Catholic-Jewish Controversy Slows Path to Sainthood for Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

For years, the Vatican has pushed back against this perception of the pope, criticizing, most recently, an exhibit at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum that describes Pius as "neutral" during the war. In a caption, the exhibit points out that when he became pope in 1939, the year World War II began, Pius shelved a statement prepared by his predecessor condemning racism and anti-Semitism; he never protested publicly when reports of the Holocaust began to reach him; and in 1942, he abstained from signing the Allied declaration condemning the extermination of the Jews.

The Vatican has asked the museum to reconsider these conclusions, but Yad Vashem, with the support of many scholars, has stood its ground. "There can be no denying the fact that Pius at the beginning of the Nazi regime made a tactical decision not to directly confront it," says David Rosen, interreligious affairs director at the American Jewish Committee. "He might have done it out of positive motives or might not have. The bottom line is, he didn't confront it."

Historians acknowledge that the pope had reason to be wary of direct confrontation. Trapped between the dual threats of Soviet communism and German fascism, with millions of members of his church living in occupied countries, the Catholic leader didn't have many good options. There is some evidence, in fact, that Pius was personally disgusted by the Nazis. While serving as nuncio to Germany in 1923, Pacelli wrote a letter denouncing Hitler's failed attempt to seize power. As the Vatican's secretary of state in the 1930s, he protested Hitler's anti-Semitic race laws. And in 1935, Pacelli gave a speech in which he said the Nazis were "possessed by the superstition of a race and blood cult."

Once he became pope, Pius does appear to have made some effort to quietly save victims of the Holocaust. Correspondence on Vatican letterhead in 1940 indicates that Pius asked members of the clergy to do whatever they could to help interned Jews. He appears to have used the resources of the church to protect an estimated 4,000 Jews living in Rome during the Nazi occupation. Newly discovered documents in British government archives show that Pius may even have been active in plots to overthrow Hitler. The diaries of Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer widely considered to have been the architect of the Holocaust, demonstrate that many in the SS thought the Vatican was attempting to hamper the Nazis' deportation efforts.

Some Jewish refugees believed the pope's low-profile response to the Holocaust was in their best interests. "None of us wanted the pope to take an open stand. We were all fugitives, and fugitives do not wish to be pointed at," wrote one Jewish couple who escaped to Spain with Pius's help. "If the pope had protested, Rome would have become the center of attention. It was better that the pope said nothing."

Still, questions linger about exactly what Pius did and didn't do during the war—and why he chose not to use the symbolic power of the papacy to condemn the Jews' mass murder. Historians say there is one easy way to solve the mystery: For years, they have urged the Vatican to open Pius's wartime archive, which remains sealed. "It would be nice if those documents were produced," says Father Thomas Rausch, a Jesuit priest and professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University. "[The Vatican] has said he [tried] to shelter the Jews. It would be helpful to have some written documents to prove that beyond any question of doubt."

Jewish leaders, who met last month with Pope Benedict after the Pius anniversary ceremonies, have also taken up this argument, asking the pope to postpone beatification until after scholars have an opportunity to examine the historical record. "It's in the Vatican's interest to wait," says Rosen, who was among those who met with Benedict. Many Catholics agree. "There's no need to [pursue beatification] immediately," says Rausch. "What's the rush?"