During a papal audience on a warm, pleasant day in July 1957, I was accompanied to St. Peter's Basilica by Pope Pius XII's niece, Elena Rossignani Pacelli. We were standing in front of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini's impressive 95 feet high bronze baldachin beneath the dome. As Pius XII approached us, his piercing eyes penetrated my soul and I can still see his tall, dignified, and ascetic stature along with his brilliant glance, loving smile, and animated gestures.
I kissed his ring and held his hands. Elena introduced me as her companion during a trip to the United States of America several years earlier. He immediately recognized the habit of the Religious Teachers of Saint Lucy Filippini, and inquired about the Superior General, the Sisters, my parents and family, as well as the purpose of my trip. When I mentioned my doctoral dissertation on Clemente Rebora, he was pleased with the topic and recalled that the poet had joined the Rosmini Fathers after his conversion in 1929.
As Pius XII questioned me about my research, and chatted with us for several minutes, I noted his warm, concerned, gracious personality. All the accounts I had heard about this pope's great learning, his holiness, and his strict, monastic piety were reinforced by this personal meeting. Everything anyone ever said about him, the numerous stories that circulated, the news reports and biographical accounts seemed to agree on one thing: he was an extraordinarily sincere, dedicated, holy man.
Full of emotion, I asked the Pope to bless me, my family, friends and all the members of the Religious Teachers Filippini throughout the world. Since that memorable visit, whenever I think of Pope Pius XII, I feel inspired. He had a magnetic personality full of intelligence and nobility of spirit. Not only do I possess a "zucchetto," a pair of his white, embroidered shoes, and countless other mementos, but I also have a small snapshot with the Holy Father and Elena that was taken during the papal audience. The memory of that precious meeting remains with me.
My research on Pope Pius XII began forty years later while attending a meeting in Rome. Only in 1995 did I learn that, according to historian Renzo De Felice, the Religious Teachers Filippini saved 114 Jews during the 1943-44 German occupation of Rome. I decided to record this information and respond to the careless innuendos and malicious accusations that had been leveled against the Pope's good name. This research developed into my first Pope Pius XII book, Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy (Paulist Press, 1997). This was the beginning of a series of books about the role of Pope Pius XII in protecting Italian Jews and other refugees, as well as his efforts in defying the forces of Nazism and Fascism.
The book was well-received. In a letter to me, Robert Graham, S.J., wrote: "You have hit the bull's eye! Why did we have to wait fifty years?" Several members of the hierarchy in the United States expressed their views: "Thanks for all that you do to bring about a more complete and honest portrait of Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church during those difficult and tragic years. Your work is a great service to the universal Church. Indeed you offer a 'precious witness' to a story of Gospel love. You have combined solid historical research with fascinating anecdotal material to shed light on the generous and often sacrificial response of the Church to the horrendous plight of the Jews in Italy during the Holocaust." [Cardinal John O'Connor, Archbishop of New York (March 2, 1997)]
"I know the good work you have done in explaining and defending the actions of Pius XII during the Second World War. I am also familiar with the article to which you refer, and found its tone tragic, strange and troubling all at the same time. I do not know a great deal about the issues in question, but I certainly share your fatigue at the barrage of criticism the memory of Pius XII seems to endure so undeservedly." [Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver (May 4, 1998)]
"My heartfelt thanks for your kind letter in which you once again come forth heroically to defend the good name of Pope Pius XII. I have read your book and am very grateful for your important work in this area. I admire you for trying so generously to right a tragic wrong....May God continue to bless your work." [Bishop John McCarthy, Bishop of Austin (May 7, 1998)]
"Thank you for your informative letter of April 29th. Your work to undo the anti-Catholic revisionist history is a great example of scholarship in defense of the truth. Your recent book, Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy, has made an important contribution to the presentation of the truth concerning the role of Pope Pius XII in protecting Italian Jews and defying the forces of Fascism." [Bishop John M. Smith, Bishop of Trenton (May 11, 1998)]
"I certainly agree with your concern about the gross distortion and untruths which are being put forward by superficial people pertaining to the role of Pope Pius XII and the attitude of the Church towards the Jewish people during World War II. I encourage you to quietly keep promoting the factual information which you have available. In the long run, we must trust the Holy Spirit will lead people to the truth which will set them free." [Bishop John J. Myers, Bishop of Peoria (May 12, 1998)]
"Thank you for your letter of April 26, 1998, and your sterling defense of Pope Pius XII. Recently, I was reading one of your fine articles that defended him even in more detail than you expressed in your letter to me. To say the least, it was certainly reassuring, and because it was the truth, most consoling.... Surely Pope Pius XII, who during his life here on earth, lived the Gospel message of Jesus Christ as found in the sixth and seventh chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, is at peace and please God, is praying for those writers, government officials, politicians, etc., who have not treated him nor his memory with fairness."[Bishop Thomas V. Daily, Bishop of Brooklyn (May 13, 1998)]
"I completely agree with your view of the PBS production of 'Reflections on Vatican II.' Allow me to tell you of my deep appreciation and admiration of your excellent work in trying to stem the defamatory articles and avalanche of untruth which is attempting to smear the memory of Pope Pius XII. May God reward you for your labors, and protect you from the dangers that come to those who must heroically stand for historical and theological truth." [Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, Bishop of Lincoln (September 17, 1998)]
"Your efforts to promote a true understanding of the efforts of Pope Pius XII to help the Jewish community during World War II and his responsibility to protect the Church against the onslaughts of Nazism are greatly appreciated. While any efforts to promote the truth are often met with opposition initially, I am confident that your efforts will bear fruit." [Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia (December 6, 1999)]
Indeed, there is no doubt that Pope Pius XII has been scandalously treated by the media and by some reputable scholars during 50 years of attacks. They have made this Pope a scapegoat for the crimes of others. The bottom line of vilification is that the Holocaust-the most horrible crime of recorded history-was attributed by some historians to the Vatican.
After World War II, a campaign of vilification against Pope Pius XII was instigated by the Communists in the Russian newspaper, Isvezia. His detractors claimed that he had lacked courage, human compassion, and a deep sense of moral rectitude. The smear campaign against his memory continued with Rolf Hochhuth's play, The Deputy, staged in Germany for the first time in 1963.
TIn the 1960s, hostile attacks by the media continued. The "black legend," accusing Pius XII of refusing to speak out about the Holocaust in spite of detailed knowledge of Jewish suffering, was devoid of any factual basis. He was considered a weak, cold, Church bureaucrat. This replaced the praise accorded during and after World War II, as a great and good man. In fact, even today some uninformed Catholics, academicians, and editorial commentators accept these alleged claims as unquestionably true.
The Holocaust left a nightmare burden of blame to be dealt with. What has motivated this injustice? Some wrote to justify relatives, their country, co-religionists, themselves, or to strike out against the guilty. Others, who detested everything Catholicism stands for, found that demeaning the Pope was a very convenient way to express their views. Indeed, marginal Catholics, out to destroy papal authority and change the Church into a voice of political correctness, looked on Pius XII as the personification of all that was wrong with the Church. There were also some writers and academics who greatly enhanced their careers by attacking Pius XII.
What are the merits of the case against Pius XII? According to historian Robert F. Graham, S.J., there are none. It is a "fabricated scandal." Granted, documents and events may always be interpreted differently. But one must consider whether or not the interpretation is historically accurate. Since the 1960s, it has been considered the height of intelligence and virtue to attack revealed religion and religious authority. Pius XII was a perfect target. Although the evidence on which his defamation has been based is almost totally fabricated, it is very significant that, to the contrary, he had the nearly unanimous praise of all his contemporaries, a fact mostly ignored by his detractors. Most importantly, not one of the charges against Pius XII holds up under careful analysis.
One might agree that Pope Pius XII does not appeal to modern sensibilities largely because he was always teaching the Gospel and Catholic doctrine to a world deafened by nationalism and the drums of war. There is absolutely no evidence that he did anything wrong or stupid; there is overwhelming evidence that he did virtually everything right, and that he acted only after the most careful and penetrating analysis of every possibility and after fervent prayer. The case for his sanctity is one of the strongest ever presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The world should be honoring and praising Pius XII today, not maligning him.
Everyone should be informed and make sure that they do not inadvertently support denigration of Pius XII or the Catholic Church. Individuals and groups should issue a public statement or document on the matter, encourage the appearance of knowledgeable speakers at colleges and schools, sponsor research, recommend articles in newspapers and magazines, promote the production of films on Catholic rescuers, and look into setting up awards for genuine works of scholarship and inspiring works of creativity.
It is well-known that convents and monasteries in Rome during the Nazi occupation received orders from Pope Pius XII to open their doors to save the Jews and other victims. However, since the 1960s, there has been hostile media propaganda in an effort to deny this historical fact. Most historians did not study the documents found in twelve volumes of the Actes et Documents du Saint-Sičge relatifs ā la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, prepared by four Jesuit scholars, at the request of Pope Paul VI in 1962. These documents reveal that Jewish and Christian groups pleaded with Pope Pius XII not to make a public protest because it would only intensify the Nazi persecution. Nor have historians studied the work of Father Peter Gumpel, himself a victim of the Nazis, and a priest who has spent a lifetime studying every facet of Pius XII's life.
When questioned during a Conference regarding the beatification of Pius XII, sponsored by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana on June 27, 2009, Father Peter Gumpel explained that he met the Apostolic Nunzio Eugenio Pacelli in Berlin in 1929. After his election as Supreme Pontiff in 1939, Father Gumpel continued this friendship when he was a student in Rome. He was called upon to supply His Holiness with books from libraries in Germany. Therefore, he also had occasion to meet with him privately. Gumpel stated that he was impressed by his simplicity, his amiability and, above all, by his spirituality.
Pope Pius XII's cause for beatification was initially introduced by the United States Episcopal Conference and was followed by other Conferences, as well as by petitions from hundreds of thousands of faithful throughout the world. After the death of Cardinal Francis Spellman, Archbishop of New York, the Cause was continued in Italy by the Diocese of Genova. The scholarly Jesuit, Father Paolo Molinari, was made Postulator. He was assisted in gathering documents by collaborators everywhere in order to prepare the Positio. As Relator for this Cause, Father Peter Gumpel studied each document and gave his approval before the Positio was presented to His Holiness, Benedict XVI, in 2007.
Catholics need to know the truth about Pius XII. Why has this saintly Servant of God been scandalously treated by the media and by certain scholars? During fifty years of attacks, Pius XII has been vilified and condemned by some historians. Among these writers, there is a mountain of indifference, falsehood, hearsay, conjecture, guesses, and blatant prejudice. How could the Holocaust-the most horrible crime of recorded history-be attributed to the Vatican? Why has this happened?
In the Vatican Archives seven hundred boxes of documents from the Secretariat of State and nunciatures provide evidence of Pius XII's charitable efforts. There are some 16 million documents from his 1939-1958 pontificate that must be catalogued. Among them are letters that describe the Pope's incredible charity; documents detailing the conditions of the prisons; statements explaining the Church's efforts to help everyone. The Catholic Church saved 860,000 Jews according to Pinchas Lapide, a Jewish historian.
Pius XII was a humble, charitable, saintly person. In shaking so many hands, his hands were frequently bruised and scratched. He had extraordinary influence on the world. His life reminds the world of his intense love. With total surrender to whatever God asked of him, he wholeheartedly embraced the Will of the Father, living it with great love and joy. Jews and Christians throughout the world acknowledged his exceptional contribution. He was featured on the cover of Life Magazine (December 13, 1954) with the words: "The Years of a Great Pope." It was a photo article and stated that "the world looked with pride and admiration at the career of Pius XII who during the most agonizing period of our generation was already recognized as a "Great Pope." It underlined the fact that the Pope was continuing his efforts to obtain peace in the world.
Pope Pius XII was a man of peace, a scholar, and a compassionate defender and protector of all victims of the war and genocide that had drenched Europe in blood. At the end of World War II, Western nations paid tribute to Pius XII's efforts on behalf of the oppressed. When he died in 1958, Jews everywhere praised him for his help and were among the first to express deep sorrow and gratitude for his solicitude during the Holocaust.
It is preposterous to state that, during the war, either due to political calculation or faintheartedness, Pius XII remained unmoved and silent before the crimes against humanity that his intervention could have prevented. The truth of the matter is that he was not silent. His actions spoke loudly. The Vatican was surrounded by Nazi and Fascist soldiers. He was a prisoner of the Germans and of the Italians. Both Nazi and Fascist intelligence organizations had invaded the Vatican. If the Pope openly condemned the Nazis, he would have had to openly condemn the Fascists and the Communists. Important services in the Vatican were entirely controlled by the Italian government: food, water, electricity, sewage. Communication by mail, telephone, and telegraph was censored. Pius XII was indeed a prisoner when the Nazis occupied Rome. In view of the neutrality of the Vatican, how could Pope Pius XII have openly intervened?
For the 50th anniversary of Pius XII's death, October 9, 2008, Paulist Press published The Truth Will Set You Free. Soon after, Vatican Press published an Italian edition: La veritā ti farā libero. As we await the signing of the decree for his Beatification by Pope Benedict XVI, a commemorative bi-lingual (English and Italian) book entitled, 70th Anniversary of Pius XII's Coronation, was released on March 12, 2009.