Pope Receives Participants in Conference on Life and Legacy of Pius XII

(18 Sep 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI received the participants in a major international conference on Pius XII today at the Papal retreat outside Rome in Castel Gandolfo. Under the sponsorship of the New York-based Pave the Way Foundation, dozens of historians, lawyers, theologians and other scholars and experts spent three days this week discussing the life and legacy of the Pope who led the Church through the dark days of World War II. Chris Altieri reports…

In the hope of establishing what he called an open line of communication with historians worldwide and to present new documentation that has never been revealed before, the New York-Based Pave the Way Foundation sponsored an historic international gathering of scholars and experts in Rome to examine the life and legacy of Pope Pius XII.

Founded in 1996, Pave the Way is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization aimed at improving non-theological relations among people of different faiths through the search for historical truth and the promotion of joint initiatives.

During a special audience with Pope Benedict on Thursday at Castel Gandolfo, co-founder and current Pave the Way president, Gary Krupp, introduced the Holy Father to the participants and the work of the Symposium…

Your Holiness, in the furtherance of our mission, Pave the Way has identified the papacy of Pope Pius XII as a source of friction and misunderstanding. Accordingly, we have undertaken an independent investigation to identify the significant documents and to video eye-witness testimony. I wish to report to you, that the result of this investigation is stunning, and directly contradicts the negative perception of the Pope’s wartime activities. All of the documented material, which we have gathered, including the transcript of our just-completed three-day symposium, will be turned over to your Pontifical institutions, and to the internationally recognized holocaust centres, for further study. Based on a review of this new material, and in the interest of maintaining their historical integrity and accuracy, we call upon these institutions to carefully review this new information, in order to redefine the current perception of this papacy.


In remarks to the participants, Pope Bendict XVI noted that next month will mark the 50^th anniversary of Pius XII’s death, and the recurrence provides an important opportunity to deepen our knowledge of him, to meditate on his rich teaching and to analyze thoroughly his activities.

So much has been written and said of him during these last five decades and not all of the genuine facets of his diverse pastoral activity have been examined in a just light. The aim of your symposium has been precisely to address some of these deficiencies, conducting a careful and documented examination of many of his interventions, especially those in favour of the Jews who in those years were being targeted all over Europe, in accordance with the criminal plan of those who wanted to eliminate them from the face of the earth.


The Pope went on to say unprejudiced consideration of the historical record reveals a noble figure, whose lofty spiritual and human character is as captivating as the example of his life and the extraordinary richness of his teaching.

The Holy Father said one can also come to appreciate the human wisdom and pastoral intensity which guided Pius XII in his long years of ministry, especially in providing organized assistance to the Jewish people.

The Pope called to mind his predecessor’s meeting with eighty delegates of German concentration camps who, during a special Audience at the Vatican on the 29th of November 1945, thanked Pius XII personally for his generosity to them during the terrible period of Nazi-fascist persecution.

One understands, then, that wherever possible he spared no effort in intervening in their favour either directly or through instructions given to other individuals or to institutions of the Catholic Church.


In the proceedings of your convention you have also drawn attention to his many interventions, made secretly and silently, precisely because, given the concrete situation of that difficult historical moment, only in this way was it possible to avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews.


The International Symposium analyzing the Pontificate of Pius XII opened in Rome on Monday, and finished its working sessions on Wednesday.

I’m Chris Altieri