"Pope Francis says Pius XII's beatification won't go ahead" (The Times of Israel, May 26, 2014):ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) -- Pope Francis remained firm in his refusal to allow the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some Jews of not speaking out enough against the Holocaust, because he doesn't have enough miracles in his record. [One is required]It has always amazed me how the Catholic world, above all, has apparently fallen for the hateful screed directed against this good Pope -- screed stemming from Rolf Hochhuth's 1963 drama, The Deputy, which fabricated the calumny that Pius XII was "Hitler's Pope" (soundly debunked as a myth). The matter has been thoroughgoingly refuted, and numerous prominent Jews, from Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to President of the World Jewish Congress Nahum Goldmann, are on record for publicly thanking Pope Pius XII for his protection of thousands of Jews within the precincts of Vatican City and his summer residence Castel Gondolfo during the Nazi Holocaust.
As he flew from Ben-Gurion International Airport Monday night at the conclusion of two day visit to Israel, Francis spoke of his position on the matter and made it clear that, for the time being, the beatification won’t go ahead.
“There’s still no miracle,” he said. “If there are no miracles, it can’t go forward. It’s blocked there.”
Furthermore, as to lack of a miracle in the case of Pope Pius XII, this report surfaced some years ago, as one of our readers points out. I wonder what's happened to it? Anybody know? "Possible Miracle of Venerable Pius XII Emerges; Validates His Heroic Virtue in the Face of Mainstream Misconception" (St. Michael Society, January 20, 2010).
[Hat tip to L.S.]
David Kertzer's book 'The Pope and Mussolini' make it abundantly clear why Pius XII should never be considered for sainthood.
ReplyDeletelokionline,
ReplyDeleteYou evince little evidence you have a clue what you're talking about.
First, you've got your popes confused. Kertzer's book is about Pius XI, not Pius XII.
Second, if we were concerned with Pius XI here, as opposed to Pius XII, Kertzer's book would help your case only if it showed some evidence of being a credible analysis. But looking to Kertzer for a credible analysis of Pius XI is the moral equivalent of asking David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the KKK, to write an impartial memorial of Nelson Mandela.
Kertzer's book has all the external trappings of a brilliant exposé -- a detailed cast of characters, intrigue, detail -- but ends up being little more historical than Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.
Trying to paint Pius XI as an anti-semite, he focuses on Pius's negative reports about Polish Jews, but entirely overlooks the point that Pius's criticisms were directed against the Marxist-Communist sympathies and involvements of many Jews, not their ethnicity. Furthermore, he entirely ignores the details about Pius's warm relationships with the Italian Jewish community, the fact that he learned Hebrew from a local rabbi, enjoyed cordial relations with Italian Jewish leaders in the early years of his priesthood, denounced the anti-Semitic persecution that he saw during his time in Poland, his declaration “that any anti-Semitic outbursts would be severely condemned by the Holy See.” Finally, when faced with Pius's encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (the only papal encyclical ever written in German, and smuggled into Germany for the explicit purpose of condemning the Nazi agenda), Kertzer utterly fails in his misbegotten endeavor to try to show that the encyclical didn't really condemn Nazi antisemitism. The encyclical condemned in no uncertain terms the Nazi exaltation of the own (Aryan) race in opposition to those locked outside "the frontiers of a single people" as "idolatrous." In November 1931, the chief rabbi of Milan thanked the Pope for his appeals against anti-Semitism and his continuing support for Italy’s Jews.
On September 6, 1938, in a statement which – though barred from the Fascist press – made its way around the world, Pius XI said:
“Mark well that in the Catholic Mass, Abraham is our Patriarch and forefather. Anti-Semitism is incompatible with the lofty thought which that fact expresses. It is a movement with which we Christians can have nothing to do. No, no, I say to you it is impossible for a Christian to take part in anti-Semitism. It is inadmissible. Through Christ and in Christ we are the spiritual progeny of Abraham. Spiritually, we are all Semites.”
Here is a purgative for Kertzer's polemical poison
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/kjuaqbu
Exactly let the facts come out. The Vatican needs to make public all achieves on Pope Pius XII. I believe they will backup real facts that Pope Pius XII saved 400k to 600K Jews
ReplyDeleteChris
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If you take a look at David Kertzer's list of books, you'll quickly realize that he nitpicks to find subjects that will give the Church a black eye. Even worse, most of his claims are ridiculous. Steven Spielberg is now planning to make a film based on Kertzer's book on the "kidnapping of Edgar Mortaro, who wound up being a very happy priest in early 20th century Italy. Imagine if a Catholic author/filmmaker did the same. You would see films/read books about how Jewish men/women figure in at an extremely high percentage in legalizing and promoting the widespread acceptance of abortion; how Jewish filmmakers have made it so that it's very difficult to take your family to a decent film for entertainment without being assaulted with nudity, anti-Christian propaganda, etc; and about how AIPAC "owns" so many US publicly elected officials who wind up acting in the best interest of Israel, while leaving the United States at a disadvantage. Let's see if anyone in Hollywood or the media would come down hard on such an author/filmmaker. Back to where we were, David Kertzer deserves a little spotlight so that Catholics can know what dirty deeds he's responsible for in his attempt to smear a number of fine Catholic men.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice to read a Catholic treatment of this kidnapping of Edgar Mortaro.
ReplyDelete