John Cornwell Shared His Experience With The World

In 1963, Rolf Hochhuth staged a Broadway play called Der Stellvertreter; The Deputy. It was one of the first times since WWII that anyone depicted Eugenio Pacelli – Pius XII – as ruthless and cynical. A lot of controversy and anger sparked through the conspiracies that rose up with the popularity of the show. Recently the Vatican has opened its archives to scholars to write about and although I have (for obvious reasons) never seen the documents myself, John Cornwell has and he shared his experience with the world as to what he found hidden in The Secret History of Pius XII; Hitler’s Pope.

He didn’t expect to find what he did, but rather the opposite. Pacelli, in his own words, was anti-Jewish and had helped Hitler rise into power while simultaneously ignoring the potential to end a war before it began. He denied the Holocaust, and was later labelled a hypocrite because after the war ended he boldly spoke out against the Nazis. People described Pacelli as warm, welcoming and kind. Holy in inhuman ways to an extent… “I immediately fell head over heals in love with him. I was so affected I could scarcely speak without tears and was conscious that my legs were trembling.” (James Lees-Milne). And yet the documents and evidence discovered shows an entirely different side to him. He followed in the belief of absolute power.

Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born 1876 in Rome, to Virginia and Filippo Pacelli. As a kid, he was athletic and excelled as a student. There was an older sister and younger brother present in his life as well, of which both went into Church relations later in life. The Pacellis were loyal to the papacy; Eugenio’s father, and his father’s father before him worked within the Vatican and they strongly believed that the church would one day, once again, have to power to unite Europe and the rest of the world. He decided to become priest as opposed to a lawyer (as family tradition demanded) and he entered the Capranica Seminary and Pontifical Gregorian University in 1894 and a year later graduated Baccalaureate and Licentiate in Theology. April 2, 1899 he officially joined priesthood. He pursued Canon Law, Civil Law, Philosophy, and Theology while serving in his home church at the Papal Athenaeum of St. Apollinaris. He had an outstanding memory, which made him known to the Vatican. His uncanny ability to learn new languages made him valuable.

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In 1901 he was recruited into the Vatican to aid in foreign affairs and church law. He was asked to work with Pietro Gasparri (a famous lawyer) to help in the reforming of the church law. Sixteen years later, in 1917, a package called the Code of Canon Law was distributed to Catholic bishops and clergy internationally. This law stated that the bishops would have to be nominated by the pope and there were to be no error permitted. The problem with that though was historically the church granted a large amount of discretion to Germany and independent Rome. Germany had hundreds of Catholic associations, and several schools. That same year, Pope Benedict XV appointed him an archbishop and Nuncio to Bavaria, Germany. He was in Germany for 13 years where he grew to appreciate German discipline which contrasted greatly to his home country. At age 41, he was dispatched to Munich as papal nuncio, to start eliminating all challenges to the papal authority.

He was also asked to pursue Reich Concordat, a treaty that would allow the church to supersede local agreement be a model Catholic state. This would mean formal recognition by the government to allow the church to impose the new Canon Law. In Munich he was seen as a relief worker. Germany was riddled with war, and his compassion was shown to everyone, catholic or otherwise. Early into his travel he wrote a letter to the Vatican and his choice of wording implies he was not liking the Jews in Germany. In this letter he announced that a Jewish rabbi had approached him for help with a festival on October 1. The Italian government had made it illegal to transport certain goods, and the rabbi needed them for the festival. In the letter he also said, “The Israelitic community are seeking the intervention of the Pope in the hope that he will plead on the behalf of thousands of German Jews,” however he told the rabbi that it was not appropriate for the Vatican to “assist them in the exercise of their Jewish cult.”

A year and a half later he revealed more anti-Semitic views when he wrote a letter to the Vatican regarding Bolshevik groups and the actions of the Jewish people; “The scene that presented itself at the palace was indescribable. The confusion totally chaotic, the filth completely nauseating; soldiers and armed workers coming and going; the building, once the home of a king, resounding with screams, vile language, profanities. Absolute hell. An army of employees were dashing to and fro, giving out orders, waving bits of paper, and in the midst of all this, a gang of young women, of dubious appearance, Jews like all the rest of them, hanging around in all the offices with provocative demeanor and suggestive smiles. The boss of this female gang was Levien’s mistress, a young Russian woman, a Jew and a divorcée, who was in charge. And it was to her that the nunciature was obliged to pay homage in order to proceed.”

The letter helps to confirm that he nourished suspicion and contempt towards the Jews. It wasn’t to long after that, Pacelli attempted to have black French troops taken from Rhineland. He was convinced and tried very hard to convince that they raped women and abused kids. Several groups of people, including the U.S congress, went on to prove this was false. Even so, the Allies sent troops to Rome 23 years later and Pacelli very specifically requested that no colored personnel be in the forces.

While he was in Germany, he attempted to rewrite several concordats, taking them on one by one to aid in the favor of the Holy See. Because most of this took place after WWI, Germany was suffering; territorial disputes and redrawing of Europe made them easy to blackmail. In exchange for Vatican support, Pacelli was easily able to get his way around these concordats. German court members record that they held ill feeling by Pacelli’s constant demands. Catholic and Protestant churches refused to accept deals with him in Reich Concordat because his view was to authoritarian. People were so put off by him because he didn’t concern himself with the fate of non-Catholic community or human rights. His only interest was in the Holy See. His desire to create this treaty led him right into the playing hands of Hitler, in later years.

In 1920 Pacelli became the nuncio of Germany, and he was very popular within diplomatic circles. Pasqualina Lehnert, a nun from southern Germany, ran his household there. Elisabetta (Pacelli’s sister) recalled Lehnert as cunning. There were a lot of rumors going around about the young nun and Pacelli; rumours that he had more than a faithful eyes cast onto her. His perfect image was still untainted after that. Ludwig Kaas played a significant but small role in Pacelli’s life. Kaas was a Roman Catholic priest and he represented as the face of the Catholic German Center Party. He was 5 years younger than Pacelli , but held such a high adoration for Pacelli that people began to refer to him as Pacelli’s alter ego. He had, like Pacelli, a firm belief in the Reich Concordat.

There was parallel between absolutism and fascism. Kaas’ desire to put Pacelli first before his own party was what led to and became the crucial element of betrayal of Catholic politics. Pacellie was involved in negotiations and interventions that helped in brining WWI to an end. He was also well equated with Germany and its politics from having lived there for several years as ambassador between 1920 and 1929. He participated in negotiations between Vatican and Soviet Union to resolve the persecution of the church in Russia. He was recalled to Rome in 1929 and took one of the most important roles in the Vatican, cardinal secretary of state.

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