Revised book gives intimate look at Pope Pius XII and Hitler before and during World War II

SALT LAKE CITY – In response to criticisms of Pope Pius XII that sprung from Rychlak’s first "Hitler, the War, and the Pope" and other books critical Pope Pius’ XII’s response to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis’ torment of Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, and others, Rychlak offers a revised version of the first book. First, in an introduction more than 40 pages long, Rychlak calls on rabbis, bishops, archbishops and ministers of many faiths to tell the true stories about themselves and members of their congregations being arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Born of a Catholic mother, Hitler left the faith after high school and turned considerable anger and hatred toward people of faith of all stripes.

Adolf Hitler’s history extended from the time of Pope Leo XIII through that of Pope Pius XII, but Rychlak’s book begins with Pope Pius XI, Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, and is complete through the years of Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XI’s secretary of state, being groomed to take over from Pope Pius XI. There are a number of comments from Pope John XXIII, Pope Pius XI, and even a few passages and actions by the Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Pacelli led war relief efforts, and as secretary of state was responsible for returning home 65,000 prisoners of war during World War I. The book describes Pope Benedict XV, who spent so much money helping the poor that at his death there was not enough money to bury him or hold a conclave after his death in 1922. By that time Pacelli had been named an archbishop and was the Vatican’s sole representative in Germany. From that viewpoint, Pacelli could see the rise of Hitler’s power and the growth of the Nazi Party, which he reported to the Vatican. Although it was said that Pacelli "feared absolutely no one," he was surprised by his election to pope, and took the name Pope Pius XII. From the Vatican he watched the rise of anti- Semitism, Nazism, and communism.

By 1919, Hitler had risen to the leadership of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, and Pacelli said "Nazism is perhaps the most dangerous heresy of our time." As a newly appointed nuncio, Pacelli made 44 public speeches on German soil between 1917 and 1929. At least 40 contained attacks on National Socialism or Hitler’s doctrines. They documented the growth of National Socialism, Communism, and Nazism. He kept reports coming to Rome due to the threat that these led "Catholics to be cheated and misled," and "Nazism posed a clear threat to Christianity and the Catholic Church," and "social nationalism is the most perilous heresy of our time."

These comments prove that Pope Pius XII was adamantly anti-Hitler; he also ordered convents, seminaries, and other Catholic places to offer solace and hiding places to Jews and other victims of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

"Hitler, the War, and the Pope" responds to criticism of Pope Pius XII and his non-relationships with Hitler and Mussolini. The book is meticulously researched and is almost intimidating in length. But it is worth reading and answers a host of questions that have been out there for years.

"Hitler, the War, and the Pope" by Ronald J. Rychlak, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 621pages, hard copy, $29.95.