Pope Pius XII, accused of silence during the Holocaust, knew Jews were being killed, researcher says

[mahatmakanejeeves]

It's behind a paywall.

Pope Pius XII, accused of silence during the Holocaust, knew Jews were being killed, researcher says

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[Aristus]

1. Of course he did. The Nazis were carrying out the Church leadership's most cherished dream:

The destruction of the Jewish people.

Pius XII's fecklessness lives on in organizations like Opus Dei and people like Mel Gibson...

[Mike 03]

2. There's a very good book on this topic by Daniel Goldhagen

called "A Moral Reckoning." It's been a long time since I read it, but I definitely came away from that book believing he had to have known. It's a powerful book.

[katmondoo]

3. I knew that a long time ago, when his record was first being investigated.

As a catholic I was very disappointed in him. It became a question many years after the war.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. This has been known for decades.

I guess being able to see actual documents in the Vatican archives is somewhat helpful.

[BigDemVoter]

5. I'm not surprised.

The Roman Catholic Church assisted with escape routes for Nazis trying to escape punishment. I can't imagine that this could be down without at least some knowledge from the Vatican.

[MicaelS]

6. Of course he was silent.

The Nazis were anti-Communist, and many Germans were Catholic.

Besides I have always believed Hitler sent a personal verbal message to the Pope stating if there was another interference by the Church vis-a-vis the Jews, that the entire Church would be destroyed.

So the Pope became a pragmatist.