Hitler's Pope: The Roman Church and the Third Reich
Historian John Cornwell's biography of Pope Pius XII paints him as Hitler's enabler.
by Melvin Rhodes
Hitler's Pope is a provocative
title for a biography of Eugenio Pacelli, better known as Pope Pius XII.
The implication in the title is that the pope was Hitler's enabler. The
title is deliberate, the implication substantially proved by the author,
British historian John Cornwell, a practicing Catholic who has fallen
foul of the Vatican and other leading members of the hierarchy since publication
of this revealing book by Viking.
Anybody who is familiar with Europe will
be aware of the close historical links between church and state in
the various European countries. France severed her ties in the anticlerical
turmoil of the French Revolution toward the end of the 18th century.
The 19th century wasn't good for the church either. With the theory
of evolution, socialism and rapid industrialization, the church lost
power and influence. Garibaldi's unification of Italy deprived the
Roman Church of territory, while the subsequent unification of Germany
under the Protestant Prussian kaisers led to the anti-Catholic policies
of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Desperate to reassert its authority, the
Papacy reacted with the decree of papal infallibility in 1870, paving
the way for increased centralization and papal authority. Six years
later Eugenio Pacelli was born into a Roman legal family that had seen
many years of service to the Holy See. Pacelli was destined to become
perhaps the most autocratic of all popes, significantly shaping political
events in the 20th century. His 19-year reign from 1939 to 1958 coincided
with World War II and the division of Europe into the "Christian" West
and the communist East that followed. Prior to becoming pope, he was
Vatican secretary of state for 10 years, guiding the Vatican State's
foreign policy.
