"The Continuing Controversy Over the Silence of Pope Pius XII During the Holocaust"
April 16, 2024
Professor Kertzer addressed the controversy over the role Pope Pius XII played—or chose not to play--during the Holocaust. Ever since his death in 1958, Pius's papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. Those questions grew and festered, making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history, especially once the Vatican began preparations to canonize him. In 2020, Pius XII’s archives were finally opened, and Kertzer has been mining this new material ever since. In his talk, Kertzer argued that the pope set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church’s power.