The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler
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- Create Date：2022-05-28 13:21:44
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：David I. Kertzer
- ISBN：B09N292JW5
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Summary
Based on newly opened Vatican archives， a groundbreaking， explosive， and riveting book about Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II， including how he responded to the Holocaust， by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958， his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives， leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II。 Those questions have only grown and festered， making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history， especially now as the Vatican prepares to canonize him。
In 2020， Pius XII's archives were finally opened， and David I。 Kertzer--widely recognized as one of the world's leading Vatican scholars--has been mining this new material ever since， revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church's power。
Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents not only from the Vatican， but from archives in Italy， Germany， France， Britain， and the United States， The Pope at War paints a new， dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped the continent and as the Nazis began their systematic mass murder of Europe's Jews。 The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope's actions from 1939 to 1945， showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini。
Just as Kertzer's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Pope and Mussolini became the definitive book on Pope Pius XI and the Fascist regime， The Pope at War is destined to become the most influential account of his successor， Pius XII， and his relations with Mussolini and Hitler。 Kertzer shows why no full understanding of the course of World War II is complete without knowledge of the dramatic， behind-the-scenes role played by the pope。 "This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective 'explosive， '" says Kevin Madigan， Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University。 "The Pope at War is a masterpiece。"
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958， his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives， leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II。 Those questions have only grown and festered， making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history， especially now as the Vatican prepares to canonize him。
In 2020， Pius XII's archives were finally opened， and David I。 Kertzer--widely recognized as one of the world's leading Vatican scholars--has been mining this new material ever since， revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church's power。
Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents not only from the Vatican， but from archives in Italy， Germany， France， Britain， and the United States， The Pope at War paints a new， dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped the continent and as the Nazis began their systematic mass murder of Europe's Jews。 The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope's actions from 1939 to 1945， showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini。
Just as Kertzer's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Pope and Mussolini became the definitive book on Pope Pius XI and the Fascist regime， The Pope at War is destined to become the most influential account of his successor， Pius XII， and his relations with Mussolini and Hitler。 Kertzer shows why no full understanding of the course of World War II is complete without knowledge of the dramatic， behind-the-scenes role played by the pope。 "This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective 'explosive， '" says Kevin Madigan， Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University。 "The Pope at War is a masterpiece。"
Reviews
Patricia Romero
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Pope Pius XII， who died in 1958 and immediately had his archives sealed， probably didn’t think they would come to light in 2020。 For a long period of time， we have wondered about his stance on the war and the people who surrounded the papacy。 As a Roman Catholic myself， I can say he was very controversial。Kertzer， who is one of the world’s leading scholars on the Vatican has been digging around in those archives for a while now。 And he reveals how this pope traded moral leadership of the church Pope Pius XII， who died in 1958 and immediately had his archives sealed， probably didn’t think they would come to light in 2020。 For a long period of time， we have wondered about his stance on the war and the people who surrounded the papacy。 As a Roman Catholic myself， I can say he was very controversial。Kertzer， who is one of the world’s leading scholars on the Vatican has been digging around in those archives for a while now。 And he reveals how this pope traded moral leadership of the church to save its power。It was difficult to read the atrocities and the deals that were made with fascists。 But really haven’t we always known the church always acts in its own best interest？ Not only is the research impeccable， but the facts are also explosive。The amount of research that had to take place is monumental。 I thought it read like historical fiction， but unfortunately， it was not fiction。Outstanding work！NetGalley/ June 7th， 2022 by Random House 。。。more
Brendan Dowd
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Full review coming soon
David
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This outstanding book is based in part on documents from the archives of the Vatican that were made public in spring of 2020。 Click here for a March 2020 article by author David I。 Kertzer which gives an overview of what controversies the opening of the archive were expected to generate。 Click here for an August 2020 article from the NY Times on Kertzer’s slow progress through the Vatican archives。I say “slow” because （according to The NY Times） the long-anticipated opening of the archives start This outstanding book is based in part on documents from the archives of the Vatican that were made public in spring of 2020。 Click here for a March 2020 article by author David I。 Kertzer which gives an overview of what controversies the opening of the archive were expected to generate。 Click here for an August 2020 article from the NY Times on Kertzer’s slow progress through the Vatican archives。I say “slow” because （according to The NY Times） the long-anticipated opening of the archives started on March 2， 2020， but then was closed again from March 5 until June 2020 due to the pandemic。 They were closed again in August 2020 for summer holidays。 In addition， researchers looking at the physical documents were “limited to asking to see three documents in the morning and two in the afternoon。” The NY Times remarks drily: “It can be slow going。”Normally I don’t write to authors， but maybe I will this time， because I’d love to know exactly how this in-person research at the Vatican archives worked。 First of all， how is a “document” defined？ From my days long ago in a large government bureaucracy which will remain nameless， the experience was that any document request was something of a crap-shoot， in the sense that it could yield anything from a single paragraph to a giant pile of rodent-chewed papers tied together with a string。 Do you have any information that allows you to game the system， meaning， do you know how big your requested document is likely to be？ If your three documents turn out to all be one side of a page， do you just take the rest of the morning off and start your three-hour Roman lunch early？ If you are not careful in this case， you will not be in any condition to receive your two afternoon documents。 On the other hand， what if you get a giant pile of musty， stained meeting notes just before you are planning to go off and enjoy an excellent bottle of wine with your pasta marinara？Discussing this with the Long-Suffering Wife （LSW）， we imagined the process of requesting Vatican documents as hopelessly dusty and analog， wherein you must must scrawl with a stub of a pencil on a tiny slip of paper， which is then taken by an unhappy-looking man in priestly garb， who then trudges silently away， leaving no clue as to when， if ever， he is likely to return with your document。 （Except for the priestly garb， this is pretty much the way it was at the Boston Public Library in the early 1980’s， a time of undergraduate research for self and LSW。 The desk where you requested documents had a home-made sign designed to inform you of the estimated wait time for your document， which was usually， in my memory， set to the symbol for “infinity”。）（Oh， and although the Vatican has made documents available for inspection， the archive of the Jesuit order and the archive of the local church authorities in Rome are still closed， which may hold important information， with no indication that they will be open any time soon。）Maybe the whole process was not as slow-moving as I imagined， because now， in 2022， Kertzer has managed to combine a lot of newly-available documents with previous research to produce a narrative of Papal behavior during WWII which is， to put it mildly， not flattering。 It’s almost impossible to exaggerate how bad Pope Pius XII and his administration look in this version of events。 Although men of at least above-average education， they whole-heartedly buy into the lamest and silliest anti-Semitic stereotypes on the one hand， and suck up to anyone they consider an aristocrat， no matter how oleaginous， hypocritical and ill-mannered， on the other。 They are completely unconcerned with the lives of non-Catholics and put a priority on the protection of church property。 Requests to speak out against the Nazis are met with mumbled promises to consider taking action， but no action follows。 Self-preservation of the organization is the only imperative。 The Vatican won’t even defend its own priests against Nazi and Fascist cruelty， earlier in Poland and later in Italy。 Occasional ambiguous statements buried deep in incomprehensible sermons and articles are pointed to， post-facto， as evidence of great moral courage， even if the statements did not change the behavior of anyone at the time the communications were made。 The hypocrisy marches on and on， often driven by institutional self-pity and the unshakeable conviction that the Catholic Church has a monopoly on the correct interpretation of both past and present。 Late in the book， the author says he is engaged （with an Italian colleague） in a “larger research project of which this book is one product”。 I hope this means that they are still at it， five documents a day （not including holidays and pandemics）， and that further books as interesting as this one will be forthcoming。In conclusion: An excellent book， sometimes galloping along at the pace of a good historical novel， always easy to read for a serious historical narrative， seemingly well-researched， clear and unambiguous in its conclusions。Read an interesting article here by Kertzer about some research from the Vatican archives about an episode in France in 1953 （and therefore not covered in this book） where the Vatican attempted to obstruct the return of Jewish children （who had been baptized as Catholics during World War II） to their surviving relatives。 It was published in The Atlantic in August 2020。I received a free electronic advance copy of this book for review from Penguin Random House via Netgalley。 Thanks。 。。。more
Kristjan
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“ The world suffers a lot。 Not because of the violence of bad people， but because of the silence of the good people。 ” — NapoleonThis was a very difficult book to read， partly because of the considerable outrage at the unbelievable evil conduct of the Nazi and Fascist regimes， but mostly anger and shame at the silence from communities with whom I still have ethnic and religious connections。 The book itself is very well written and organized into four （4） parts: Pre War， Early War （Axis favored t “ The world suffers a lot。 Not because of the violence of bad people， but because of the silence of the good people。 ” — NapoleonThis was a very difficult book to read， partly because of the considerable outrage at the unbelievable evil conduct of the Nazi and Fascist regimes， but mostly anger and shame at the silence from communities with whom I still have ethnic and religious connections。 The book itself is very well written and organized into four （4） parts: Pre War， Early War （Axis favored to win）， Mid War （Toss Up） and Late War/End （Allies favored to win）。 The book is also pretty big， with over 400 pages of content and 200 pages of citations … so it is not a quick read。 Most of the book covered behind the scenes maneuver and machinations that puts the Pope and the Church is a very unfavorable light; however， unlike Cornwell’s “Hitler’s Pope”， Kertzer seems to recognize that Pius XII （and the Church） was a product of the times and cuts him some slack with regard to current mores。 Unfortunately， that still leaves a flawed man who obviously struggled between hubris and fear， and who was willing to throw pretty much anybody under the bus to save his institution and his own skin。 Ultimately we see a man who， despite the august nature of his calling， was focused more on being a good politician/diplomat and not so much on being a good moral leader。 The jury is still out on the former; I am pretty confident that he failed in the later。 （view spoiler）[Part One - War Clouds- 1 Death of a Pope- 2 The Conclave- 3 Appealing to the Führer- 4 The Peacemaker- 5 “Please do not talk to me about Jews。”- 6 The Nazi Prince- 7 Saving Face- 8 War Begins- 9 The Prince Returns- 10 A Papal Curse- 11 Man of Steel- 12 A Problematic VisitorPart Two - On the Path to Axis Victory- 13 An Inopportune Time- 14 An Honorable Death- 15 A Short War- 16 Surveillance- 17 The Feckless Ally- 18 The Geek Fiasco- 19 A New World Order- 20 Hitler to the Rescue- 21 The Crusade- 22 A New Prince- 23 Best to Say NothingPart Three - Change Fortunes- 24 Escaping Blame- 25 Papal Premiere- 26 Disaster Foretold- 27 A Thorny Problem- 28 An Awkward Request- 29 The Good Nazi- 30 Deposing the Duce- 31 Musical Chairs- 32 BetrayalPart Four - The Sky Turned Black- 33 Fake New- 34 The Pope’s Jews- 35 Baseless Rumors- 36 Treason- 37 A Gratifying Sight- 38 Malevolent Reports- 39 A Gruesome EndEpilogueFinal Thoughts（hide spoiler）]I was given this free advance review copy （ARC） ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review。#ThePopeatWar #NetGalley 。。。more
Rachel
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The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII， Mussolini， and Hitler by David I。 Kertzer is a fascinating look into the role of Pope Pius XII during WWII。 This is the first book that I have read by this author， and it most certainly won’t be the last。 Truly fascinating and eye-opening。 The amount of things that happen behind closed doors is astounding。 The amount of research， time， effort， and passion that the author has placed into this book is beyond impressive and evident with how it is wri The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII， Mussolini， and Hitler by David I。 Kertzer is a fascinating look into the role of Pope Pius XII during WWII。 This is the first book that I have read by this author， and it most certainly won’t be the last。 Truly fascinating and eye-opening。 The amount of things that happen behind closed doors is astounding。 The amount of research， time， effort， and passion that the author has placed into this book is beyond impressive and evident with how it is written， presented， and displayed。 This was nonfiction， but it read as smooth as a fictional novel。 I highly recommend this novel to anyone that is interested in WWII history。 5/5 stars Thank you NG and Random House for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion。I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon， Instagram， and B&N accounts upon publication on 6/7/22。 。。。more
Diane
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