Kevin Madigan will speak on ‘Pope Pius and the Nazi Persecution of the Jews’
October 1, 2013
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location
Student Center East, Cardinal Room
Address
750 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607
Calendar
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Kevin Madigan (Harvard) will speak on “Pope Pius and the Nazi Persecution of the Jews: The Influence of the Diplomatic Years, ca. 1910-39”
Reception with refreshments will follow.
Abstract:
One of the most fraught debates in the history of the 20th century Catholic church is whether Pius XII could have done more as pope to denounce Hitler or to slow the Holocaust. In the end, it would be quite untrue to say that he did or said nothing, many of his contemporaries urged him to do and say more in the face of the abominations about which he was well informed. Indeed, in 1942 bishops in Catholic France and Holland denounced the deportation of the Jews to the charnel houses of the East. Why Pius did not issue a similarly strong condemnation has been explained by a variety of factors, among which fear of Communism, a dangerous enemy of Christianity, is probably most often cited. Others have argued that he wished to remain impartial or neutral, still others that he favored Germans. Some have argued that Jews lay outside his universe of moral concern; his primary concern was preservation of the Church. Others, notably John Cornwell, have gone so far as to call him “Hitler’s Pope” and anti-semitic. Each of these arguments has some truth to them. Recently, however, documents from the Vatican’s Secret Archive have been opened which give one a window into Eugenio Pacelli’s actions as a diplomat under his predecessor, Pius XI. In this talk, Professor Madigan will suggest that Pacelli’s experiences as diplomat during the pontificate of Pius XI may have shaped his thinking, decisions and behavior more than has been appropriately emphasized.
Date posted
Jun 5, 2020
Date updated
Sep 25, 2020