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Vatican secret diplomacy

Charles R. Gallagher's "Vatican Secret Diplomacy: Joseph P. Hurley and Pope Pius XII," takes a look at the inner workings of Catholicism during the time Hitler rose to power.

For starters, this is not a topic to be undertaken lightly. Gallagher, a theological student at Heythrop College, part of the University of London, does an excellent job addressing it. He's touted as the first biographer to have access to Hurley's private archives. Those archives include Hurley's Vatican diaries.

Hurley is a figure that's not immediately recognizable in terms of significance to the Vatican. He was an American priest who became a Vatican diplomat who advocated taking on Nazism - something that ultimately led to a clash with Pius XII in 1939. But even with that to his credit, Hurley's still under the radar of most history buffs. (Gallagher notes that when the St. Petersburg Times chose its top 25 Floridians of the 20th century, Hurley made the list for his time as leader of the Diocese of St. Augustine, but not for his work with the Vatican).

The book talks about the pope's stance - and silence - on the Holocaust in a careful, thorough manner.

While Frank J. Coppa, a historian who focuses his efforts on the papacy, noted that more has been written about Pius XII than about all other popes combined, Gallagher notes that there is "little evidence of firsthand criticism of papal policy from within the Vatican." If history is reflected by those recording it, it's worth following Gallagher's train of thought: most of the writing on Pius XII has been put together based on notes from Vatican higher-ups who either agreed with his policies or from diplomats who may have doctored their points of view to get along better with foreign ministries.

Pius XII was the pope from 1939 to 1958, and while the Vatican insists that he did all he could behind the scenes to save Jewish lives from Hitler, the Holy See's archives have yet to be opened for analysis. And according to recent information from the Vatican, it will be about six more years before those archives can be opened and studied.

Hurley worked behind the scenes in the Vatican from 1927 to 1940. He started as a translator for Pius XI, and the two got along well, holding similar viewpoints on topics that would soon become very important to the entire world - fascism and Nazism. When Pius XI died and was replaced, Hurley's working relationship with the Holy See changed dramatically. His diaries note that he felt Pius XII was "overly fearful about communism, and not fearful enough about Nazism." And, Gallagher writes, when Hurley spoke up about his point of view, he was ostensibly banished from the Vatican for it.

"This study aims to discover what drove Hurley to voice opposing views, even to the detriment of his own ecclesiastical career," Gallagher notes.

After beginning to work independently of the Vatican, Hurley "aligned himself with the U.S. Department of State and began to act under the direction of U.S. government officials." A former Vatican official working closely with the presidency could have been potentially disastrous for both Catholics and the Roosevelt administration; Hurley kept out of the public eye. In 1943, though, he became the only Roman Catholic bishop to issue "a moral clarion call" to Catholics to speak out against the extermination of the Jews in concentration camps.

"The very basis of the Roman Catholic faith," Hurley wrote, should compel Catholics to speak against the "orgies of extermination." He also said it should be "an honor" to take up the "defense of the Jews."

This is an interesting read, and does not come off like a text book - which would be an easy trap for it to fall into. Instead, the book grabs the reader's attention and keeps it. Gallagher presents both sides of the story, expressing the pope's viewpoint and Hurley's, and offering a mostly non-biased perspective throughout.

I say "mostly" because it's still the Vatican's word against Hurley's. And unfortunately, it will be for a while.

Pius XII: the hound of Hitler

Gerard Noel's Pius XII: The Hound of Hitler explores the life of a pope who became, arguably, the most hotly debated pontiff in history.

Noel's biography is well-done, although judging any biography of Pius XII is difficult without the Vatican's release of records pertaining to him. It aims to be balanced, and succeeds - within the parameters that are accepted for scholarly works on this particular pope. Noel is the former editor of The Catholic Herald, and a biographer and historian by profession. He knows what to write and how to write it.

He's also got some clout in terms of bridging the gap between religions. Noel is a former vice-president of the Council of Christians and Jews. He even put in some face time with Pius XII in a private meeting 1948, as a student. That meeting is cited as a source for his work.

The book deals not only with Pius XII's religious life, but with his political and personal life. The picture he paints is not kind; Noel describes Pius XII (born Eugenio Pacelli) as a younger man as a depressed hypochondriac who moved out of his family home at 38. He talks about the pope as "mother-fixated and dominated by a German nun, Sister Pasqualina." Indeed, Noel asserts that Pasqualina was "more liberal and anti-Nazi," was the main power behind the pope, and that she did more to shelter the Jewish population of Rome than he did.

Prior to his election as pope in 1939, Pius XII spent time as the Vatican's ambassador to Germany and the Church's secretary of state. Noel writes that the pope put a great deal of faith in treaties, and attempted to broker deals with dictators in Europe that were similar to the Vatican's Concordat with Mussolini. Pius XII seemed to think, according to the book, that this would establish some kind of moral order in these countries by allowing Catholicism a chance to take a stronger hold. But Pius XII actually disbanded the Catholic Centre Party, which opposed Hitler's rise to power.

Hitler didn't really have any love for Catholicism, which perhaps makes Pius XII's action and positions doubly poignant. In fact, the chancellor wanted to sabotage the religion, Noel writes.

"From 1933 to 1938, the Nazis had been systematically weakening the Catholic Church in Germany," Noel notes. "Soon after coming to power, Hitler had remarked to Hermann Rausching that the best method of ridding Germany of effective Christianity would be to 'leave it to rot like a gangrenous limb.' However, he added contemptuously: 'But we can hasten matters. The parsons will be made to dig their own graves. They will betray their God to us. They will betray anything for the sake of their miserable little jobs and incomes.'"

It's interesting to note that Noel spends a decent portion of his book offering varying accounts of what, exactly, the pope did and did not do during the Holocaust. There are paragraphs that say if he did not help the Jews, it was because he felt that Hitler would come down on him and on the Vatican and his life would be threatened. At the Nuremberg trials, Noel notes, testimony was given that if Hitler had been pushed, the SS would have gone into the Vatican for the pontiff. Albrecht von Kessel, a Vatican diplomat, said in 1963 that protest "would certainly not have saved the life of a single Jew."

But Pius XII didn't help the Catholic Poles, either - even when pleaded with by their president. The fact that he backed the Nazi party against the fascists, donating money toward the cause in 1919, does not help the argument that he would have helped, if only his own life was not in danger.

It's even more interesting to note that Noel wanted to write this book for years, but held off in an effort not to step on toes.

"One reason for previously withholding publication of this book was in order not to upset various people who have helped me and would not necessarily agree with some of my findings. Another reason was my fear of apparent disloyalty to Pius XII. On reflection however, in view of the harm done to him, as much by the well-meant but ill-conceived apologies for his career as by the attacks against him, I realized that it would be more disloyal not to reveal the whole truth about him. Only thus can justice be done," Noel writes.

The book isn't flattering. Later in life, Noel writes, Pius XII became more "rigid" in his views; by 1950 he asserted that the Doctrine of Assumption, a supreme expression of autocratic power, was infallible. He spent much of his life a very sick man, undergoing treatment for insomnia and hallucinations.

"These years were also plagued by horrific nightmares," Noel explains. "Pacelli's blood-curdling screams could be heard throughout the papal apartments. During waking hours, following such terrible convulsions, his feelings of hatred for Hitler - or rather for Hitler's enormous sins against humanity - surfaced with increased vigor. Pacelli was convinced that Hitler was diabolically possessed. Indeed he conducted solitary nocturnal exercises of exorcism to drive the devil from Hitler's soul."

And it wasn't until after Hitler's death that Pius XII "issued a condemnation of Nazism as a blasphemous aberration."

Overall, Noel describes a man who was not suited for his position, did not handle it well, and was driven into depression and nervous collapse. It's never made clear exactly how responsible or how reprehensible he is or is not, but the book makes a clear argument that he was not the right man for the job.