesus
Christ taught his disciples in very
clear words: 'Love your neighbor
as yourself' and 'I give you a new
commandment: that you love one another
as I have loved you.' "
Cardinal Cassidy
ended his talk by recalling what
Golda Meir -- Foreign Minister and
later Prime Minister of Israel --
wrote when Pius XII died: "We
share humanity's sorrow ... When
the terrible martyrdom was unleashed
on our people, the Pope raised his
voice on behalf of the victims. Life
in our times was enriched by a voice
that spoke clearly, above the daily
tumult, on the great moral truths.
We mourn for a great servant of peace."
Senator Giulio Andreotti,
former Italian prime minister, said
that as soon as the calumnies against
Pius XII started, Giuseppe Saragat,
who was Italian Foreign Minister
at that time, wrote: "I, myself,
am convinced Pius XII was a great
Pope and that the campaign against
him is orchestrated for partisans.
So many years after his death, this
is unacceptable not just for Catholics,
but for all men of good will....
Innumerable episodes reveal the spirit
behind Pius XII's activity, especially
here in Rome, the capital of the
Republic, where there is living testimony
from all citizens on Pius XII's work;
moreover, instead of going to a safe
place protected by Allied troops,
as others did, he stayed in his place,
in the middle of the storm, giving
aid to neighborhoods stricken by
the fury of the war, and trying to
pry innocent victims away from Nazi
barbarism.... In any event, the controversy
that has broken out over the memory
of Pius XII is not a cultural debate;
it is founded on calumnies and lies
that have nothing to do with historical
and cultural research. In the debates against Pius XII we seethe cold,
calculating propaganda of those trying
to excuse Nazism from horrific crimes by making the Roman Catholic Church
co-responsible."
Fr Peter Gumpel,
process reporter for Pius XII's beatification
cause, made a detailed explanation
of the way opinions on Pope Pacelli
changed over a period of twenty years. "At
the end of the War, all the large
Jewish organizations of the world,
the chief Rabbis of Jerusalem, New
York, Denmark, Bulgaria, Rumania
and Rome, and thousands of Jews who
survived the persecution expressed
their gratitude and affection for
what Pius XII had done for them.
After 1963, there was a complete
turn around, following the play 'The
Deputy,' written by Rolf Hochhuth,
a very young playwright. At the end
of the play, which was translated
into several languages, the author
included an historical appendix.
Any historian who reads that text
would appreciate its superficiality.
There are quotations with no references
and unjustified declarations. Hochhuth
himself admitted that where he had
no documentation, he gave free rein
to fantasy. It is interesting to
note that his thesis is identical
to the one Stalin spread to all the
countries under communist occupation;
perhaps this coincidence is not accidental."
Father Gumpel noted
that the first to attack Hochhuth's
play were some Jewish historians,
among whom were Emilio Pinchas Lapide
and Jeno Levai. Lapide wrote that "the
Holy See, the nuncios and the Catholic
Church saved between 700,000 and
860,000 Jews from certain death." Levai
published a book documenting the
Church's role in saving thousands
of Hungarian Jews: "Hungarian
Jewry and the Papacy: Pius XII Did
Not Keep Silent."
In regard to anti-Semitic
accusations, Father Gumpel said that "on
March 25, 1928 the Holy Office published
a document stating, 'The Church fully
condemns the hatred against the chosen
people of God, that hatred is currently
called anti-Semitism.' The condemnation
was made in 1928, in other words,
five years before Hitler came to
power, and the document was directed
against authors who had left the
Catholic Church to promote racism
and an exaggerated nationalism, the
exaltation of the Nordic race, and
scorn for everything else."
To dispel any lingering
doubts about Pius XII's relations
with Nazism, Father Gumpel said, "when
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected
Pope, the Nazi government, led by
Adolf Hitler, was the only one that
did not send an official delegation
to the ceremony."
ZE99031501 |
Document Reveals Jews' Recognition of Pius XII's Support
Generous Jewish Donation to Catholic
Church Following World War II
ROME, JUL 30 (ZENIT).-
Contrary to some recent historical
readings, which tend to picture Pius
XII as silent, if not condescending,
on the question of Nazi anti-Semitism,
a document has been discovered in
Israel that not only confirms Pius
XII's role in defense of persecuted
Jews, but reveals that world leaders
of the Jewish communities at the
time were very aware of his action,
to the point that after the war they
came to Rome and gave the Catholic
Church a very generous donation.
The document was
discovered by Lorenzo Cremonesi,
the Italian newspaper "Corriere
della Sera's" Jerusalem correspondent,
who is completing a book on the history
of Israel's relations with the Holy
See. Cremonesi spoke about his discovery
to the magazine "Tempi," sympathetic
to the Communion and Liberation movement.
While examining the Israeli archives,
Cremonesi found a letter from the
Vatican, dated October 27, 1945,
signed by Monsignor Giovanni Battista
Montini - the future Paul VI, who
at the time worked in the Secretariat
of State; it was addressed to Raffaele
Cantoni, President of the Italian
Jewish communities. In the letter,
Montini gave detailed information
on a conversation between Pius XII
and Leo Kubwitsky, secretary general
of the World Jewish Congress. Montini
wrote that during an audience, on
behalf of his organization, Kubwitsky
gave Pius XII more than one million
dollars (at the present value) for "charity
works" and expressed "his
gratitude to the august Pontiff for
his work in support of persecuted
Jews."
Montini added, moreover,
that Pius XII decided that "the
sum should go exclusively to needy
persons of Jewish origin." The
news has awakened some interest but,
as Fr. Peter Gumpel, reporter for
Pius XII's beatification cause and
an expert in the history of the period,
has pointed out, "This is nothing
new. It is news that has been published
before. And it is only one of hundreds
of testimonials of affection and
gratitude that different Jewish representatives
expressed to Pope Pacelli."
Fr. Pierre Blet,
former professor of Ecclesiastical
History at the Gregorian, who was
one of four persons appointed by
Paul VI to compile the "Holy
See's Acts and Documents of the Second
World War," recalled that in
at least three of the twelve volumes
of this monumental work, specifically
in Nos. 8, 9 and 10, are to be found "all
the official documents in which the
Jewish communities, the Rabbis of
half the world, and other refugees,
thank Pius XII and the Catholic Church
for all the help and work in their
favor."
ZE99073005 |
Pius XII Rehabilitated by Jewish Historian
New Documents Prove Nazis Distrusted
Him for Helping Jews
ROME, JULY 7 (ZENIT.org).- "Hitler
distrusted the Holy See because it
hid Jews," stated Jewish historian
Richard Breitman.
He has written 5
books, one of which is on the Holocaust,
and another on Nazism. Breitman confirms
the role played by Pius XII in defending
and safeguarding the persecuted during
the Nazi regime.
The professor at
American University in Washington,
is a consultant for the working group
for the restitution of Jewish property,
which group has obtained the declassification
of the OSS dossier. In an interview
with the Italian newspaper "Corriere
della Sera" on June 29, Breitman
(who to date is the only person authorized
to study the OSS documents of U.S.
espionage during the Second World
War), explained that the documents "are
only the tip of the iceberg. Over
the next 3 years, additional millions
of pages will be made public. But
what impressed him most in regard
to Italy, was German hostility toward
the Pope, and the September 1943
plan to "Germanize" the
country. Breitman also found "the
Allied silence on the Holocaust surprising.
Their first testimonies are from
the end of 1942..."
Asked about relations
between Pius XII and the Germans,
Breitam responded: "In general,
the Germans considered the Pope as
an enemy. In a telegram, someone
suggested to play on his old anti-communism,
to induce him to 'understand' Nazism,
and to take him from Rome to the
north: the Vatican and Germany would
have formed a common front against
the USSR, and the Vatican would fall
under Berlin's control. But the proposal
was rejected because the majority
knew that Pius XII would never leave
Rome, and that the Vatican was on
the side of the Allies."
How did they know
it? "The Nazis had spies in
the Vatican. Among their dispatches
deciphered by our espionage one spoke
of an Allied plan to disembark in
Sardinia, another of the departure
of a diplomatic train with Jews on
board, transported from Rome to Spain.
Only the Vatican was up-to date,
the Nazi 'moles' told general Karl
Wolff, SS chief in Italy. Berlin
distrusted the Pope and the Vatican,
because it knew they hid Jews."
Breitman's statements
in part deny the thesis of those
who at present speak of Pius XII
as "Hitler's Pope" and,
at the same time, confirm the hypotheses,
advanced at other times by Catholic
historians and researchers, according
to whom the OSS documents and those
of the corresponding British secret
service, would result in demonstrating
how great and meritorious was the
action carried out by the Vatican
in favor of the persecuted. Sadly,
the respective U.S. and British dispatches
have to date denied Catholic historians
permission to see these documents
but, sooner or later, truth will
end up in the public domain.
ZE00070704 |
New Revelations On Jews Saved By Pius XII
Includes Testimonies by Founders
of Israel
VATICAN CITY, FEB.
16, 2001 (Zenit.org)
- As early as 1939, Pius XII organized
special operations to help Jews persecuted
by Nazism, according to a new book
on the Vatican's prewar and wartime
activity.
In "The Jews
Saved by Pius XII" ("Gli
ebrei salvati da Pio XII"),
which goes on sale in Italy today,
journalist Antonio Gaspari gathers
numerous testimonies in favor of
Pius XII and the Catholic Church
expressed by founders of the state
of Israel, leaders of Jewish associations,
and survivors of concentration camps.
Gaspari is the author
of a best seller published in Spain,
Italy, and Latin America, entitled "The
Jews, Pius XII, and the Black Legend".
(Planeta and Testimonio, Publishers)
This work highlights many activities
organized by the Vatican, and requested
secretly by Eugenio Pacelli, to defend
and hide the Jews.
The new book is published
by Logos.
These are stories
that now, almost 60 years later,
emerge from anonymity. One is that
of the 51 Jews hidden in the Dermatological
Institute of the Immaculate in 1943.
The religious, Sons of the Immaculate
Conception, who managed this hospital
had an original idea: to hospitalize
in their premises all Jews in danger
of losing their lives. Since they
had to give the Germans reasons for
the admission of so many patients,
they used all kinds of creams to
confound the enemy.
The doctors soon
became friends of their pseudo-patients.
When one of them arrived at the hospital
and someone there asked what was
wrong with him, the doctors answered, "Kesselring's
syndrome," the surname of a
German officer in Rome.
A unique atmosphere
was created, to the point that hymns
were sung, saying: "Hail Mary,
our hope, give our Jews a roof."
The volume contradicts
American Susan Zucotti's thesis,
who in her book "Under His Very
Windows -- The Vatican and The Holocaust
in Italy" (Yale University Press)
contends that, although the Church
saved many Jews, this was the isolated
action of priests and religious.
The Vatican and the Pope, Zucotti
claims, never gave any sign of help.
"This is a thesis
that is impossible to defend," Gaspari
explained. "Few know that as
early as 1939, Pius XII had created
a special department for the Jews
in the German section of the Vatican
Information Office. Some 36,877 papers
were processed in favor of the Jews.
This work is referred to in Jewish
publications like the Canadian Jewish
Chronicle."
"In the city
of Rome alone," he continued, "the
Jewish community has attested that
the Church saved 4,447 Jews from
Nazi persecution. In fact, an inscription
in the Museum of the History of the
Liberation of Rome, states: 'The
Congress of delegates of the Italian
Jewish community, held in Rome for
the first time since the liberation,
feels the urgent duty to render reverent
homage to Your Holiness, and expresses
the most profound feeling of gratitude
that inspires all Jews, for the evidence
of human fraternity shown to them
by the Church during the years of
persecution, when their life was
endangered by Nazi barbarism.'"
Gaspari recounted
several stories of this nature. For
example, he quoted an unimpeachable
source: Gideon Hausner, Israeli general
prosecutor at Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann's
trial, who said on Oct. 18, 1961: "The
Italian clergy helped numerous Jews
and hid them in monasteries, and
the Pope intervened personally in
support of those arrested by the
Nazis."
Among the new documents
published by Gaspari, is a letter
of Pius XII sent to Sister Ferdinanda
(Maria Corsetti), awarded by the
Israeli government with the title "Righteous
Among the Nations," in which
Jews are referred to as "beloved
children."
Pius XII intervened
on several occasions in a personal
capacity, through the Vatican state
secretariat or its intermediaries,
to save the Jews. In the case of
1,000 German Jews who wanted to emigrate
to Brazil, the Pontiff paid out of
his own pocket the $800 each needed
for the trip.
ZE01021624 |
Pope Pius XII Opposed
Deportations Imposed in Occupied
Rome
JERUSALEM, MAR 1
(ZENIT).-
After guarding Adolf Eichmann's secret
diaries for almost 40 years, yesterday
the Israeli government made them
public. Eichmann, a Nazi SS lieutenant
colonel, was executed in 1962 in
Israel for "crimes against the
Jewish people and against humanity",
for his central role in helping to
carry out the Nazi holocaust.
Eichmann wrote these
diaries during the months following
his death sentence. They are especially
chilling in their description of
the way the Nazi regime came to the "Final
Solution" against the Jews,
and the way the extermination was
implemented.
The pages are also
very interesting in studying the
Vatican's position on the persecution
of Jews. Some people accuse the Church
of having done nothing in October,
1943, when the Nazis began to deport
Jews from their "ghetto" in
Rome.
However, Eichmann
wrote that the Vatican "vigorously
protested the arrest of Jews, requesting
the interruption of such action;
to the contrary, the Pope would denounce
it publicly."
This is a confirmation
of the statements of those historians
who have collected documents on the
actions undertaken by the Vatican
to defend Jews from the Holocaust
during those dark years.
It must be kept in
mind that Rome was occupied, and
that the Church was the only institution
that had the courage to denounce
the Nazi action.
In a chapter about
Italy, Eichmann explains that "on
October 6, 1943, ambassador Moelhausen
sent a telegraphic message to Foreign
Minister Ribbentrop in which he said
that general Keppler, SS commander
in Rome, had received a special order
from Berlin: he had to arrest 8,000
Jews who were living in Rome to deport
them to northern Italy, where they
would be exterminated. General Stahel,
commander of the German forces in
Rome, explained to ambassador Moelhausen
that, from his point of view, it
would be better to use the Jews for
fortification works. On October 9,
however, Ribbentrop answered that
the 8,000 Jews of Rome had to be
deported to the Mathausen concentration
camp. He emphasized that, in giving
evidence under oath in the military
prison of Gaeta on June 27, 1961,
Kappler said that it was with that
order that for the first time he
heard the term 'Final Solution.' "
"At that time,
my office received the copy of a
letter, that I immediately gave to
my direct superiors, sent by the
Catholic Church in Rome, in the person
of Bishop Hudal, to the commander
of the German forces in Rome, general
Stahel. The Church was vigorously
protesting the arrest of Jews of
Italian citizenship, requesting that
such actions be interrupted immediately
throughout Rome and its surroundings.
To the contrary, the Pope would denounce
it publicly. The Curia was especially
angry because these incidents were
taking place practically under Vatican
windows. But, precisely at that time,
without paying any attention to the
Church's position, the Italian fascist
government passed a law ordering
the deportation of all Italian Jews
to concentration camps," Eichmann
wrote in his diary.
"The objections
given and the excessive delay in
the steps necessary to complete the
implementation of the operation,
resulted in a great part of Italian
Jews being able to hide and escape
capture," Eichmann wrote. A
good number of them hid in convents
and monasteries, and were helped
by priests, nuns and other men and
women of the Church. |
On Hitler, the Holy See and the Jews (Part 1)
Interview With Historian Father Giovanni
Sale
ROME, JUNE 11, 2004
(Zenit.org).-
The Holy See was farsighted in understanding
the dangers inherent in Nazism long
before World War II, says a new book.
The book, "Hitler,
la Santa Sede e gli Ebrei" (Hitler,
the Holy See, and the Jews), Jaca
Book publishers, is written by Father
Giovanni Sale. In it, the Gregorian
University professor analyzes the
relations between the Third Reich
and the Vatican during 1933-1945.
The book refers to
unpublished archive documentation,
in particular that of the Vatican
Secret Archives relating to the nunciatures
of Monaco and Berlin, and that of
the review Civiltà Cattolica.
ZENIT interviewed
Father Sale about the findings published
in the book. Part 2 of this interview
appears Sunday.
Question:
Historiography
has neglected what the Catholic
clergy did to oppose Hitler and
National Socialism from coming
to power in Germany. Can you explain
how the Catholic Church conducted
itself?
Father Sale:
With the recent
opening of the Vatican Archives
relating to the nunciatures of
Monaco and Berlin, 1922-39, we
now have the possibility to better
assess how that prophetic political
change of January 30, 1933, was
commented upon and judged by the
highest authorities of the Catholic
Church at the time.
A series of reports,
written by Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo,
the apostolic nuncio in Berlin,
gives us the possibility to better
assess those events.
The first German
bishop to take action against
National Socialism was the archbishop
of Mainz, who already in September
1930 published some norms with
the objective of impeding Catholics
from being contaminated by the
National Socialist epidemic. However,
not all the German bishops approved
them, considering them too harsh
in content and, in any event,
they judged the episcopal document
premature, as Hitlers movement
was still in the process of formation.
Moreover, some
bishops were of the opinion that
it was not necessary to give too
much credit to theoretical constructs
of some intellectuals of the Hitlers
movement, such as the anti-Christian
ideologist Rosenberg, while, instead,
it was necessary to consider that
the National Socialist Party was
the only one that opposed with
determination the advance of Bolshevism
in Europe.
With the passing
of time, however, the whole German
episcopate associated itself with
the line of conduct of the ordinary
of Mainz -- "driven," nuncio
Orsenigo wrote, "by the persistent
irreligious attitude of some leaders
of National Socialism."
In the Prussian
bishops' conference meeting in
Fulda from August 17-19, 1932,
it was decided, "keeping
in mind the danger that the National
Socialist Movement might constitute
for souls," to issue dispositions
that would prohibit Catholics
from belonging to Hitlers party.
The document was approved unanimously.
It was on the
occasion of the electoral campaign
for political elections of March
5, 1933, that the opposition between
National Socialism and the Catholic
world came into focus for the
first time.
In a dispatch
of February 16, 1933, sent to
the Secretariat of State, Archbishop
Orsenigo talked about the gravity
of the situation and the harshness
of the political clash under way
between the parties, and about
the orientation of Catholics in
the political realm and the manipulation
of religion for party ends.
"The electoral
struggle in Germany," the
nuncio wrote, "has now entered
its acute stage. [...] Unfortunately,
even the Catholic religion is
often used by one or the other
parties for electoral purposes.
The Center Party naturally has
almost total support from the
clergy and Catholics and, yet
to have a momentary victory, it
acts without being overly concerned
with the painful consequences,
which might ensue for Catholicism,
should the adversary gain a full
victory."
In fact, during
the electoral campaign, the religious
element was seriously exploited
for reasons of political propaganda
both by the governing parties
and the Zentrum [the Catholic
Center Party].
The latter, considered
by many as a "confessional
party," appealed to Christian
values to condemn and combat the
principles of National Socialism;
National Socialism, instead, appealed
to the struggle against Communism
to mobilize the Catholic forces
against the common enemy. And
we also know that many men of
the Church were not at all insensitive
to such an appeal.
In general, the
control exercised by the German
Catholic hierarchy during the
whole period of the electoral
campaign was marked by great prudence
and a sense of responsibility.
In general, it did everything
possible not to fuel, with partisan
or improvised statements, the
existing conflict between National
Socialism and the Zentrum.
The Holy See did
as much as well. From the documentation
consulted, we see that in fact
neither the Holy See nor the nuncio
in Berlin intervened in any way
to influence the bishops and the
leaders of the Center party in
a specific direction.
In those months,
the Secretariat of State limited
itself only to examine what was
happening in Germany, and tried
in every way to remain outside
of the complicated German political
questions. Nevertheless, the secretariat
looked with apprehension at all
that was occurring in those months
in such an important nation for
the destiny of Europe.
Although sharing
the point of view of the German
bishops in their condemnation
of the National Socialist ideology,
and nourishing intense concern
for the destiny of the Catholic
Church in that country, the Vatican
was also aware of the danger of
an eventual "Bolshevization" of
Germany, which would have drawn
the whole of Continental Europe
into conflict, consigning it defenseless
to Communism.
This explains
why at that moment the Vatican
did not judge with excessive rigor
Hitler's coming to power, much
less so his political plan to
create a Germany with a strong,
authoritarian government on the
model of that of Mussolini.
The most controversial
issue from the historical point
of view refers, however, to the
decisive support given by the
Zentrum to the consolidation of
Hitlers dictatorship, through
the voting of the law on full
powers of March 23, 1933.
It should be recalled
that the granting of full legislative
powers by the Reichstag to the
chancellor was a procedure, although
exceptional, provided by the Constitution
and, therefore, legitimate.
In our opinion,
the responsibility of the Zentrum
in regard to the consolidation
of the power of National Socialism
is limited to the fact that with
its vote it made possible the
enlargement of the chancellor's
powers.
This did not mean,
however, the assumption of absolute
power -- which remained in the
hands of the army and of the president
of the republic -- by Hitler,
of which he was subsequently invested
by simple decree, undersigned
by himself, after President Hindenburg's
death.
So, to put the
burden of the advent of Hitlers
dictatorship on the Zentrum, as
is often done by certain political
journalism, seems to us, in addition
to unjust, also erroneous on the
plane of historical truth.
It was the reactionary
and conservative forces of the
state that permitted National
Socialism to attain power in Germany
and it was always the latter that
allowed Hitler -- although they
did not know the ideas and political
plan -- to be invested with full
powers, deluding themselves by
the idea of being able to dominate
and manipulate him to their own
advantage.
Nor should it
be forgotten, moreover, that it
was the voters in the elections
of March 5, 1933, who confirmed
such a choice, giving to Hitlers
party a high percentage of the
votes.
If on March 23
the Center Party had refused to
vote full powers to the National
Socialists -- who for the purpose
of intimidating the Deputies had
the building where the meeting
was taking place surrounded by
the SA -- it would have used force
to obtain this result, even by
spilling innocent blood.
In our opinion,
the Deputies of the Center who
voted in March 1933 the law of
delegation of powers acted in
good faith, thinking in this way
of rendering a good service to
the homeland, to preserve social
and political peace and save the
Constitution. And they certainly
did not have before their eyes
all the negative effects -- many
of which at that time were unforeseeable
-- which would then follow that
assumption of powers.
Question:
National Socialist
ideology turned out to be pagan
and decidedly anti-Christian.
But the most serious clash between
the Nazis and the Catholic Church
occurred with the 1933 law on
compulsory sterilization. It was
with this law that the Nazis began
to implement in a criminal manner
the selection of race. Can you
illustrate for us how the Catholic
Church reacted?
Father Sale:
In reality, the
disagreements between the Holy
See and National Socialism began
already the day after the stipulation
of the July 1933 Concordat, when,
without hesitation, Hitler began
to violate not just the spirit
but also the letter, limiting
at his pleasure the rights of
the Church in matters of associations,
formation, etc.
However, as early
as April 1933 the Holy See had
let Hitler know, either through
channels of papal diplomacy or
through the mediation of Mussolini,
of disapproval of the anti-Semitic
legislation adopted by the new
government, as it was in violation
of the natural law and did everything
possible to attenuate its rigor.
It should be said,
in any case, that it was the law
on compulsory sterilization which
entered into force at the beginning
of 1934 that represented the first
instance of a clash between the
Vatican authority and that of
the new German Reich, now decided
on carrying out its eugenic theories
in the matter of racial selection
-- theories that Pius XI openly
condemned in the 1931 encyclical "Casti
Connubii."
At the request
of the Holy See, the German episcopate
did everything possible -- through
pastoral letters, personal contacts
with leaders of the regime, etc.
-- to obtain the modification
of the law on sterilization.
Such mobilization
of the German Catholic world led
in fact to the modification of
the regulation of the application
of the law, which was published
on December 5, 1933.
It contained two
important clauses, which were
drafted to be inserted in the
final text by representatives
of the bishops after exhausting
meetings with government authorities
and against the resistance of
the radical wing of the National
Socialist Party.
The first allowed
persons affected by hereditary
illnesses who did not want to
be sterilized to recover in a
clinic or health center; the second
guaranteed exemption to members
of staff who for reasons of conscience
did not wish to be involved or
be present at operations for sterilization.
More fortunate
was the courageous complaint made
by some German bishops in 1941
against the program of euthanasia
of individuals carriers of hereditary
illnesses, especially mental patients
-- the very ones on whom sterilization
was practiced in virtue of the
law of 1933 -- whose maintenance
was considered too onerous by
the state.
It was Bishop
Clemens August Graf von Galen
of Muenster who, in a homily on
August 3, 1941, recounted in particular
how patients were killed who were
brought in some cases, purposely
predisposed to this objective,
and how relatives were given false
news on the death of their dear
ones.
The bishop condemned
these killings with force, describing
them as real and proper crimes,
and requested that those who were
responsible be punished.
The lack of respect
for human life, he continued,
led in the end to the physical
elimination of all people held
to be unable to work, such as
the seriously ill, the elderly
and wounded soldiers returning
from the front.
Woe to the German
people, von Galen warned, if it
allows the killing of the innocent,
leaving unpunished those who perpetrate
such crimes.
The homily made
a profound impression among the
civilian people and also among
German soldiers fighting at the
front. The Nazi leaders, seeing
themselves attacked by the bishop's
denunciation, reacted with violence.
Some called immediately for the
hanging of von Galen, accused
of the crime of high treason.
However, Hitler
reluctantly decided to put off
the rendering of accounts with
the Church until the end of the
war, in order not to create ill
will among the civilian population
of that important region, and
among numerous Catholic soldiers.
In any event,
an order of the Führer on
the same date, August 3, 1941,
officially blocked the further
implementation of the euthanasia
program. In subsequent years,
despite Hitler's order, euthanasia
continued to be practiced in some
special situations. But the official
program on a large scale was never
taken up again.
[Sunday: Pius XI's
courageous encyclical]
ZE04061121 |
On Hitler, the Holy See and the Jews (Part 2)
Interview With Historian Father Giovanni
Sale
ROME, JUNE 13, 2004
(Zenit.org).- Pope Pius XI's 1937
encyclical against Nazism commanded
world attention and was widely seen
as a heroic denunciation of Hitler's
regime, says a historian.
Father Giovanni Sale,
a professor of history at the Gregorian
University, in Part 1 of this interview
clarified the position of the Holy
See and of German Catholics in regard
to the rise of Hitler's movement.
In Part II, the historian-priest
clarifies the position of Pius XI
and Pius XII vis-à-vis Nazism.
Father Sale is author of the recently
published "Hitler, la Santa
Sede e gli Ebrei" (Hitler, the
Holy See, and the Jews), Jaca Book
publishers.
Question:
The encyclical "Mit
Brennender Sorge" and the
fact that Hitler was not able
to visit the Vatican show the
Holy See's hostility to the Nazi
regime. What is your opinion about
Pius XI's conduct toward the Nazi
regime?
Father Sale:
The recent opening
of the Vatican Archives relating
to the nunciatures of Munich and
Berlin shed new light on Hitler's
truncated visit to the Vatican
-- during his state visit to Rome
in 1938 -- as well as on the writing
and dissemination in Germany of
the encyclical "Mit Brennender
Sorge," that is, Pius XI's
encyclical against Nazism.
The new available
Vatican documentation informs
us in an amazingly detailed manner
on the vicissitudes linked to
the reception of this encyclical
by the states and the realms of
international diplomacy.
The sources show
that the encyclical was interpreted
at that time, by the majority
of Western countries not linked
to Germany, as a courageous act
of denunciation of Nazism, of
racist doctrines, and of the idolatry
of the state that it professed,
as well as of its violent methods
of social discipline.
"Mit Brennender
Sorge" [...] had truly worldwide
resonance. Especially for political
reasons, it was one of the first
papal acts that went beyond the
frontiers of the Catholic world:
It was read by believers and nonbelievers,
by Catholics and Protestants.
Moreover, for the first time the
latter gave public recognition
to a papal document, something
which shortly before was unthinkable.
According to a
prestigious Dutch Protestant newspaper,
the encyclical "would be
valid" also for Christians
of the Reformation, "as in
it the Pope does not limit himself
to defend the rights of Catholics,
but also those of religious freedom
in general."
Of course, "Mit
Brennender Sorge" was received
in different ways, according to
the sensibility and political
culture of many of the people
who read it.
The fact is, as
we have already stated, that it
was interpreted generally not
only as an act of protest of the
Holy See because of the continuous
violations of the Concordat by
the German government, or as a
doctrinal repudiation of the errors
of National Socialism, but above
all as an act of denunciation
of Nazism itself and of its Führer. And
this was understood immediately
by the leaders of the Reich.
It is true, as
those who have commented on the
encyclical have stressed, that
it never mentions either National
Socialism or Hitler. But if one
goes beyond the "letter" of
the document, it is easy to perceive
behind every page, every phrase
a genuine accusation against the
Hitlerite system and against its
racist and neo-pagan theories.
This was understood
by the great majority of the readers
of the papal document. That is
why it became one of the most
important and most courageous
denunciations of Nazi barbarism,
pronounced in an authoritative
manner by the Bishop of Rome,
when a great part of the European
political world still regarded
Hitler with a mixture of admiration,
surprise and fear.
Question:
Another great
debate is that of Pius XII and
the Holocaust. What have you concluded
after your historical research?
What did Pope Pacelli do in face
of the persecution of Jews?
Father Sale:
In regard to the
Jews deported to territories occupied
by the Reich, the action taken
in their favor by the Holy See's
diplomacy was oriented in the
direction of the governments of
countries allied to Germany, where
there was a Catholic majority
and a "combative" episcopate.
A note of April
1, 1943, from the Secretariat
of State said: "To avoid
the mass deportation of Jews,
which is taking place in many
countries of Europe, the Holy
See has requested the attention
of the nuncio of Italy, of the
chargé d'affaires
of Slovakia, and of the Holy See's
charge in Croatia."
Using the Vatican
diplomatic channels, he did all
he could to obtain something --
often, unfortunately, very little
-- in favor of the Jews from those
governments. It is known, moreover,
that he exhorted the local episcopate,
in particular the German, to strongly
denounce the horrors committed
by the Nazis against Catholics
and Jews.
It should be recalled
that the greater part of papal
interventions had as their principal
objective to defend Catholic Jews
and to guarantee the indissolubility
of marriages between Jews and
Catholics, based on the concordats
stipulated with these states.
Really, the Holy See could not
ask or do more through the official
diplomatic channels.
After the occupation
of Poland, Germany had answered
the Holy See that it was requesting
the application of the German
Concordat to all Polish territories "included" in
the Reich. In fact, it was not
even applied in the German territory.
The archives of
the Reich's Foreign Ministry are
full of periodic addresses of
the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop
Cesare Orsenigo, on the Jews.
However, the dispatches he sent
to the Secretariat of State show
how difficult his situation was.
One of them, of
October 19, 1942, says: "Despite
the precautions, I have tried
to talk with the Foreign Minister
but, as usual, especially when
it is a question of people who
are not Aryan, he replied, 'There
is nothing to do.' Any issue on
the Jews is systematically rejected
or ignored."
In this connection,
one often perceives a sense of
impotence and discouragement in
the words of the Vatican diplomats.
The diplomatic activity of the
Holy See in favor of the Jews
was not, however, as some say,
totally useless and ineffective.
Sometimes it succeeded in "slowing
down" the deportation operations
or, when it could do nothing else,
in excluding some categories of
persons from it.
Part of recent
historiography, especially of
the United States, ignores this
activity carried out by the Holy
See in favor of the Jews. It denounces
the "silence" of Pius
XII, considering it "culpable." According
to them, the Pope had the duty
to denounce what was happening
in Europe, even if he had to endanger
his own life.
The truth is that
this not only would have exposed
the Pope's life to Nazi reprisal
-- which on several occasions
he said he was willing to accept
-- but that of all bishops, priests,
men and women religious, who lived
in the Occupied Territories, as
well as the security of millions
of Catholics.
On the so-called
Final Solution, from the sources
I have consulted, some of them
kept in our archive of Civiltà Cattolica,
it is clear that the Pope did
not have sufficient and accurate
information. Basing himself on
nebulous and at times contradictory
news, he knew that very many Jews,
without any culpability and only
because of their race, were killed
by Nazis in different ways. In
fact, shortly before, the same
had happened to many Polish Catholics,
for the sole reason of their nationality.
But he knew nothing
about the Final Solution. Until
1944, the Vatican was not even
aware of the existence of Auschwitz.
Allied propaganda itself, despite
the fact that it described German
atrocities, savage reprisals and
other things, said nothing about
the extermination camps.
The first certain
news was had with the famous Auschwitz
Protocol, in which two young Jews,
who fled from the Auschwitz concentration
camp in the spring of 1944, denounced
to the world the extermination
of their brothers in the gas chambers.
The text, known in part already
in June of the same year, was
not fully published until the
month of November.
What did the Allies
know about the Final Solution?
Certainly more than the Pope.
According to historian Richard
Breitman, both Roosevelt and Churchill
knew much about the systematic
extermination of Jews, as their
secret services deciphered the
SS' coded communications.
According to Breitman,
a strong denunciation of the crimes
by the Allies would have constituted
a serious obstacle to the implementation
of the Final Solution, but it
did not take place.
Question:
In your book,
you dedicate two chapters to Pius
XII's 1942 radio message. Can
you explain to us why that radio-message
is so important?
Father Sale:
Pius XII's 1942
Christmas radio message, dedicated
to the pacification of states,
presenting the moral and natural
law as criteria for the re-establishment
of a new order among nations,
is one of the most significant
and at the same time most controversial
acts of Pope Eugenio Pacelli's
pontificate.
When it was pronounced,
it had an enormous echo in all
the continents and was heard and
appreciated even outside the Catholic
world. Newspapers and magazines
of different cultural and political
orientation published ample passages
and commentaries, benevolent in
the majority of cases.
Very different
was the reception given the papal
message by governments and the
world of diplomacy. It was received
with open hostility by the Axis
powers, in particular by Germany,
and with open indifference by
the Allied powers, in particular
by the English.
In it, the Pope
not only repudiated the new "European
order" that National Socialism
sought to establish, but it condemned
explicitly the atrocities of the
war, both the blanket bombings
carried out by the Allies on German
cities, as well as the atrocities
carried out by the Germans against
innocent civilians.
In particular,
the Pope denounced the extermination
of European Jews. "This desire
for peace," the Pope said, "humanity
owes to the hundreds of thousands
of persons who, for no fault at
all, at times only for reasons
of nationality or race, are destined
to death or are left to died gradually."
If this passage
of the radio message was practically
ignored in the international press,
this was not the case of the attentive
National Socialist censorship.
Joachim von Ribbentrop,
the Reich's Foreign Minister,
immediately ordered the German
ambassador to the Holy See to
inform the Pope on the position
of the German government: "There
is an impression that the Vatican
is prepared to abandon its normal
attitude of neutrality and to
take positions against Germany.
It is your responsibility to inform
it that in such a case Germany
is not lacking in means of reprisal."
Question:
What did the Pope
himself think of the content of
that year's Christmas message?
Was he convinced that he had denounced
to the world the horrors of war,
of deportation, and of the massacre
of innocent peoples, such as the
Jews?
Father Sale:
From the reports
of the ambassadors of Allied countries
it would seem that he did: The
Pope was completely convinced
of having fulfilled to the end
his duty before God and before
the tribunal of history.
In a letter of
April 30, addressed to Archbishop
K. von Preysing of Berlin, he
wrote with a serene tone that "he
has said a word on what is being
done at present against those
who are not Aryans in the territories
under German authority. It was
a brief mention but it was well
understood."
Also with the
director of Civiltà Cattolica,
Pius XII made reference to the
Christmas message, in which he
evidently unburdened his pastor's
heart and conscience. "The
Holy Father spoke first of all
of his recent Christmas message,
which seems to have been well
received in general, despite the
fact that it was certainly rather
strong," Father Martegani
said.
The Pope, therefore,
was "subjectively" convinced
of having denounced before the
world what was happening to those
who were not Aryan in the territories
under German authority, of having
spoken out "strongly" against
the horrors of the war and, in
particular, against the Nazi crimes.
Some historians
maintain, however, that this denunciation
was insufficient, dictated by
reasons of political-diplomatic
prudence and not so much by human
sentiments. In any case, according
to these interpreters, it was "objectively" inadequate
to the great tragedy that was
taking place in the heart of Europe.
The attitude of "prudence" before
the belligerents for which the
Holy See opted during the war
was revealed inadequate above
all at that moment, the historians
comment, insufficient to respond
to the grave needs of the moment.
According to them,
the civil world expected from
the Pope, the supreme moral and
spiritual figure of the Christian
West, not so much "prudent," "balanced," and
even just words, but rather "words
of fire" when it came to
denouncing the violations of human
rights, despite the fact that
this might put in danger the lives
of innumerable Catholics, both
clergy and laity, who lived in
territories of the Reich. In this
way, the Pope would have fulfilled
his high prophetic mission.
From my point
of view, this historical judgment
on Pius XII's action is extremely
simplistic at the level of historical
facts, and unjust from the subjective
point of view.
It does not take
into account the real difficulties
of the historical moment in which
the Pontiff's work was carried
out and, at the same time, completely
dispenses with Pope Pacelli's
sensibility and culture.
Some historians
speak of the Pope and the papacy
in an abstract, ideological manner,
without considering the fact that
the Petrine ministry is made concrete
at the historical level in the
person of particular individuals,
with their virtues and human limitations,
and that in her concrete action,
the Church like all institutions
with a long tradition, looks to
the past and at the same time
to the future, as well as the
present needs and urgencies.
I have tried to
demonstrate that Pius XII was "subjectively" convinced
of having spoken out "strongly." He
believed that the way he had expressed
his denunciation was the most
appropriate, the most just for
that particular moment.
He was convinced
he had said "everything" and "clearly" and
of having done so in a way that
would not expose to Nazi reprisals
faithful Catholics who were living
in territories of the Reich, and
Jews.
For him, this
was a point of the greatest importance
for which he would have sacrificed
anything, as he said clearly both
during the war as well as immediately
after.
In short, one
can discuss ad infinitum over
the fact that the Pope's denunciation
was or was not adequate to the
gravity of the moment; and above
all, at the historical level,
different positions can be held
legitimately.
However, one cannot
say, as some propagandists do,
that the Pope was consciously "silent" about
what was happening to the Jews,
because he was pro-Nazi or simply
because he lacked sensibility
due to anti-Judaism or anti-Semitism.
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