VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Italian press has provided heavy coverage to the pending publication of a new book accusing Pope Pius XII of anti-Semitism. The Italian media highlighted the reaction of a Jesuit historian who characterized the book as "historical fiction."
Father Pierre Blet, SJ-- one of four historians who produced definitive 11-volume history of the actions of the Holy See during World War II-- told reporters that John Cornwell offers a "very confused" view of those events in his forthcoming book, Hitler's Pope. That book, the Jesuit scholar concludes, is "not a real historical analysis."
The evidence that Pope Pius XII harbored anti-Semitic feelings is a myth, Father Blet continued. While there is no evidence to support such a thesis, there is abundant evidence to the contrary.
The Jesuit historian also pointed to errors of fact in the book, such as Cornwell's assertion that Pius XII helped suppress a Catholic party in Germany, paving the way for the Nazi ascent to power. As Father Blet notes, in fact that party died out before Eugenio Pacelli became Pope Pius XII.
Cornwell, Father Blet concludes, intends not merely to impugn the character of Pope Pius XII, but to launch an attack on the Catholic Church. He points out that in the final chapter of Hitler's Pope, the author argues that Pope John Paul II is "more authoritarian" than Pius XII.
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