Pope Pius XII and Judaism
The relations between Pope Pius XII and Judaism have long been controversial, especially those questions that surround Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust. Other issues involve Pius's Jewish friendships and his attitude towards the new state of Israel.
1917 intervention in Palestine
Documents discovered in the Vatican archives by
1938 Eucharistic conference
An International Eucharistic Conference took place in Budapest in Hungary during 1938. Cardinal Pacelli used the opportunity to denounce "the lugubrious array of the militant godless, shaking the clenched fist of anti-Christ." He added, in words that have been misinterpreted: "Where now are Herod and Pilate, Nero and Diocletian, and Julian the Apostate, and all the persecutors of the First Century? St. Ambrose replies: ‘The Christians who have been massacred have won the victory; the vanquished were their persecutors.'"[2]
According to a contemporary translation into Hungarian of a second quote from Pacelli's discourse, which was originally delivered in French, Pacelli also stated: "As opposed to the foes of Jesus, who cried out to his face, 'Crucify him!' we sing him hymns of our loyalty and our love. We act in this fashion, not out of bitterness, not out of a sense of superiority, not out of arrogance toward those whose lips curse him and whose hearts reject him even today."[3]
This second quote, which was published in a Hungarian newspaper, has been used by some commentators [4] to imply that Pacelli was making an antisemitic remark, despite his words including non-Jews (such as the Roman emperors and Pontius Pilate) in the speech. This claim is disputed by those who have access to the original and complete French text, such as Fr. Peter Gumpel, law professor Ronald J. Rychlak, and historian William Doino, Jr., who state that the context indicates that it was an attack on the mass political movements of the day, and was particularly applicable to fascism.[5]
Attitude during the Holocaust
Biblical issues
The encyclical,
Relations with Israel
In multiplicibus curis is a peace encyclical of Pope Pius XII focusing on the war in Palestine. It was given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, October 24, 1948, the tenth year of his Pontificate.
When war was declared, the Pope maintained the attitude of impartiality but also looked for possibilities for justice and peace in Palestine and for the respect and protection of the Holy Places. Pope Pius organized charities for the refugees and victims of the war, fully recognizing that this would not be sufficient.
Pius also made a proposal for
Friendly relationship with Guido Mendes
In 1958, Dr. Guido Mendes wrote an article in the
Conversion of rabbi Israel Zolli
According to biographer Judith Cabaud, in 1944, while conducting a Yom Kippur service, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, experienced a mystical vision about Jesus Christ. Shortly after the end of World War II, Rabbi Zolli and his second wife (his first wife had died years before) were received into the Roman Catholic Church. Zolli then went to the Gregorian University. He was baptized by Mgr. Luigi Traglia in the presence of Father Dezza, also known as Paolo Cardinal Dezza. Israel Zolli was named Eugenio Maria Zolli in honor of Pope Pius XII, who was born Eugenio Pacelli.
Council of Christians and Jews
The
Good Friday Prayer for the Jews
Kneeling had always accompanied the other petitions in the Holy Week liturgy. In 1955, Pope Pius XII re-instituted kneeling for this petition (the prayer for the Jews).
The English translation of the prayer read:
- Let us pray also for the faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts; so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray. Let us kneel. [pause for silent prayer] Arise. Almighty and eternal God, who dost not exclude from thy mercy even Jewish faithlessness: hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people; that acknowledging the light of thy Truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Jewish orphans controversy
In 2005, Corriere della Sera published a document dated 20 November 1946 on the subject of Jewish children baptized in war-time France. The document ordered that baptized children, if orphaned, should be kept in Catholic custody and stated that the decision "has been approved by the Holy Father".[citation needed]
Proposal for Righteous Among the Nations
See also
References
- ^ "Newly Discovered Documents Prove Pope Pius XII was a Friend to the Jewish People Before, During and After WWII". Archived from the original on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ Time Magazine, "Religion: Eucharist in Budapest," June 6, 1938.
- ^ "Pius XII and the Distorting Ellipsis," by Ronald J. Rychlak and William Doino, Jr., First Things, Sep 16, 2010. [1]
- ISBN 0-253-21471-8
- ^ Rychlak and Doino
- ^ Dalin, 2005, p. 73
- ISBN 0-7509-2700-3
- ^ AAS, 1943, p. 297.
- ^ AAS, 1943, p. 305.
- ^ [TORNIELLI, Andrea. Pio XII, Un Uomo Sul Trono di Pietro, 2007, pp. 661]
- ^ "History". Council of Christians and Jews. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
Sources
- Morley, John. 1980. Vatican diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. New York : KTAV Pub. House. ISBN 0-87068-701-8.
- Weisbord, Robert G., and Sillanpoa, Wallace P. 1991. The Chief Rabbi, the Pope, and the Holocaust: An Era in Vatican-Jewish Relations. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-88738-416-1.
- ISBN 9780253337252.
- ISBN 9780253349309.