The Libreria Vaticanaannounced that on March 12, 2009, a Bi-lingual Anthology (English-Italian) by Margherita Marchione, with an Introduction by Rabbi Eric A. Silver, from Cheshire, Connecticut, was released on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Coronation of Pope Pius XII.
Documents confirm the fact that Pius XII was truly a great champion of peace, of freedom, of human dignity. Soon after his death, William Zukermann, director of the American-Jewish publication, The Jewish Newsletter, wrote that “all Jews in America should render homage and express their grief because probably no other statesman of this generation had given the Jews more help in their hour of great tragedy: the Nazi occupation of Europe. What was done by the Vatican was “one of the greatest manifestations of humanitarianism in the 20th century as well as a new, effective method of fighting antisemitism.”
Without doubt, Rabbi Elio Toaff was the most important spiritual authority of Italian Judaism. He spoke words of wisdom and opposed a campaign that tends to describe the rapport between Jews and Catholics as having deteriorated. He said that the insinuations about the presumed antisemitism of Pius XII are “a black legend.”
In the Preface to Il Silenzio di Pio XII (Sperling & Kupfer Edizioni, Milano, 2002) Antonio Spinosa, writes: “Pacelli stated that every word of his had to be seriously pondered and considered in the interest of those who were persecuted by the Nazis, in order to not involuntarily make their destiny more difficult and insupportable. He was preoccupied with the fact that more victims would be annihilated. Having had proof that speaking out would have made the situation worse for the Jews, Pius XII did not publicly condemn Hitler.”
When World War II began, in September of 1939, Pius XII implored that “in the occupied territories the lives, property, honor and religious faith of the inhabitants be respected.” A month later (October 20 1939), he published the encyclical Summi Pontificatus , in which he openly condemned racism.
In his Christmas message to the Cardinals (December 25, 1939), after expressing the joy of Christmas and recalling the last message of his predecessor, Pius XII spoke about the horrors of war, the violations of human rights and the efforts he had made to avoid the conflict. The Pope could only try to alleviate the sufferings of the afflicted and prepare for peace. He offered the five norms for future peace: 1) Respect for the independence of all nations. 2) Mutually agreed disarmament. 3) Reconstruction of international institutions. 4) Respect for ethnic minority groups. 5) The sense of responsibility. It is necessary to promote justice instead of the spirit of revenge and we must return to Christ, prince of peace.
Shortly after, on January 27, 1940, Vatican Radio and L’Osservatore Romano denounced the dreadful cruelties of uncivilized tyranny that the Nazis were inflicting on the Jewish and Catholic Poles. They were tortured and imprisoned. Many were barbarously assassinated. Others, including priests and nuns, were arrested.
Myron C. Taylor served as Personal Representative of the President of the United States on behalf of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and later of President Harry S. Truman. It was Mr. Taylor’s duty to communicate the views of the President on aspects of world affairs of common interest to the Pope, as well as information on conditions and developments in the United States. According to Mr. Taylor, both presidents were convinced that world order could be achieved only through a widespread mobilization of the spiritual forces of mankind.
