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The Pope's Dilemma
Pius XII Faces Atrocities and Genocide in the Second World War
Jacques Kornberg (Author)
9781442628281
Paperback / softback, published 1 May 2015
424 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.62 kg
“Kornberg, professor emeritus of history at the University of Toronto, has given us an original and balanced analysis of Pius XII’s moral leadership that is as compelling as a novel. It will inspire much thought about dilemmas of church-state conflicts that we face in our increasingly war-struck world.” ‘This is a well-researched, meticulously argued scholarly treatment of Pius XII’s wartime legacy.’ ‘Kornberg’s work represents a monumental compilation of materials, both primary and secondary sources, reflecting a lifetime of study on the role that organized religion plays in our world.’ ‘Upon reading Kornberg’s record of Pius XII’s response to German genocidal acts, one understands Francis’s logic in terms clear and astonishing.’ ‘In this study, Kornberg offers a refreshingly different perspective on the motivation of Pius XII, which has not been explained satisfactorily by other historians.’ ‘The volume reflects the author’s singular mastery of five decades of literature, exploiting the published documentary collections as well as recent scholarship that presents archival material available only for the last fifteen years.’ ‘Jacques Kornberg has crafted a masterfully researched, carefully argued, highly readable scholarly monograph that adds greatly to the historical literature concerning Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust.’ ‘A meticulous and careful study of the career of the twentieth century’s most controversial pope and a significant contribution to the debate over the Catholic Church’s wartime attitude and legacy.’ "Pope Pius XII occupies the center of one of the great historical (and historiographical) controversies of our time. His relationship to the fascist regimes and his conduct during the holocaust remain the subjects of ongoing, well-reasoned, and often painful arguments. In The Pope’s Dilemma: PiusXII Faces Atrocities and Genocide in the Second World War, Jacques Kornberg carefully and with an admirably even hand traces many of the polemics surrounding the pontiff. "
Pope Pius XII presided over the Catholic Church during one of the most challenging moments in its history. Elected in early 1939, Pius XII spoke out against war and destruction, but his refusal to condemn Nazi Germany and its allies for mass atrocities and genocide remains controversial almost seventy years after the end of the Second World War. Scholars have blamed Pius’s inaction on anti-communism, antisemitism, a special emotional bond with Germany, or a preference for fascist authoritarianism. Delving deep into Catholic theology and ecclesiology, Jacques Kornberg argues instead that what drove Pius XII was the belief that his highest priority must be to preserve the authority of the Church and the access to salvation that it provided. In The Pope’s Dilemma, Kornberg uses the examples of Pius XII’s immediate predecessors Benedict XV and the Armenian genocide and Pius XI and Fascist Italy, as well as case studies of Pius XII’s wartime policies towards five Catholic countries (Croatia, France, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia), to demonstrate the consistency with which Pius XII and the Vatican avoided confronting the perpetrators of atrocities and strove to keep Catholics within the Church. By this measure, Pius XII did not betray, but fulfilled his papal role. A meticulous and careful analysis of the career of the twentieth century’s most controversial pope, The Pope’s Dilemma is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the Catholic Church’s wartime legacy.
Introduction: An Approach to the Controversy 1. Demolition of Pope Pius XII’s Reputation 2. The Vatican and Nazi Germany: The 1933 Concordat 3. Pius XII and World War II: The Catholic Belligerent States 4. Catholic Anti-Jewish Attitudes: Achille Ratti, Eugenio Pacelli, and Others 5. The Debate over Pius XII’s Priorities, and a Conclusion 6. Pope Pius XII and His Predecessors: Different Popes, Similar Policies 7. Religious Good Trumps Moral Good