Recently released evidence shows Pope Pius XII acted to prevent the slaughter of Jews.
Wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII has long been accused of failing to act in the face of Nazi atrocities, giving rise to the myth of “Hitler’s Pope.” But Vatican officials are working hard to debunk that myth and to share with the world the heroism, compassion, and cunning evinced by Pius XII in the face of one of the most horrific periods of world history. The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome hosted a conference last week to reveal and discuss newly-declassified documents from the Vatican archive, detailing Pope Pius XII’s efforts to confront Nazi Germany’s Führer Adolf Hitler and protect Jews from concentration camps. Vatican Secretariat of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presided over the conference, who condemned what he called “cases of scientific dishonesty which become ‘historical manipulation’ when documents are negligently or deliberately concealed.”
