Vatican and Nazi relations

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Leyson Vatican and Nazi WWII Relations Yvonne M . Leyson (Subject

Professor

27 April , 2007

Yvonne Leyson

Vatican and Nazi relations (Subject

23 April , 2007 Why did the Vatican choose a policy of appeasement during the years 1933-1943 ? This question can be split up into 2 parts . One is reasons before the war and the second reasons during the war The Holocaust is the proverbial thorn lodged in Vatican 's skin that simply refuses to be eliminated even after the deceased Pope John Paul II asked

forgiveness from the Jews . Such declaration admitted the historical sins of the Roman Catholic Church from the horror of the Inquisition that was later brought forward during the wartime atrocities of the Holocaust against the Jews . The heated debates between clerics and historians emphasized Vatican 's dismal attitude of silence during the World War II . Numerous explanations have risen to defend Vatican 's actions to the public through censored publications . Yet a genuine look into the positions taken and the deeds committed and perpetuated by the Vatican and its clerics in general will most likely shed light on the actions of the Catholic Church during the most hideous cleansing period in humanity 's history . In a particular detail , this will examine Vatican 's diplomatic appeasement towards the Third Reich which still remains controversial to this day On July 20 , 1933 , Vatican 's secretary of state , Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli who later became Pope Pius XII and Germany 's vice chancellor , Franz von Papen , formally signed a concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich according to Conway . Conway , J .S ,The Nazi Persecution of the Churches , 1933-1945 (Regent College , 2001 , 17 . The event was witnessed by Msgr . Giovanni Battista Montini , who became Pope Paul VI and Msgr Ludwig Kaas , the leader of Germany 's Catholic Center Party . Conway , 17 Pope Pius XI and Hitler were not in attendance since both had already approved the concordat . Conway , 17 . The pope ratified the Concordat of 1933 two months after which specified the church 's rights on the Third Reich in Alvarez . David Alvarez and Robert Graham , Nothing Sacred Nazi Espionage against the Vatican , 1939-1945 ' Routledge (1997 , 3 This treaty also authorized the papacy to impose the new Church law on German Catholics and granted generous privileges to Catholic schools and the clergy . Although complicated , catholic priests and leaders who were once vocal in denouncing the Nazi movement took the signing of the treaty as an indication that the Roman Catholic Church had softened their opposition to socialism while some political commentators journalists and historians believed that this event was a manifestation of Pope Pius XI 's and Cardinal Pacelli 's underlying motives in Langmuir Gavin Langmuir , The Fate of the European Jews , 1939-1945 : Continuity or Contingency , ed . Jonathan Frankell (Oxford University Press , 1998 , 9 Hitler however interpreted the concordat 's ratification to mean that he had won the church 's approval thereby gaining international recognition of his Nazi regime . The Reich Concordat gave Nazi Germany...