FROM THE PASTOR
By Fr. George W. Rutler
October 19, 2008
October 9 was the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII. He lived in one of the most tumultuous papal reigns and history is still trying to absorb it. Sometimes the books tell more about the historians than the history. Sham scholars twist the annals to fit their theories. So has it become the case with some historians of Pius XII.
As Vatican Secretary of State, he had condemned the Nazis before a quarter of a million people at Lourdes. Before that, as Nuncio to Germany, he attacked the neo-paganism of National Socialism in almost all of his 44 public speeches. The Universal Shepherd had the care of millions of persecuted Catholics, including the thousands of clergy imprisoned. He sheltered and saved the lives of at least 700,000 Jews, hiding upwards of a tenth of that number right in Rome in 155 religious houses and the Vatican. This had to be done subtly to avoid retaliation, as happened when the Archbishop of Utrecht condemned the deportation of Jews, which only incited a pogrom in which many were killed, including the convert St. Edith Stein. Leaders like Golda Meir thanked him and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem wrote: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for us unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history." The Chief Rabbi of Romania said: "The Catholic Church saved more Jewish lives during the war than all other churches, religious institutions and rescue organizations put together. Its record stands in startling contrast to the International Red Cross and the Western democracies." While the U.S. and other allied governments often notoriously rejected refugees, the Vatican forged documents to help thousands of Jews to escape. The mainstream media in the West largely ignored much of this, and Albert Einstein reflected how the media along with the universities and law courts in the 1930s often enabled the horrors: "Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom."
Today the media and the universities and the courts once again cooperate with offences against the most innocent life by advocacy of abortion, euthanasia, genetic experimentation, and general contempt for natural law. At this moment the American people are being challenged to decide the course of our society, and once again the Catholic Church is a singular and isolated voice for good. Pius XII's first antecedent said: "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil" (1 Peter 3:15-17).
By Fr. George W. Rutler
October 19, 2008
October 9 was the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII. He lived in one of the most tumultuous papal reigns and history is still trying to absorb it. Sometimes the books tell more about the historians than the history. Sham scholars twist the annals to fit their theories. So has it become the case with some historians of Pius XII.
As Vatican Secretary of State, he had condemned the Nazis before a quarter of a million people at Lourdes. Before that, as Nuncio to Germany, he attacked the neo-paganism of National Socialism in almost all of his 44 public speeches. The Universal Shepherd had the care of millions of persecuted Catholics, including the thousands of clergy imprisoned. He sheltered and saved the lives of at least 700,000 Jews, hiding upwards of a tenth of that number right in Rome in 155 religious houses and the Vatican. This had to be done subtly to avoid retaliation, as happened when the Archbishop of Utrecht condemned the deportation of Jews, which only incited a pogrom in which many were killed, including the convert St. Edith Stein. Leaders like Golda Meir thanked him and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem wrote: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for us unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history." The Chief Rabbi of Romania said: "The Catholic Church saved more Jewish lives during the war than all other churches, religious institutions and rescue organizations put together. Its record stands in startling contrast to the International Red Cross and the Western democracies." While the U.S. and other allied governments often notoriously rejected refugees, the Vatican forged documents to help thousands of Jews to escape. The mainstream media in the West largely ignored much of this, and Albert Einstein reflected how the media along with the universities and law courts in the 1930s often enabled the horrors: "Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom."
Today the media and the universities and the courts once again cooperate with offences against the most innocent life by advocacy of abortion, euthanasia, genetic experimentation, and general contempt for natural law. At this moment the American people are being challenged to decide the course of our society, and once again the Catholic Church is a singular and isolated voice for good. Pius XII's first antecedent said: "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil" (1 Peter 3:15-17).
Painting: Peter McIntyre, His Holiness Pope Pius XII, c.1943-1944
McIntyre painted the Pope by arrangement of the British Minister to the Vatican, following a request from Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg. The artist described how -"His face, deeply lined, was one of the most arresting I have seen, with magnificent eyes and a fine Roman nose." (Peter McIntyre: War Artist, 1981)
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