Saint of the Maligned

Your front-page article, “Vatican slams holocaust panel’s work” (BDN, Aug. 8) brings up a long standing and baseless criticism of Pope Pius XII. For centuries it has been the practice of the Catholic Church to appoint a “Devil’s Advocate” to investigate the life of a candidate for canonization to determine if he/she is truly worthy of such an honor.

In the case of the war time pope, there seems to be a plethora of self-appointed D.A.s honing in on Pius XII. The first one I recall was Rolf Hockhuth, who wrote a play, “The Deputy” in which he depicted the wartime pope as Hitler’s tool.

Anyone alive at the time and paying attention to what was going on, as I was, would have known of reports that appeared here and abroad. We know that Pius XII has been slandered by recent charges of indifference and failure to criticize the Third Reich for its violations of human rights.

Too many people seem more willing to embrace fiction than to ascertain truth. All of the pope’s detractors have access to public libraries where microfilm contains information negating their views. The detractors would find that in September 1939, Hitler’s blackout of news was pierced when Pius XII revealed horrible atrocities against Jews and Catholics. A January 1940 New York Times editorial confirmed the Vatican’s public condemnation of Nazi atrocities. A N.Y. Times article, “Vatican Reveals Terrors in Poland” concurring with this was carried on Jan. 23, 1940.

Protests by Pope Pius XII of Nazi persecution of Jews appeared in the N.Y. Times throughout the Holocaust years. A Dec. 25, 1942 Times editorial reads “The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas. He is about the only ruler left on the continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all.”

Albert Einstein’s touching tribute to the Pope, published in the Dec. 23, 1940 N.Y. Times Magazine closes with “… only the church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign to suppress truth. I never had any special interest in the church before … I am forced to confess, that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.”

Many Jewish notables like Golda Mier, Pinchas Lapide and Holocaust chronicler, Leon Poliskov, eulogized Pius XII upon his death in 1958.

Hockhuth’s play in the 60’s erased all that, and led to a succession of Pope bashing publications. Don’t publishers check the record before printing such falsehoods? Don’t TV producers verify their sources?

I hope Pius XII is canonized and proclaimed the patron saint of the “Maligned.” He should have many supplicants in this age of sloppy journalism and gossip TV.

Anne B. McNally of Searsport is a retired teacher from Chicago.