Compare And Contrast Vatican And Ww2

Mark Guadagnoli

Vatican and WW2 : Pro Nazi or anti Nazi In September of 1939, World War Two was taking place. This was the 10th longest US combat participation. Lots of people have asked the question, “Was the church Pro Nazi or anti Nazi. The truth is that the church was anti Nazi. Lots of people did not appreciate the fact that the Vatican remained neutral during World War Two. “The Vatican’s neutrality meant that they remained apart from the two blocks of power, while remaining apart of the two power blocks the church could operate freely. The Vatican has argued with both Hitler and Mussolini on race, during this period the Church rarely opposed anti-Jewish persecutions”.[1]“When the mass killings began the Vatican remained
After WWII Pope Pius XII became known as “Pius the Cowardly Villain” after the German play written by Rolf Hochhuth. “The Deputy” (1963), denounced him for not publicly condemning the Holocaust. Badmouthing Pius was boosted by John Cornwel’s book “Hitler's Pope” (1999) which claimed that as the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Germany Pius had fatally weakened the opposition to the Nazis by his vital contribution to an agreement, a concordat with the regime.[4] In 1942 Pius XII delivered a Christmas message over the Vatican radio which talked about the worry for the victims of the Nazis’ genocidal policies.[5] In 1942 the Nazis had commenced their industrialized slaughter of the Jews of Europe which lasted from 1933 to 1945 in that time span more than 6 million Jews were slaughtered. Gypsies and others were also marked for extermination. The pope's reaction to the holocaust was inconsistent but he made attempts to help the Jews and was successful. Nobody knows the exact motives for Pius XII’s actions or lack there of, since the Vatican archives have only been fully opened to select researchers. Historians offer many reasons why Pope Pius XII was not a stronger advocate for the Jews fearing a public speech might not help the jews but harm them instead[6]. Pius XII was horrified by the war. He believed his first task was to try and stop the madness before it began. As the pope he tried to weigh the consequences of every action before he condemned Hitler as an aggressor, but could not condone Britain and France's decision to fight an outright condemnation of Nazi policies. Such an action would have been concealed from the German public by the extraordinary German propaganda machine while increasing the suffering.[7] Pius was upset about