Did Pope Pius XII ever speak out against the Nazis in a formal way,ie: Encyclical or Aposotilic letter? A person acussed the Church of collaborating with the SS.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 1998

Answers

The judgment of history has tilted against Pius XII. Despite his personal support for efforts to render assistance and refuge to Jews, he could have and should have done much more to protest the Holocaust - - something akin to the strong denunciation of Nazisms racist policies and practices by his predecessor Pius XI. In his 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge (Ger., "With searing anxiety"), Pius XI condemned Nazism as fundamentally racist and anti-Christian. Why did Pius XII never make a similar gesture of protest against the Nazi outrages against humanity? How, in this so-called Christian Europe, could the murder of an entire people occur without the highest moral authority on earth having a word to say about it?

During the war Cardinal Tisserant, later Dean of the Sacred College, said: "I fear that history will reproach the Holy See with having practiced a policy of selfish convenience and not much else. This is extremely sad, especially for those of us who have lived under Pius XI. Everyone in Rome is confident that, after Rome has been declared an open city, members of the Curia will not have to suffer any harm; this is a disgrace."

-- Anonymous, July 07, 1998

The judgment of recent revisionist history is exceedingly harsh against Pius XII. Here is a link to some information defending the record of Pius XII during WWII. This is from the Catholic League.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 1998

Alas, even here on Catholic-Pages the tiresome ideological bagpipe of revisionist history drones on. Come join the Church, there's no odour over here.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 1998

The straight forward answer to Robert S. Collins question is.. No. Pope Pius XII never spoke out against the Nazis. He did not issue an Encyclical or Apostolic letter condemning the Nazis.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 1998