Pope Pius XII and Judaism
Encyclopedia
The relations between Pope Pius XII and Judaism have long been controversial, especially those questions that surround Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
. Other issues involve Pius's Jewish friendships and his attitude towards the new state of Israel.
After the papacy of Pius XII, the relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism
was radically changed by the Second Vatican Council
(1962–1965), particularly Nostra Aetate
, which incorporated text from the drafts of Decretum de Judaeis
.
representative Nachum Sokolov, and used his influence to arrange for Mr. Sokolov to meet directly with the Benedict XV in 1917 to discuss a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1926, Pacelli also encouraged Catholics in Germany to join the Committee Pro Palestina, which supported Jewish settlements in Palestine.
asserts that the timing of the statement, during a period when Hungary was in the process of formulating new anti-Semitic laws, ran counter to Pope Pius XI's September statement urging Catholics to honour their spiritual father Abraham.
Luigi Maglione received a request from Chief Rabbi
of Palestine
Isaac Herzog
in the Spring of 1940 to intercede on behalf of Lithuanian Jews
about to be deported to Germany. Pius called Ribbentrop
on March 11, repeatedly protesting against the treatment of Jews. In his 1940 encyclical Summi Pontificatus, Pius rejected anti-semitism, stating that in the Catholic Church there is "neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision." In the summer of 1942, Pius explained to his college of Cardinals the reasons for the great gulf that existed between Jews and Christians at the theological level: "Jerusalem has responded to His call and to His grace with the same rigid blindness and stubborn ingratitude that has led it along the path of guilt to the murder of God." Historian Guido Knopp describes these comments of Pius as being "incomprehensible" at a time when "Jerusalem was being murdered by the million". In revising his previous opinion Michael Phayer
asserts that Pius did speak out against the holocaust in his 1942 Christmas message.
, published in September 1943 emphasized the role of the Bible. Pius XII freed biblical research from previous limitations. He encouraged Christian theologians to revisit original versions of the Bible
in Greek
and Hebrew. Noting improvements in archaeology
, the encyclical reversed Pope Leo XIII's
encyclical, which had only advocated going back to the original texts to resolve ambiguity in the Latin Vulgate. The encyclical demands a much better understanding of ancient Jewish history and traditions. It requires bishops throughout the Church to initiate biblical studies
for lay people. The Pontiff also requests a reorientation of Catholic teaching and education, relying much more on sacred scriptures in sermon
s and religious instruction.
is a peace encyclical of Pope Pius XII focusing on the war in Palestine. It was given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, October 24, 1948, the tenth year of his Pontificate.
When war was declared, the Pope maintained the attitude of impartiality but also looked for possibilities for justice and peace in Palestine and for the respect and protection of the Holy Places. Pope Pius organized charities for the refugees and victims of the war, fully recognizing that this would not be sufficient.
Pius also made a proposal for Jerusalem to become an international city, either under the United Nations
or a related organization. The idea first appeared in the 1949 encyclical Redemptoris Nostri Cruciatus
. It was later re-proposed during the papacies of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
allegedly experienced a mystical vision about Jesus of Nazareth, who is called Messiah. No mention of this, however, was made contemporaneously to his conversion. Shortly after the end of World War II, Zolli and his second wife (his first wife had died years before) converted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Their decision continues to be controversial. Zolli then went to the Gregorian University. He was baptized by Mgr. Luigi Traglia in the presence of Father Dezza, also known as Paolo Cardinal Dezza. Israel Zolli was named Eugenio Maria Zolli in honor of Pope Pius XII, who was born Eugenio Pacelli. The ceremony was done with much pomp and publicity. Newman contends, "If Zolli had been a sincere and devout neophyte," he would have entered the church humbly without fanfare. Contrary to some of Zolli's Catholic biographers, Newman concludes that the act was a vengeful act of spite against the Jewish community for having rejected him.
and is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism
and other forms of intolerance in Britain. In late 1954, and reflecting the theology of the era, the Vatican
instructed the head of English Catholics to resign from the council due to its perceived indifferentism
, with Catholics not returning until the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council
.
liturgy in 1955, Pope Pius XII
instituted kneeling for this petition as at the other petitions of the litany, so that the English translation of the prayer read:
However, shortly after his election Pope John XXIII
interrupted a Good Friday service when one of the celebrants used the word perfidious ("faithless") from the liturgy to describe the Jews. John had the prayer repeated with the offending word omitted.. He subsequently ordered liturgical changes to remove the offending words.
published a document dated 20 November 1946 on the subject of Jewish children baptized in war-time France. The document ordered that baptized children, if orphaned, should be kept in Catholic custody and stated that the decision "has been approved by the Holy Father".
Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
The relationship between Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust has long been disputed, with some scholars arguing that he kept silent during the Holocaust, while others have argued that he saved thousands if not tens or hundreds of thousands of Jews....
. Other issues involve Pius's Jewish friendships and his attitude towards the new state of Israel.
After the papacy of Pius XII, the relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
was radically changed by the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
(1962–1965), particularly Nostra Aetate
Nostra Aetate
Nostra Aetate is the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated on October 28, 1965, by Pope Paul VI.The first draft, entitled "Decretum de...
, which incorporated text from the drafts of Decretum de Judaeis
Decretum de Judaeis
Decretum de Judaeis is the name given to the series of draft documents of the Second Vatican Council which led to ground-breaking progress in the Church's relations with Jews...
.
1917 intervention in Palestine
Documents discovered in the Vatican Secret Archives, by Dr. Michael Hesemann indicate that Archbishop Pacelli intervened in 1917, through the German government, to assure the Jews of Palestine that they would be protected from any harm from the Ottoman Turks. Dr. Hesemann further stated that Pacelli also directly intervened with the World Zionist OrganizationWorld Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
representative Nachum Sokolov, and used his influence to arrange for Mr. Sokolov to meet directly with the Benedict XV in 1917 to discuss a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1926, Pacelli also encouraged Catholics in Germany to join the Committee Pro Palestina, which supported Jewish settlements in Palestine.
1938 Eucharistic conference
An International Eucharistic Conference took place in Budapest in Hungary during 1938. Cardinal Pacelli addressed the congress and described the Jews as people "whose lips curse [Christ] and whose hearts reject him even today". Michael PhayerMichael Phayer
Michael Phayer, born 1935, is a historian and professor emeritus at Marquette University in Milwaukee and has written on 19th and 20th century European history and the Holocaust....
asserts that the timing of the statement, during a period when Hungary was in the process of formulating new anti-Semitic laws, ran counter to Pope Pius XI's September statement urging Catholics to honour their spiritual father Abraham.
Attitude during the Holocaust
Cardinal Secretary of StateCardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
Luigi Maglione received a request from Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
Isaac Herzog
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog , also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936...
in the Spring of 1940 to intercede on behalf of Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
about to be deported to Germany. Pius called Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
on March 11, repeatedly protesting against the treatment of Jews. In his 1940 encyclical Summi Pontificatus, Pius rejected anti-semitism, stating that in the Catholic Church there is "neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision." In the summer of 1942, Pius explained to his college of Cardinals the reasons for the great gulf that existed between Jews and Christians at the theological level: "Jerusalem has responded to His call and to His grace with the same rigid blindness and stubborn ingratitude that has led it along the path of guilt to the murder of God." Historian Guido Knopp describes these comments of Pius as being "incomprehensible" at a time when "Jerusalem was being murdered by the million". In revising his previous opinion Michael Phayer
Michael Phayer
Michael Phayer, born 1935, is a historian and professor emeritus at Marquette University in Milwaukee and has written on 19th and 20th century European history and the Holocaust....
asserts that Pius did speak out against the holocaust in his 1942 Christmas message.
Biblical issues
The encyclical, Divino Afflante SpirituDivino Afflante Spiritu
Divino Afflante Spiritu is an encyclical letter issued by Pope Pius XII on September 30, 1943. It inaugurated the modern period of Roman Catholic Bible studies by permitting the limited use of modern methods of biblical criticism. The Catholic bible scholar Raymond E...
, published in September 1943 emphasized the role of the Bible. Pius XII freed biblical research from previous limitations. He encouraged Christian theologians to revisit original versions of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Hebrew. Noting improvements in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, the encyclical reversed Pope Leo XIII's
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
encyclical, which had only advocated going back to the original texts to resolve ambiguity in the Latin Vulgate. The encyclical demands a much better understanding of ancient Jewish history and traditions. It requires bishops throughout the Church to initiate biblical studies
Biblical studies
Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures." Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as...
for lay people. The Pontiff also requests a reorientation of Catholic teaching and education, relying much more on sacred scriptures in sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s and religious instruction.
Relations with Israel
In Multiplicibus CurisIn Multiplicibus Curis
In Multiplicibus Curis was an encyclical given by Pope Pius XII on 24 October 1948 at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, in the tenth year of his Pontificate...
is a peace encyclical of Pope Pius XII focusing on the war in Palestine. It was given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, October 24, 1948, the tenth year of his Pontificate.
When war was declared, the Pope maintained the attitude of impartiality but also looked for possibilities for justice and peace in Palestine and for the respect and protection of the Holy Places. Pope Pius organized charities for the refugees and victims of the war, fully recognizing that this would not be sufficient.
Pius also made a proposal for Jerusalem to become an international city, either under the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
or a related organization. The idea first appeared in the 1949 encyclical Redemptoris Nostri Cruciatus
Redemptoris Nostri Cruciatus
Redemptoris Nostri Cruciatus is a peace encyclical of Pope Pius XII focusing on the war in Palestine. It was given at St. Peter's f Good Friday, April 15, 1949....
. It was later re-proposed during the papacies of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.
Friendly relationship with Guido Mendes
In 1958, doctor Guido Mendes wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post explaining how he had been friends with Pope Pacelli since his youth. He said that the Pope had discussed Jewish theology and participated in a Sabbath with important members of the Roman Jewish community. They exchanged ideals and future prospects, with Pacelli later expressing enthusiasm for the new State of Israel.Conversion of rabbi Israel Zolli
According to biographer Judith Cabaud, in 1944, while conducting a Yom Kippur service, rabbi Israel ZolliIsrael Zolli
Israel Zolli was from 1939 to 1945 Chief Rabbi of Rome. After the war, he converted to Roman Catholicism, taking the name Eugenio in honor of Pope Pius XII.-Early years/rabbinate:...
allegedly experienced a mystical vision about Jesus of Nazareth, who is called Messiah. No mention of this, however, was made contemporaneously to his conversion. Shortly after the end of World War II, Zolli and his second wife (his first wife had died years before) converted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Their decision continues to be controversial. Zolli then went to the Gregorian University. He was baptized by Mgr. Luigi Traglia in the presence of Father Dezza, also known as Paolo Cardinal Dezza. Israel Zolli was named Eugenio Maria Zolli in honor of Pope Pius XII, who was born Eugenio Pacelli. The ceremony was done with much pomp and publicity. Newman contends, "If Zolli had been a sincere and devout neophyte," he would have entered the church humbly without fanfare. Contrary to some of Zolli's Catholic biographers, Newman concludes that the act was a vengeful act of spite against the Jewish community for having rejected him.
Council of Christians and Jews
The Council of Christians and Jews is a voluntary organisation in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and is composed of Christians and Jews working together to counter anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and other forms of intolerance in Britain. In late 1954, and reflecting the theology of the era, the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
instructed the head of English Catholics to resign from the council due to its perceived indifferentism
Indifferentism
Indifferentism, in Roman Catholic theology, describes the belief that there is no evidence that one religion or philosophy is superior to another. The Catholic Church ascribes indifferentism to all atheistic, materialistic, pantheistic, and agnostic philosophies...
, with Catholics not returning until the reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
.
Good Friday Prayer for the Jews
As part of his major revision of the Holy WeekHoly Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
liturgy in 1955, Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
instituted kneeling for this petition as at the other petitions of the litany, so that the English translation of the prayer read:
- Let us pray also for the faithless Jews: that almighty God may remove the veil from their hearts; so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray. Let us kneel. [pause for silent prayer] Arise. Almighty and eternal God, who dost not exclude from thy mercy even Jewish faithlessness: hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people; that acknowledging the light of thy Truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
However, shortly after his election Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
interrupted a Good Friday service when one of the celebrants used the word perfidious ("faithless") from the liturgy to describe the Jews. John had the prayer repeated with the offending word omitted.. He subsequently ordered liturgical changes to remove the offending words.
Jewish orphans controversy
In 2005, Corriere della SeraCorriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
published a document dated 20 November 1946 on the subject of Jewish children baptized in war-time France. The document ordered that baptized children, if orphaned, should be kept in Catholic custody and stated that the decision "has been approved by the Holy Father".