the pope and mussolini by david i kertzer

October 16, 1943, was the roundup of the Jews of Rome, where over 1,000 were sent to Auschwitz, essentially to their death, and the pope kept silent. I did find those kind of shocking - particularly the timing. What were you eager to see when first you got there?ĭavid Kertzer: I discovered these documents from the middle of December 1943, which showed the actual attitude toward Jews in the Vatican at the time that they were being taken off to Auschwitz. PJ Grisar: A large part of this was informed by what you learned within the Vatican archives - first opened in March 2020, and closed down soon after by the pandemic. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. I spoke with Kertzer about the pope’s infamous silence and how he thinks the Vatican will respond to his latest book. In the final reckoning, the author shows that Pius XII was neither “Hitler’s Pope” nor a moral leader to be admired. Kertzer’s revelations can be infuriating, but they help make sense of a papal tenure often excused away by apologists and, until now, not fully understood by scholars.

Kertzer’s book is a captivating account of palace intrigue with a colorful cast of cardinals, diplomats, princes and fascist leaders. In the end, he wanted a role in brokering a peace, largely to curb the spread of communist influence in Europe, which he deemed a larger threat than Nazism.

His actions to stop the oppression of Jews were concerned above all with the baptized and those in interfaith marriages. Pius’ public pronouncements were carefully calibrated to be ambiguous in their praise and criticisms of wartime hostilities.

Pius XII, who served as nuncio to Germany and cardinal secretary of state before his ascension, emerges as a circumspect diplomat, eager to appease the Nazis and Mussolini in the hopes of protecting the church and advancing its interests - and ever aware that many avowed Nazis were among his faithful.

The pope and mussolini by david i kertzer