VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Italian newspapers have taken a keen interest in the forthcoming publication of Hitler's Pope, a new book which claims that Pope Pius XII was instrumental in the rise of Adolph Hitler.
The 500-page book, by the English author John Cornwell, is scheduled for publication in October. An excerpt will be published in early September by the American magazine Vanity Fair.
Cornwell-- a frequent critic of the Vatican, whose most recent book hints at a conspiracy behind the death of Pope John Paul I-- claims that he began work on the book with the intention of clearing the reputation of Pope Pius XII. But he says that he discovered "proof" of the Pope's sympathies for Hitler, and his "almost obsessive" fear of Communism.
The publication of Cornwell's book promises to revive a dispute over the role of Pope Pius XII during the years of the Nazi Holocaust. Defenders of Pius XII point out that there is absolutely no evidence that he collaborated with the Nazis, and ample evidence that he undertook great efforts to save Jewish lives-- as affirmed by the Jewish leaders of his day.
CWN - Catholic World News