If Italy was a part of the Axis Powers in World War II, does that mean the Pope

Question: If Italy was a part of the Axis Powers in World War II, does that mean the Pope was evil at the time!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

No!.

Neither were all German, Italian, and Japanese people all evil!.

"Pius XII!? This is the only human being who has always contradicted me and who has never obeyed me!." Adolf Hitler --- from Hans Jansen's The Silent Pope!? (2000)

In October 1958 in front of 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!.''

Some of the Jewish organizations that praised Pope Pius XII at the time of his death for saving Jewish lives during the horror of the Nazi Holocaust were:
+ The World Jewish Congress
+ The American Jewish Committee
+ The American Jewish Congress
+ The Anti-Defamation League
+ The Central Conference of American Rabbis
+ The National Conference of Christians and Jews
+ The National Council of Jewish Women!.
+ The New York Board of Rabbis
+ The Rabbinical Council of America
+ The Synagogue Council of America

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_x!.!.!.

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=YTU!.!.!.
+ The KGB campaign against Pius XII: http://www!.the-tidings!.com/2007/021607/d!.!.!.
+ Pius XII and the Jews: http://web!.archive!.org/web/2001091910070!.!.!.
+ http://www!.columbia!.edu/cu/augustine/a/w!.!.!.

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!.

"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!. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly!. "
- Albert Einstein, Time Magazine, December 23, 1940 http://www!.time!.com/time/magazine/articl!.!.!.

See also:
+ The Holy See vs!. the Third Reich by Ronald J!. Rychlak http://soli!.inav!.net/~jfischer/oct98/ron!.!.!.
+ Jewish Historian Praises Pius XII's Wartime Conduct by Michael Tagliacozzo http://academics!.smcvt!.edu/pcouture/jewi!.!.!.
+ Did Pius XII Remain Silent!? by Fr William Saunders http://catholiceducation!.org/articles/re!.!.!.
+ Cornwell's Cheap Shot at Pius XII by Dr!. Peter Gumpel http://www!.catholicculture!.org/library/v!.!.!.
+ Pius XII and the Jews: The War Years, as reported by the New York Times by by Rev!. Msgr!. Stephen M!. DiGiovanni, H!.E!.D!. http://www!.catholicleague!.org/pius/piusn!.!.!.
+ Righteous Gentile: Pope Pius XII and the Jews by Rabbi David Dalin, Ph!. D!. http://www!.catholicleague!.org/pius/dalin!.!.!.

With love in Christ!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Pope has never been part of the soverign nation of Italy!. He rules the Vatican City, which is an independent country located entirely in Rome!. There have been accusations, though, that the Pope could have been more courageous and spoken more forcefully against Hitler!. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer worked actively against Hitler and was executed for his "treason" in 1945!. Instead of trying to protect the Catholic Church in Europe, I wonder if the Pope had pushed hard against Hitler if some of the evils might have been abated, even at the cost of the Pope's life!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Since Vatican City became its own independent state in 1929 it is seperate from Italy and its government
The government type is an absolute theocratic monarchy which the pope heads the state and has its own government aside from Italy!. So I think Vatican City was neutral in WWII and the pope was not evilWww@QuestionHome@Com

I think the Pope was forced into helping the Nazis for a bit!. Stalin often joked "How many Divisions does the pope have!?" The Roman Catholic church does not have an army!. The only troops they have is a battalion sized group of Swiss infantry!. Their job is to guard the Pope!. There were Roman Catholic priests who fought against the Nazis like Saint Kobe!. He died in the death camps, by giving his life for a Polish army soldier with a wife and three children!. Kobe was a hero to Pope John Paul the Second!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Pope helping the Nazis to kill 6 Million or so Jews was enough to qualify him as Evil!!!

(and after the war providing leading Nazis with an escape route to South America sometimes in Priest Garb with appropriate papers)

Peace/////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think the Pope was, but there were some high-ranking priests in the Vatican that helped Nazi's to escape Europe!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Not evil, but illiberal!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Nope!.!.!.what the person above saidWww@QuestionHome@Com

what imacatholic2 said!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I BELIEVE POPE PIUS X11 !.!. DID NOT ACT LIKE A VICAR OF CHRIST OF THE ROMAN CAHTOLIC CHURCH ON EARTH ( AS THE RC CHURCH CLAIM THE POPE IS)(BY THIS ACTIONS!. AND POSITION!. THE VATICAN SHOULD RELEASE ALL THE DOCUMENTS SHOULD ALL COULD KNOW THE TRUE STORY!.

POPE PIUS X11
Talk:Pope Pius XII/Archive 16
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HITLER'S POPE
Hitler's Pope
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UK CoverHitler's Pope is a book published in 1999 by the Catholic ex-seminarian, historian, and journalist John Cornwell!. It examines the actions of Pope Pius XII during the Nazi era and explores the charge that he assisted in the legitimization of Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany through the pursuit of a Reichskonkordat in 1933!. It is critical of his conduct during the Second World War!. The author has been praised for attempting to bring into the open the debate on the Catholic Church's relationship with the Nazis, http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Hitler's_Po!.!.!.
SHOULD POPE PIUS X11 BECOME A SAINT!?
According to the Italian press, Pope Benedict has put the brakes on the canonization process for the wartime Pope, Pius XII!. Apparently Benedict has set up a committee to review old documents from the Second World War period and study new ones that have recently come to light!.

There is no question that Pius XII has become a very controversial Pope because of his attitude to the Holocaust!. Some Jews have accused him (he reigned from 1939 to 195 of being indifferent to the Holocaust and not speaking out against Hitler’s treatment of the Jews!.
http://neilmckenty!.wordpress!.com/2007/12!.!.!.

SHOULD POPE PIUS X11 BECOME A SAINT!?
According to the Italian press, Pope Benedict has put the brakes on the canonization process for the wartime Pope, Pius XII!. Apparently Benedict has set up a committee to review old documents from the Second World War period and study new ones that have recently come to light!.

ADL urges Pope to suspend Pius sainthood over Holocaust inaction

By Reuters

A U!.S!.-based group that fights anti-Semitism urged Pope Benedict on Thursday to suspend the sainthood process for Pope Pius XII, whom critics accuse of turning a blind eye to the death of Jews during World War Two!.

The Anti-Defamation League said the process should stop until secret World War Two Vatican archives are declassified and fully examined "so that the full record of the Pope's actions during the Holocaust may finally be known!."
http://www!.haaretz!.com/hasen/spages/8582!.!.!.

The preliminary report released by the IJCHC also asked the Vatican for access to non-published archival documents to more fully investigate the Pope's role in the Holocaust!. This request was refused by the Vatican, which allowed them access only to documents from before 1923!. As a result, the Commission suspended its study in July 2001, without issuing a final report!. Dr!. Michael Marrus, one of the three Jewish panelists and a professor of history at the University of Toronto, expained that the commission "ran up against a brick wall!.!.!.!. It would have been really halpful to have had support from the Holy See on this issue!."(29)

In 2004, news was disclosed of a diary kept by James McDonald, the League of Nations high commissioner for refugees coming from Germany!. In 1933, McDonald raised the treatment of the Jews with then Cardinal Pacelli, who was the Vatican secretary of state!. McDonald was specifically interested in helping a group of Jewish refugees in the Saar region, a territory claimed by France and Germany that was turned over to the Germans in 1935!. The Pope's defenders cite his intercession on these Jews' behalf as evidence of his sympathy for Jews persecuted by the Nazis!. According to McDonald, however, when he disccused the matter with Pacelli, “The response was noncommittal, but left me with the definite impression that no vigorous cooperation could be expected!.”(30) Pacelli did intercede in January 1935 to help the Jews, but only after McDonald agreed that American Jews would use their influence in Washington to protect church properties that were being threatened by the Mexican government!.(31)

In 2005, the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, discovered a letter dated November 20, 1946, showing that Pope Pius XII ordered Jewish babies baptized by Catholics during the Holocaust not to be returned to their parents!. Some scholars said the disclosure was not new and that the Pope's behavior was not remarkable!. The more important story, according to Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, was that one of the recipients of the letter, Angelo Roncalli, the papal representative in Paris, ignored the papal directive!.(32)

FROM JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY
In 2006, an Israeli scholar, Dina Porat, discovered correspondence between Haim Barlas, an emissary of the Jewish Agency sent to Europe to save Jews in the 1940s, and Giuseppe Roncalli, who later became Pope John XXIII!. Roncalli expressed criticism of the Vatican’s silence during the war!. In June 1944, Barlas sent Roncalli a copy of a report compiled by two Jews who escaped from Auschwitz documenting the mass murder at the camp!. Roncalli forwarded the report to the Vatican, which had claimed it did not know about the report until October!. Earlier, Roncalli had written to the president of Slovakia at the behest of Barlas asking him to stop the Nazi deportations of Jews!.(33)
http://www!.jewishvirtuallibrary!.org/jsou!.!.!.

RE AGENT!.!. AGREE
lhttp://www!.claremontmckenna!.edu/hist/jpe!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com