Pius’ actions will be scrutinized to decide if he should be declared a saint. His detractors say he was anything but
Declaring that the church “isn’t afraid of history,” Pope Francis has decided to open up the Vatican archives on Second World War-era Pope Pius XII, who has been criticized by Jews of staying silent on the Holocaust.
After making his way through the church ranks, specializing in law and international affairs, he was made ambassador to Bavaria, Germany, in 1917. By this stage, he was already considered the top diplomat in the Vatican. When Pius XI died in 1939, Pacelli was elected as Pope Pius XII. Taking office at an extremely turbulent time, his backers say he did try his best to prevent the rise of fascism and Europe’s slide to war. Later, they said, he saved Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust by using behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Pope Francis indicates that he embraces that interpretation.
“It showed for the first time that Pacelli was patently, and by the proof of his own words, anti-Jewish. It revealed that he had helped Hitler to power and at the same time undermined potential Catholic resistance in Germany. It showed that he had implicitly denied and trivialized the Holocaust, despite having reliable knowledge of its true extent.
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