The newly discovered letter, written by a German Jesuit to Pope Pius XII’s personal secretary, suggests that the pope knew of Hitler’s atrocities but chose to remain silent.

  • Not condoning this at all, but could it be because the Vatican was literally surrounded by Hitlers biggest ally and thought it would be unwise to provoke the Axis?

    No reason not to come out with this information afterwards though.

    • kirklennon
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      551 year ago

      The new pope and Mussolini essentially rose to power together, forming an alliance. The church’s open embrace of the Fascists was critical to the government’s power and to ending the enmity between the church and secular authorities.

      The pope was also jaw-dropping antisemitic. Jews did not have many friends in the Catholic Church.

    • h3doublehockeysticks [she/her]
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      1 year ago

      The Vatican embraced the nazis before mussolini did, and the fact that cardinals were directly involved with the rat lines shows it can’t just be about immediate threat. The reichskonkordat doesn’t just precede the pact of iron BTW, it precedes the Stresa front. Mussolini was openly contemptuous and opposed to Hitler when it was signed.

      • ikiru
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        101 year ago

        The Catholic Church was also friendly with Franco’s fascist Spain.

        So, the Church was actually surrounded by friends.