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A review by socraticgadfly
The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler by David I. Kertzer
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
A great book, and with it already having plenty of reviews, I'll keep mine short, and start by cutting to the chase.
At the end of the book, Kertzer says Pius was a Fascist. Not a Nazi, as throughout, he distinguishes the two. But, yes, a Fascist. He does this based not just on Pius' apparent antisemitism, looking at the Ardentine Caves and earlier incidents, documented by Kertzer in other books and by other authors, where Pius took a full, radio-silence pass at speaking out about Holocaust-related issues that were known to him, as well as the later 1944 deportation of Hungarian Jews.
Rather, it's based on the symbiotic relationship the Vatican had, starting with Pius XI, with the Duce ever since the writing of Lateran accords, but a relationship that expanded under Pius XII, who, other than Mussolini's going to war, could see little wrong with what Italy did.
Related to that, Kertzer notes Pius XII's continued refusal to challenge Nazi Germany's violations of the terms of its concordat with the Vatican, including saying nothing about the invasion of Poland, despite its largely Catholic population, and other issues.
Behind this all, of course, is Pius' bete noire of Communism. (A minor ding? Very minor? If Pius said more about the Spanish Civil War than Kertzer encloses,it would have been nice to seen more of that.)
Kertzer makes allowance for the Vatican being totally surrounded by Italy, especially after Mussolini entered the war in the summer of 1940. But, even with those allowances, Pius comes off as an apologist for Fascism, even after the Duce was booted by the rest of Fascist Grand Council, even after Rome was liberated.
At the end of the book, Kertzer says Pius was a Fascist. Not a Nazi, as throughout, he distinguishes the two. But, yes, a Fascist. He does this based not just on Pius' apparent antisemitism, looking at the Ardentine Caves and earlier incidents, documented by Kertzer in other books and by other authors, where Pius took a full, radio-silence pass at speaking out about Holocaust-related issues that were known to him, as well as the later 1944 deportation of Hungarian Jews.
Rather, it's based on the symbiotic relationship the Vatican had, starting with Pius XI, with the Duce ever since the writing of Lateran accords, but a relationship that expanded under Pius XII, who, other than Mussolini's going to war, could see little wrong with what Italy did.
Related to that, Kertzer notes Pius XII's continued refusal to challenge Nazi Germany's violations of the terms of its concordat with the Vatican, including saying nothing about the invasion of Poland, despite its largely Catholic population, and other issues.
Behind this all, of course, is Pius' bete noire of Communism. (A minor ding? Very minor? If Pius said more about the Spanish Civil War than Kertzer encloses,it would have been nice to seen more of that.)
Kertzer makes allowance for the Vatican being totally surrounded by Italy, especially after Mussolini entered the war in the summer of 1940. But, even with those allowances, Pius comes off as an apologist for Fascism, even after the Duce was booted by the rest of Fascist Grand Council, even after Rome was liberated.