Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII

by John Cornwell

Book Overview

The "explosive" (The New York Times) bestseller that "redefined the history of the twentieth century" (The Washington Post ) This shocking book was the first account to tell the whole truth about Pope... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670886939
• ISBN13: 9780670886937
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 430 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The dust jacket photo was airbrushed...

...to make it look like Pius was coming out of a Nazi military office. Actually, the photo is from 1929. As for the rest of the book, it's pretty much all false - that's been pointed out by many others in such books as Rychlak's "Hitler, the War, and the Pope," Bottum's "Pius War," and even Pacepa's "Disinformation." The only reason people still take this screed seriously is that it was heavily pushed by the mainstream media, which apparently is deeply anti-Catholic, or at least anti-pope. Don't put money in this guy's pocket... unless you can get a copy with that original faked dust cover. That might be a collector's item.

Hitler"s Pope is a must read

If you are interested in the hows and whys of WW2 and the Pope this book will do it for you. Pius XII may have been good for the Church but he was bad for the world.

Many obsessions

While John Cornwell in the beginning of his book calls Eugenio Pacelli `a man of meticulous conscience', he arrives ultimately at a most severe verdict of `a hypocrite'. Pope Pius XII was a man with many obsessions: his personal power within the Catholic Church, his universal power base through the Church, his image on the world scene, the problems with `God's mother', chastity, women and the Jewish question, among others. Personal aspects - power As a member of the Vatican bureaucracy E. Pacelli fought for an authoritarian Church directed by this institution. He despised democracy ('the mindless ruling of the masses') and the parliamentary system. Rigid governments, rigid centralization and rigid treaties (like concordats) were supposed to introduce an era of stable order and peace. When he became pope he defended the ideology of papal primacy, in other words `the fascist Führer principle'. As he explained it himself: `I don't want colleagues, but people who will obey.' Jewish problem Pacelli was a long-standing anti-Semite, based on the conviction that there was a link between Judaism and the Bolshevik plot to destroy Christendom. Christian love Christian love was far away from his thoughts. He stood on the basic viewpoint of war not peace, congratulating Spain's Franco with his `Catholic' victory. As a matter of fact, `Christian love' has never been an important item in Church policies from Saint-Augustine vomiting on the Manicheans over the Crusades to the Inquisition and the `catholic wars'. God's mother The clear contradiction between the fact that Jesus was born in a human way and the fact that he should be considered as the son of God has obsessed the Catholic Church for millennia. The Catholic solution was the `Virgin Mary' and her Assumption `soul and body'. International policies Pacelli was determined to scratch all catholic political parties from earth, because they were too independent (not under the control of the Holy See). In Germany, the Catholic Center Party had repeatedly refused Pacelli's call to shun alliances with the Socialist (Social democracy for him was the same as Bolshevism). He favored collaboration with the fascist Nazi party. His negotiated concordat with Hitler included the voluntary disbanding of this Center Party, at that moment the sole existing democratic Center Party in Germany! His ideal societies were Franco's Spain and Salazar's Portugal. Women's affairs Pacelli did nothing for the liberation of women within the Church. In stark contrast with his viewpoint on the moral behavior of those guilty of mass killings (the fascists wars, the barbaric horrors of the Ustashe in Croatia), he did not hesitate to counsel martyrdom for those, whose sexual morality was being challenged, Serious Omissions There is not one reference in this book of the formidable work of Karlheinz Deschner, which treats such exemplary items as Eugenio Pacelli's `poverty' with millions of dollars on his personal bank account, hi

A Great Synthesis of Substantial Documentation

This book does a wonderful job in presenting what was going on in the Vatican at the time of Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII. He mentions that Pius wanted to "serve souls," however we then see that he gets caught up in the political diplomacy of the Vatican, as the Vatican begins to look more and more like a political war room with high-placed officials making visits to the Pope. There is substantial documentation to prove Cornwell's thesis that Pope Pius XII was the perfect Pope for Hitler during World War II. Pius was far from a supporter of Hitler, but we see how Pius felt himself in a position that he could not speak out against the Nazis. We also see his stubborn attitude in not speaking out and possibly anti-Jewish feelings--presented from Pius' own letters.This book just makes you wonder about what would have happened if the Vatican had spoken out and denounced Nazism. It was frustrating to read about instances where the Pope had every reason to speak out and yet held his silence. For instance, when the Nazis took the Roman Jews out of the Roman Ghetto, you just wanted to yell and ask "Why not speak out?".And as we see all the chances to strongly speak out pass by without any papal action, we then see what the real legacy of Pope Pius XII will be--SILENCE. I certainly hope that we have learned from past errors and that such silence would never be the case in today's world and in today's Church.

A Fascinating and Very Human Look At Pope Pius XII

Although the title may be somewhat sensational and a bit misleading, this is an absorbing and disturbing book that ultimately questions the degree to which Pope Pius XII suffered from a number of worldly ambitions and perceptions that actively interfered with his prosecution of the Lord's work during the beginning of his own papacy during World War Two. I personally found it fascinating to read about the pre-papal life of a man who obviously was ambitious, extremely intelligent and almost pathologically focused on his own career contribution to the Catholic Church. For those of us non-Catholics so impressed and convinced by the holy examples and lifelong dedication of the current pope, it is hard to recall or understand the degree to which the papacy has been the locus of historical intrigue and ecumenical politics. This book does so impressively.After all, the Catholic Church is one of the most durable and influential political institutions of the last two millennia, so it shouldn't be hard to appreciate the degree to which its influence and resources make it an institution to be reckoned with. Like any such institution, it takes considerable political finesse to steer its way into the long-distance future, and this takes politically savvy and worldly men with an ability to operate and interact successfully with the powers that be in the world outside the walls of the Vatican. Although never so framed, the real question the author asks is if such men so disposed make good religious leaders as well. Certainly, the devastating account detailed here of the ecclesiastical and then papal career of Eugenio Pacelli (1876-1958), who became Pope Pius XII in 1939, offers the reader ample proof that the kind of man who excels at papal intrigue in service of papal objectives beyond the sacred confines of Vatican City does so at the risk of his mortal soul.To be more specific, in his congress with the emerging evil of fascism in Italy and with Germany's National Socialism, Pacelli the strategist, church official, Arch-Bishop, and Cardinal seems to lose sight of his own humanity by way of his service and almost fanatical dedication to the policies of Church. From his involvement in the early 1920s with the notion of papal absolutism, Pacelli consistently makes the correct politically expedient compromises with worldly agencies and governments in service to the progress and acceptance of this papal doctrine. The future pope seems to become so exclusively ensnared in the dictates of the long-term political needs of the Church that he conveniently ignores and neglects the fine details in this growing trail of diabolical compromises with a series of devils. As one reads this, the picture progressively painted of the future Pope Pius XII is not that of an evil or mendacious man, but rather an altogether too empathetic, fatally flawed, and human one, reminding us that even Christ's Vicar on earth must deal on a personal

If He's Canonized, It's A Sure Sign Of The Apocalypse

I was raised as a Catholic. I say that, as I believe the reviewer's background is relevant when reviewing this type of book. It appears the reviews can be divided into two categories, people who read the book without it's affecting their faith, and the one-star reviewers, who I would suggest are primarily Catholic, and did not read the book if that were that upset by it. If your Faith in any religion can be ruined or even damaged by one book about one, in this case Pope, how strong was it before the book was read? Another book that should be read is "Unholy Trinity", which actually motivated me to pursue more information about the actions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII in particular. Human beings are flawed, so why is it a shock that a Pope can be as flawed as the next person? He is flesh and blood when he is born, and his composition does not change when he is elected Pope. A Catholic who does not question Papal Authority, the 233 books of The Bible is certain to be offended. Their "Faith" has not been offended rather their "Blind Faith" has been the victim. This book is no more damaging than the other I mentioned or others that have been written. I will say if this bothered you "Unholy Trinity" will give you a stroke. The fact that the Catholic Church has cut itself off, and is out of touch with its flock is not news and should not be a surprise. How does one watch the Pope riding through a village devastated by Famine, and have him pronounce abstinence is the answer to this issue as well as Aids? It's patently absurd. Catholic Churches are being forced to close and consolidate because there is such a shortage of new Priests. People today will not accept being treated as though they are ignorant; they want to read a Bible that has not been encoded in Latin so that they had no knowledge of what it contained. Knowledge is power and the Church wants it to itself. The better part of 400 years to publicly admit that Galileo was correct, it sounds like a bad joke, but worse it's true. Pacelli was interested in his power, his prospects for being a Saint, his direct relationship with "his" God. Was he anti-Semitic? If you were to defend his innocence in court you would lose. They rounded up Jews outside of his Palace, they drove the Jews by the Vatican, as the Germans were curious about the Building that housed the man who signed the FIRST treaty with Hitler, and then took the Jews to a cave and slaughtered them. Pacelli the man did not care, how could Pacelli The Pope care? Canonizing this flawed man would be a crime, but if this happens, as it surely will, I hope there is a new category created for those who deserve the highest honor the Church can bestow. For one I don't think Mother Teresa should have to share the same title as this very flawed man. Everything that can be positive about ANY religion was Mother Teresa; Pacelli represents what happens when any church becomes a group, when it becomes "Us" v