what did the pope do about the holocaust?

Answer 1

In October 1958 in front of the at the United Nations General Assembly, Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel, said of Pope Pius XII at his death :

''During the 10 years of Nazi terror, when our people went through the horrors of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to condemn the persecutors and commiserate with their victims.''

No serious scholar contests the evidence that Pius XII took direct and indirect measures to save Jews from the Nazi death machine.

At the start of World War II, Pope Pius XII’s first encyclical was so anti-Hitler that the Royal Air Force and the French air force dropped 88,000 copies of it over Germany. Here is a link to the Summi Pontificatus: Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the Unity of Human Society, October 20, 1939: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_20101939_summi-pontificatus_en.html

Unfortunately the Soviet Union and others had been trying to convince the world that the Catholic Church was pro-Nazi since the death of Pope Pius in 1958. Here are some sources:
+ The KGB made corrupting the Church a priority: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTUzYmJhMGQ5Y2UxOWUzNDUyNWUwODJiOTEzYjY4NzI=
+ The KGB campaign against Pius XII: http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/021607/difference.htm
+ Pius XII and the Jews: http://web.archive.org/web/20010919100700/http://www.weeklystandard.com/magazine/mag_6_23_01/dalin_bkart_6_23_01.asp
+ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/ww2jews.html

See also "The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews From the Nazis" by Rabbi David G. Dalin which has compiled further overwhelming proof of Pope Pius XII"s friendship for the Jews beginning long before he became pope.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

History indeed does not show that Pius only protected Jews married to Catholics. Several books written by people with an agenda against the Catholic Church shows this. Scholarly and well respected Jews ranging from Einstein to Golda Meir praised Pius for saving nearly a million Jews. Actions speak louder that words and what he did spoke volumes

the accusation that Pope Pius supported the Nazi's is an accusation invented by protestants to discredit the church. In fact most prominent jewish organization's including the ADL confirm that the vatican had absoulutly nothing to do with the holocaust.

Only the Catholic Church protested against the Hitlerian onslaught on liberty. Up till then I had not been interested in the Church, but today I feel a great admiration for the Church, which alone has had the courage to struggle for spiritual truth and moral liberty."

Answer: Albert Einstein (quoted in Three Popes and the Jews, p.251, by Pinchas E. Lapide, one time Israeli diplomat and now Rabbi)

"The election of Cardinal Pacelli [Pope Pius XII] is not accepted with favour in Germany because he was always opposed to Nazism and practically determined the policies of the Vatican under his predecessor." The newspaper 'Morgenpost' (quoted in Polish Jew Dr. Joseph Lichten's work "A question of moral judgement:Pius XII and the Jews")


I think the time has arrived on the Jewish side to get to work on a new reconstruction of the relation between Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust. This reconstruction, closer to the facts, namely, of what Pius XII really did for the Jews, would arrive at diametrically opposite conclusions to the gratuitious ones of John Cornwell's book, "Hitler's Pope." Pius XII was not Hitler's Pope, but the greatest defender that we Jews have ever had, and precisely at the time when we needed it."
New York Rabbi David Dalin, quoted from The Canadian Foundation of Polish Jewish Heritage article "Pius XII Saved More Jews Than Schindler, Rabbi Says")


But then again, what do you care about the facts.

"..they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. Others must stay outside: dogs, fortunetellers and the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life." Rev 22:14-15.

Walter Buch, the head of the Nazi Party court, admitted Luther's influence on Nazi

Answer 3

Not that much.

In addition, when Jews tried desperately to flee Germany, no country would allow them refuge. Not America. Not Britain. Not Italy. Nowhere.

Nor did any of the allies take the simple step of just bombing the railway lines into the concentration camps. They could have done that, and chose not to.

The King of Denmark was great, though; when the Jews in the country were told by the Nazis that they had to wear yellow stars so as to identify their religion, the King appeared in public ALSO wearing a yellow star. That is what I call solidarity!

There were also certain orders of nuns who were incredibly brave; they risked their own lives to hide and protect Jewish children.

In Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, there is a special area dedicated to 'Righteous Gentiles', those people who displayed such bravery and kindness in protecting the Jews from the Nazis.

Answer 4

The pope at the time ignored it.

Different popes for different folks.

The last pope was a great man, this one seems pretty good, but, just like all religions, its just a matter of time until an bad element takes control and causes faithful believers to behave terribly.

Answer 5

The WORLD turned their back on the holocaust! The Holocaust is a shame to the world. as are ALL the genocides that have taken place!

Answer 6

What would you do if you were behind a wall surrounded by SS Divisions? Rather than engaging in empty political posturing, Pope Pius XII showed himself to be a man of action. He directed all who were under his command to give aid and shelter wherever they could. He fed and clothed Jewish refugees. Jewish babies were born in his apartment he had vacated for mothers who were hiding there. He distributed false identification so that Jews could avoid deportation by the Nazis. He passed confidential information to Allied leaders.

Pope Pius XII believed his approach would best serve victims of the Nazis. Most Jewish leaders at the time agreed, as did Polish Archbishop Adam Sapieha, almost all German religious leaders, the International Red Cross, and most Jewish rescue organizations. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish people owe their lives to this wise approach, which is why, at the time of his death, Pius XII was praised for his efforts.

People who have heard the allegations against Pius need to be gently corrected. He was not "Hitler’s Pope." He was a wise and brave man who did what was within his power to shelter, protect, and save all that horrible era’s victims, regardless of race, nationality, or religion. His life was indeed one of heroic virtue.

Answer 7

He helped the Nazi's in any way he could!
When not actively helping, he worshipped his goddess statues and smiled approvingly.

We can't just blame dope, er pope, though. FDR and Churchill both knew exactly what was happening and did nothing to stop it.

Answer 8

What could the pope do about any of it?

60 million people died as a result of ww2.

Why are you focusing on the deaths of such a small number of people.

20 million Russians died. What did your grandpa do about that?

Love and blessings Don

Answer 9

Helped the nazi`s deport thousands of jews to the death camps,then helped them escape from justice at the end of the war.

Answer 10

Looked the other way while sipping sacramental wine.