The World of Religions No. 40, March-April 2010 —
Benedict XVI's decision to continue the beatification process for Pope Pius XII has sparked a widespread controversy, dividing both the Jewish and Christian worlds. The president of Rome's rabbinical community boycotted the Pope's visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome in protest against Pius XII's "passive" attitude toward the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Benedict XVI once again justified the choice to canonize his predecessor, arguing that he could not condemn more openly the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime without running the risk of reprisals against Catholics, of whom the Jews, many of whom were hidden in convents, would have been the first victims. The argument is entirely valid. The historian Léon Poliakov had already pointed this out in 1951, in the first edition of the Breviary of Hatred, the Third Reich and the Jews: "It is painful to note that throughout the war, while the factories of death were running at full tilt, the papacy remained silent. It must be recognized, however, that, as experience has shown at the local level, public protests could be immediately followed by merciless sanctions."
Pius XII, a good diplomat, tried to keep both sides happy: he secretly supported the Jews, directly saving the lives of thousands of Roman Jews after the German occupation of northern Italy, while avoiding a direct condemnation of the Holocaust, so as not to break off all dialogue with the Nazi regime and avoid a brutal reaction. This attitude can be described as responsible, rational, prudent, even wise. But it is in no way prophetic and does not reflect the actions of a saint. Jesus died on the cross for having remained faithful to his message of love and truth to the end.
Following him, the apostles Peter and Paul gave their lives because they did not renounce proclaiming the message of Christ or adjusting it to circumstances for "diplomatic reasons." Imagine if they had been popes in the place of Pius XII? It is hard to imagine them coming to terms with the Nazi regime, but rather deciding to die deported with those millions of innocents. This is the act of holiness, of prophetic significance that, in such tragic circumstances of history, one could expect from the successor of Peter. A pope who gives his life and says to Hitler: "I prefer to die with my Jewish brothers rather than condone this abomination."
Certainly, the reprisals would have been terrible for Catholics, but the Church would have sent a message of unprecedented power to the entire world. The first Christians were saints because they put their faith and love of neighbor above their own lives. Pius XII will be canonized because he was a pious man, a good manager of the Roman Curia, and a shrewd diplomat. This is the whole gap that exists between the Church of the Martyrs and the post-Constantinian Church, more concerned with preserving its political clout than with bearing witness to the Gospel.