I en bokanmeldelse i First Things av boka Church of Spies, av Mark Riebling, leste jeg i dag den overraskende nyheten over, samt flere andre ting om hvordan pave Pius XII prøvde å beskytte jøder og andre minoriteter mot Nazismen. Bl..:
… In Church of Spies, Mark Riebling provides readers with a comprehensively documented story of the Germans who worked to remove Hitler from power and return their country to its place in the civilized world. These brave individuals received moral and political support from many sources, not least from the pope himself. Pius XII was an active participant: transmitting information, encouraging resistance, even supporting plots for assassination. …
The pope first specifically referred to the plight of European Jewry in December 1942 and reiterated that concern again in June 1943. Given the Nazi dictatorship across Europe, however, nothing would be achieved until Hitler and his forces were removed. The papacy would regain its public voice only after the liberation of Rome in 1945. Meanwhile, the pope’s emissaries in Germany facilitated conspiracy against Hitler. …
Pius XII’s anti-Nazi commitment was clearly demonstrated before war broke out. He secretly informed the British government of the Nazi plan to occupy Norway and Denmark. He warned Holland and Belgium that the Nazi army would not recognize their claim to neutrality. And before hostilities broke out between France, Britain, and Germany, Pius XII warned of Nazi military plans.
How the Vatican received this information has never been disclosed. Until proven otherwise, we should assume that the source was Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence organization. Canaris, a Protestant, had no difficulties in working with the Catholic Church. An early opponent of Nazism, Canaris, with trusted assistants, remained in regular contact with the Vatican, through Joseph Müller, and reported the progress achieved in forming an anti-Nazi coalition willing to challenge Hitler’s rule.
The pope’s insistence on the importance of overturning Nazi control of Germany was a key to a resumption of peace and to the survival of Jews and all other persecuted minorities. …