Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII

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Summary: Cornwell Should Be Ashamed.
Review: It has often been said that if a lie is repeated loudly enough and often enough, it will finally be believed. John Cornwell's book has, unfortunately, demonstrated the truth of this maxim.

As a non-Roman Catholic clergyman, theologian, and historian, I am shocked and horrified by the deceitful character assassination currently in vogue against the person of Eugenio Pace lli, Pope Pius XII. Cornwell, by use of citations taken out of context, questionable research methods, and disingenuousness about his own bias on the subject has produced a work of sensationalism unworthy of a college term paper, much less a purported "historical work".Item: In the very beginning of the book, Cornwell, by way of implication, suggests his adherence to the Catholic faith. However, in 1991, Cornwell made it clear that religion was something the world would be far better without -- NOT what one would expect from a adherent of the Catholic faith. Why would he mislead the public about his religious faith?

Item: Cornwell has bragged about the amount of time spent in the Vatican archives, as well as the unusual access granted to him. However, the archive records show that Cornwell actually spent very little time researching primary source documents (or anything else) in the Vatican archives. Why would he mislead the public about something so easy to verify?

Item: Cornwell bases a large portion of his argument for Pius's alleged anti-Semitism on a quote made by Pius, before he was elected Pope, concerning his distaste for a particular Bolshevik who happened also to be Jewish. This is sloppy research at best, and blatant dishonesty at worst. Pacelli's opposition of Communism, from day one, is well documented. A dislike for a particular Communist, who happened also to be Jewish is not evidence of anti-Semitism. Why would Cornwell make such a statement - a statement that no high school history teacher would accept?

Item: Pulitzer Prize winning World War II historian John Toland, has demonstrated that the actions of Pius XII before and during WWII did more good than all the international relief organizations and Allied government combined. Pinchas Lapide, Israeli consul in Italy, estimated that the actions of the Pope resulted in the saving of over 800,000 Jewish lives. How can Cornwell fail to take the work of his peers into serious account?

Item: The actions taken by Pius during WWII were praised by a wide variety of Jewish leaders and organizations both when the war ended, and at Pius's death 13 years later, including: the World Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the Synagogue Council of America, the Rabbinical Council of America, the American Jewish Congress, the New York Board of Rabbis, the American Jewish Committee, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the American Jewish Committee, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the National Council of Jewish Women. Why would Cornwell disregard the testimonies of individuals and organizations who were, in many cases, eyewitnesses, participants, and victims, in favor of unfounded conjecture more than 50 years later (when most of the Pontiff's defenders are no longer living)?

Item: At a couple of points in the text, Cornwell directly contradicts the research of the Rev'd. Dr. Owen Chadwick (who is not a Roman Catholic) which paints a very sympathetic portrait of Pius. However, his contradictions are not backed up by the available evidence. Why then, would Cornwell make the mistake of contradicting without evidence?

Perhaps the answers to these questions lie in the popularity of sensational historical revisionism. Perhaps they lie in the motivations behind Cornwell's rejection of his former faith.

Perhaps they lie in a disapproval of Catholic Church policies on other issues. Perhaps they serve to cloud the real issue --which is that during the Second World War, the Pope actually did something substantial, demonstrating, as Scripture says, his faith by his works -- while the governments of both the United Kingdom and the United States did little.

Cornwell's book will undoubtedly sell many more copies than Toland's writings, many more than Chadwick's research, and many more than the serious academic efforts being made by real historians -- and that is a grave shame. But there are 800,000 persons who knew the truth -- first hand. And it is Cornwell, and persons who believe his pseudo-research, who make those 800,000 people victims - yet again.

Rating:
Summary: Let the facts speak for themselves
Review: As a Protestant who has never had qualms with the Catholic Church, I feel that I approached this book with a little more objectivity than many of the Catholic readers who have criticized it. I found the historical detail which was present in the writing was superb. I feel that the author may have too often drawn conclusions which were unnecessary and that he should have more often allowed the facts to speak for themselves. I am speaking not only of the conclusions he drew that were critical to Pius XII, but also some which were too leniant. I do not think that enough information is known about the man's personal feelings to say that he was, in fact, overtly anti-Semitic. However, the fact that he may have just been too wrapped up in Catholic power issues to bother interfering in the Nazi's Final Solution is just as disturbing. Just ask yourself, is there any doubt that if Catholics had been target to such extermination would he have been more forceful in his condemnations?

Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: Typical anti-Catholic rubbish. Just glad I used my library card and not my credit card. If you are only interested in reading fiction get this book, then again don't there are many better works of fiction out there

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Summary: The Silence of John Cornwell
Review: On p. 310 of Hitler's Pope, Cornwell, after numbering the deported Roman Jews at 1,060, notes that "an unspecified number of Jews" were sheltered from deportation by the Vatican. This number is freely available, Cornwell must have known it well: about 5,000. As this would have undercut his thesis (that the diplomacy of Pius XII clearly was only self-serving and did not save lives), he assiduously keeps it from the reader. The book is rife with these sorts of distortions.

First, contrary to Cornwell's assertions, there is precious little new material, and he did not enjoy "unprecendented" access to Vatican archives. Second, his assertion that he started the project with the intention of clearing the name Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII) is highly suspect, since by his own admission, his main point is that the papacy is itself an evil institution; it's unlikely that the reign of one man would have changed his mind on this, especially given the REALLY bad popes of history. If he really felt the papacy was an unreformable evil, what would be his motivation to clear the name of a pope who exercised such clear authority? Third, nothing is mentioned of Pacelli's support of Christian Democrat parties after the war, as this would undercut Cornwell image of a pope who distrusted democratic movements.

Structurally, the book is a mess. Is it a biography of Pacelli? Not really. Is it a story of the wartime behavior of Pius XII? About one-third of it is, but that is better covered by authors who focused on original sources, e.g., Pierre Blet, and not secondary and tertiary sources as Cornwell does. He takes the opportunity to tell us what he thinks about John Paul II (against, natch) and contraception (for, natch), all the while showing that, his claim to be a "devout Catholic" notwithstanding, he's clearly out of touch with both Catholic theology and Catholic life as practiced today. He's hilariously uninformed about NFP (no, I have no idea what this has to do with the Nazis or Pius, either), and only someone who's never read or understood John Paul II's philosophical work could call his work "a narrow reading of neo-Thomist philosophy," unless neo-Thomist philosophy somehow now includes 20th century phenomenology.

The book is also filled with fun, irrelevant, "zany" tidbits like what Orson Welles and Alec Guinness recalled of their meetings with the pontiff. Oh, and in case you missed it (most historians have), the Vatican was also responsible for World War I (p. 48-58)! Who writes this stuff?

Rating:
Summary: Well done--and disturbing
Review: Cornwell's study disturbed me deeply, mainly because it showed how Pius XII's fanatical anti-communism (and his apparent fear that the Nazis would overrun Rome) blinded him to the horrors of National Socialism. It seems that, terrible as the extermination of an entire race may have appeared to Pius, the prospect of communist rule in Germany was worse, and so he appeased Hitler in the same way as did Neville Chamberlain--and with more disastrous results.

Contrary to what other reviewers have written, Cornwell documents convincingly how in his correspondence Pius habitually ridiculed Jews and made slurs against them. In the end, it is very troubling to me that a man so convinced of his rightness could be so horribly wrong. I'm reminded of Alec Guiness's character in "The Bridge on the River Kwai," who is forced to consider at what point a well-intentioned soldier becomes a collaborator. Sadly, Pius, who seems to have been proud of his diplomatic and negotiating skills, never realized that he had become an important tool of Hitler's, much to the shame of his office and to him personally.

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Summary: Typical anticlerical, politically-correct nonsense
Review: First you have well-researched books after the Second World War pointing out that Pius XII saved up to 800,000 Jews, hid Jews in the Vatican itself, and was praised world-wide by Jewish groups for his help during Hitler's reign of terror--the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Israel Zolli, converted to Catholicism, stating as one of his reasons the Christ-like compassion and charity of Pope Pius XII! When Nazis began their round-up of Roman Jews, they managed to seize only 1600 of 9500; the other 7900 were hidden by the Catholic Church at the urging of Pius XII.

This Pope deserves Sainthood for his heroic efforts, not to be attacked in a book absurd at all levels. First of all, Cornwell has a tirade about Pius' purported "anti-semitism" starting around page 296, but does not back this claim up with one single source. For such a contentious claim, I would think there would be at least one footnote. I expect to see such biased slander in the super-market check-out lanes, but not in a book of this scope and popularity.

I can picture this cowardly journalist sitting in the comfort of his study writing of what Pius should have done or should have said, while he himself does nothing for charity except write a book of contentious claims and slanderous implications.

On the other hand you have Pius XII who actually saved the lives of thousands of Jews, and who daily had the worry of his Church being destroyed from without.

History will vindicate Pius XII.

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Summary: Should Pius XII be made a saint?
Review: I picked up this book after seeing a television interview with the author, and a Vatican's official on the controversial subject of Pope Pius XII's involvement with Nazi Germany. The book is a superb and painful chronology of events that has left me ashamed of being catholic. Equally "morally shocking" is the fact that in spite of all the history, the Vatican is still seeking sainthood for Pius XII. I hope not to live to see that day.

The Italians often referred to Pius XII and "the last pope", I hope that he is truly the last of this kind.

This book is definitely a "must read" for every catholic, but beware you may end up not liking being catholic as much as you did.

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Summary: Hitler's Pope - The Secret History of Pius XII
Review: As a baptized, confirmed, and graduated Catholic, all under the watchful eyes of the Pontiff, it saddens me to read about the dark history of Pius XII. This book should be studied carefully. Truth is not afraid of attacks, and darkness is always expelled by the light...Read this book carefully and with an open mind. The most disturbing aspect of this story is not that Pius XII stood back as a bystander, but that he actively participated in the approval, torture, and death of millions of Jews...Remember, Jesus was a Jew and was called "Rabbi" by Jews first then Gentiles. Pius XII chose to abandon the instructions of our Rabbi and the new commandment to love your neighbor as yourself...Finally, I thank John Cornwell for his bravery and for giving to us something to read, pray, and think about... a book and topic truly worthy of our study. For further reading I highly recommend the author Avro Manhattan. END

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Summary: In a nutshell...
Review: It's hard to elaborate further on the positive aspects of this book when so much has already been said about it. Rather than attempt to refute all those who trashed the book, I wish to make a simple observation. The papacy of Pius XII represents the sad result of a Church that has become centralized and hell-bent on enforcing a rigid theological structure. Pacelli's attempt to consolidate the power of the Church under his own autocratic rule while doing it in God's name inevitably led him to dwell in the muck of secular, worldly power. Indeed, how could it have been otherwise? Despite his claim to be above the "worldly and profane", Pacelli could not escape the hard reality that centralized authority can only be achieved through raw political power. Pacelli's original sin was his apparent belief that such bargaining with evil was justified as long as it preserved the structure and authority of the Church under his reign. Theological dogma that is enforced through a consolidated power structure crowds out the Spirit of God. Only by recognizing that God speaks to all who genuinely search for him do Popes and other religious hierarchies ultimately become superfluous.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, but not wholly convincing
Review: Take two subjects of perennial interest - World War Two and the papacy - and combine them. You should be on to a winner. John Cornwell almost does it here - but not quite. To take the positive side first, the book is awesome in its detail and the apparent thoroughness of its research. The negative side is that this isn't a "warts and all" picture, but one that concentrates almost exclusively on the "warts". Hindsight is used far too often and John Cornwell makes the fatal mistake of judging one period by the standards of another. The picture of Pius XII that emerges to the reader who can pick his or her way through all this is one of a rather sad man whose priorities were in entirely the wrong order at a time when it was vitally important to have them right. I'm not sure that that's what John Cornwell intended.