Showing posts with label Pius XII. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pius XII. Show all posts

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Bishop Huonder Leads Rosary Procession in Einsiedeln to Commemorate Lepanto


 A good thousand believers took part in this year's rosary procession in Einsiedeln on October 8th.

For centuries it was customary to carry out a solemn rosary procession on the occasion of the rosary festival to commemorate the victory of Lepanto in Einsiedeln. This tradition was lost after the Second Vatican Council but was taken up again by the Militiae Immaculatae and is now shared by three organizations. This year's procession took place on October 8th and is growing from year to year.

Despite the sometimes-heavy rain, a good thousand believers came to Einsiedeln, including many young people and families, to hold the rosary festival to the glory of God and with the request for a Christian future for the country - but this year also for the world consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to thank 80 years ago.


On October 31, 1942, in the middle of the Second World War, the 25th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima was solemnly concluded and Pope Pius XII. consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to which she herself had called in Fatima, during a radio address. The turning point in the war coincided with the Battle of El Alamein. A prominent and - from a Catholic point of view - unbiased eyewitness, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wrote: "One can almost say that we did not record a single victory before El Alamein and afterwards not a single defeat."


The procession was spiritually led by Msgr. Vitus Huonder, Bishop Emeritus of Chur, and two priests. Bishop Vitus Huonder declared at the end of the procession at the Frauenbrunnen on the monastery square that "the consecration is an act of the special and solemn dedication of the faith and thereby becomes a source of a special blessing". In the case of consecration to the Blessed Mother, this is a deep act of faith in the Blessed Mother's participation in the work of salvation of her son Jesus and, connected with it, in God's goodness and mercy. After his speech, those present knelt and led by the bishop, prayed together the prayer of consecration written by Pope Pius XII.


The Militia Immaculatae, is a Catholic movement founded in 1917 by Saint Father Maximilian Kolbe. It promotes devotion to Our Lady, particularly through the distribution of the Miraculous Medal and the Rosary. Father Maximilian Kolbe is known to many because 80 years ago he voluntarily gave his life in the hunger bunker in the Auschwitz concentration camp for the father of family who was a fellow prisoner. The Militia Immaculatae of the traditional observance has several thousand members in German-speaking countries and over 100,000 members worldwide.


This year, the organizing committee was expanded by two Catholic movements: The Fatima World Apostolate of Switzerland, which was founded in 1952 to spread the message of Fatima, and the prayer initiative Switzerland Prays, which arose in the wake of the Corona crisis and meets every Wednesday evening at 140 Places in Switzerland and prayed the Rosary. 


Tradition in Einsiedeln


The Feast of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th to commemorate the victory achieved by praying the Rosary in the greatest galley battle in history, on October 7th, 1571 in the Strait of Lepanto (Greece). There the outnumbered Christians triumphed against the Ottoman fleet and ended Turkish dominance in the Mediterranean.


Information for the 2023 Rosary Procession and more can be found on the Rosary Prayer website.


Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : rosary prayer. info

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG



Monday, June 10, 2019

The Secret Archive of the Popes and its “Legends”

The Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, Mgr. Sergio Pagano, spoke about the opening of the private archive of Pius XII. in the coming year and "legends" around the secret archive.

(Rome) The Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, the Barnabite Father Sergio Pagano, reiterated that the Soviet Union after the Second World War, brought the Black Legend of the "anti-Semitic" Pope Pius XII.  into circulation.

Born in Genoa in 1948, Pagano entered the Barnabite Order in 1966 and was ordained a priest in Rome in 1977. In the field of theology, he specialized in liturgy, while at the same time he completed a specialist study of archivistics, diplomacy and paleography. He taught at the Pontifical Diplomatic Academy, at the Pontifical Lateran University and other colleges. Since 1978 he works in the secret archives of the Vatican, where he was promoted to director under Pope John Paul II in 1997. Under Pope Benedict XVI. he was appointed Titular Bishop of Celene in today's Galicia, Spain in 2007 and then ordained him bishop in St. Peter's Basilica. Last year P. Pagano celebrated his 40th priestly jubilee. 

The Barnabite Order was created in 1530 in response to theChurch  crisis and Protestant schism at the beginning of modern times. Like so many other orders, the regular canons of St. Paul (CRSP), as their official name, reached their peak in the twentieth century, just prior to the Council and during the Second Vatican Council. Today, the Order counts just over 300 priests.

On May 30, Mgr. Pagano was awarded honorary doctorate by the Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià, a Catholic University in Barcelona founded in 2015, named after Saint Pacian of Barcelona. The ceremony was the occasion for the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia to conduct an interview with the honoree, which was published on May 31st.

At first, the prefect explained the rather confusing term "secret archive" for today's ears, which meant a private archive at the time of the Renaissance, in contrast to a public archive. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a question of "keeping secret" documents stored in them. It is rather the private archives of the popes, not the archives of the Vatican or the Church. The name is maintained because the archive has been internationally known for centuries, now also registered and quoted in scientific works.

Access, according to Msgr. Pagano, is only open to entitled scientists who can demonstrate a need for research. The access is granted for three months, but can be extended again and again. The archive is used daily by about 60 researchers. There are not enough staff available to be able to process the search requests in a timely manner.

Pope Francis had announced in spring that from 2 March 2020, the private archive of Pius XII, who ruled from 1939-1958, will be opened. However, the head of the secret archive is slowing down a bit.

"We only have 58 employees and we were not prepared for it. When the archive is opened, not everything will be perfect yet. The holdings of some nunciatures are still in order. "
However, the interested experts could already shed light on various aspects of the pontificate, including in particular the relationship with the Jews and with Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists, but also with Francisco Franco and Spain and the dictatorships in South America, including Argentina.

"The newly accessible documentation, if carefully studied by reputable historians, can clarify these aspects. It can illuminate the historical and political context in which Pius XII. moved, and his dilemma, whether he should publicly comment on the defense of the Jews and the persecution of the people of Israel. Pius XII. planned a public statement and discussed the issue with various ambassadors, but then hesitated for fear that a public statement on the defense of the Jews, as in the case of the Netherlands, might trigger an even more terrible persecution of Jews and Catholics. It could not save the Jews and bring Christians trouble. The question weighed on his conscience until the end of his life, although he came to the conclusion that the only action that could be taken was to save as many Jews as possible directly, but that a public statement would not help. Scientists will have to decide if that was appropriate or not. "

The pope was concerned with the salvation of as many Jews as possible, however. He activated sections, monasteries, dioceses and even the Vatican to give shelter to Jews. The Jews thanked him for this commitment. This not only applies to the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, who converted to the Catholic Church and accepted the baptismal name of the Pope, Eugenio, in gratitude. The State of Israel, founded in 1948/49, also honored Pius XII. for his commitment to the Jews during World War II.

But how could it then come to the Black Legend, that just Pius XII. was the "Hitler’s Pope"?

"This legend originated in the Soviet Union. After the Nuremberg war crimes trial, the idea was circulated that the Pope was guilty of not defending the Jews. As various studies have now established, this idea spread through the Jewish and American press and expanded into an indictment, that Pius XII. had sentenced the Jews to death by his silence.” The Secret Archive's holdings, which will be accessible from March 2020, also provide insight into the relationship between the Pope and the Franco government in Spain. Mgr. Pagano mentions in this context another concern of Pius XII, who considered a Soviet invasion of Europe with the help of the Communist parties in the various states realistic.

The private archive may also bring new insights to the question of the Catalan independence movement. The stocks, Msgr. Pagana, certainly allow a detailed tracing of the attitude of Pius XII. to General Franco and any changes in this attitude.

Then there are the many legends surrounding the secret archive the prefect dismisses. These are "sillinesses" that someone with some education "can not believe.”

"It is also said that we keep the seven-armed, golden Menorah, which stood in the Temple of Jerusalem, but in reality was destroyed by Emperor Titus. It was even written that we would keep heads of Martians and evidence of UFOs. "

The claim of writer Dan Brown that he has been denied access to the secret archive "is a lie", says Msgr Pagano.

"Dan Brown never asked to enter the archive. He wrote all sorts of nonsense, without any basis, just to make money. If he has the necessary titles, he is welcome to come, and then, when he sees the truth, he could no longer invent certain secret places and doors and non-existent labyrinths.”

An ingenious security and fire protection system protects the secret archive. Many documents are stored in a new bunker.

"If there was a fire, I really would not know which of the important documents were to be salvaged first. There are really very many!”

When a Pope's private archive is opened, “all documents are made available, as permitted by the Vatican Law. Excluded are marriage tribunals out of consideration for the persons concerned, the documents on episcopal appointments, because the Pope usually selects from a panel of three, and the non-appointees, of course, have relatives and a parish. This excludes purely personal documents that are found at the death of cardinals, bishops and curia employees."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Picture: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Chief Rabbi Complains About Synod Paper: "We Jews Live in Sin? Our Era is at an End?"

Di Segni with Pope Francis
(Rome) Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Rome has complained that the "dialogue" with the Catholic Church was difficult.  He is concerned with a sentence of the final document of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on Marriage and Family, which ended last Sunday. The Chief Rabbi  is troubled by  two statements of the document, which he interpreted as an "unfriendly" critique of Judaism.
The two points which concern the Chief Rabbi, he summarizes this way: once the idea that the Jews would live in sin; on the other hand the statement that their era was over.  Such is the interpretation by Di Segni. And what is in the final report?
In the Relatio Synodi states in paragraph 15: "This connection [between man and woman . Anm.d.Red ] was damaged by sin and was the historical form of marriage among the people of God,  for which Moses oversaw  the possibility to issue  a bill of divorce. This form was predominant at the time of Jesus. With His coming and upon the reconciliation of the fallen world, thanks to the  redemption through Him, the era initiated by  Moses  ended. " 
This is part of the Synod report that was adopted with 167 votes to 13 by the Synod Fathers.
Chief Rabbi Di Segni is certainly angry: "With a certain hardness in form and substance, the bishops come, therefore, to us today, we follow the Torah of Moses, to say that we were in sin and that our era is over. How difficult is this dialogue! "
The doctor Riccardo Di Segni Shemuel has been Director of the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano (Italian Rabbi College) since 1999 and since 2002 Chief Rabbi of the Jews of Rome. When Chief Rabbi Zolli Italo 1  became thanked,  after the end of World War II, in an event publicly broadcast to the Jewish community of Rome,  Pope Pius XII. for what he did to help the Jewish community, and was later baptized in gratitude and admiration for Pope Pius XII. (Eugenio Pacelli)  accepted  Eugenio Pio as his new Christian name, and Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff (1951-2002)  defended Pius XII against criticism,  charging him with having been silent persecution of the Jews, Chief Rabbi Di Segni has  repeatedly expressed criticism of beatification of Pius XII.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: UCCR
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Monday, September 29, 2014

Cardinal Burke to Celebrate Memorial Mass at the Grave of Pope Pius XII -- International Conference

(Rome) in Rome in early October are two events related to Pope Pius XII..  A second international conference will take place at the nationally recognized private university, Guglielmo Marconi, in Rome in October on the theme of  "Pius XII. and the Second World War: Events, theses and News from the archives." On October 4th, Cardinal Burke will celebrate a memorial Mass at the grave of this pope. This according to the official website for the beatification of Pope Pius XII. (1939-1958).
The focus of the scientific exchange of ideas is the pontificate of Pius XII.during the Second World War. It will have particular emphasis on Vatican diplomacy, analyzing peace efforts, relations to the warring parties with National Socialist Germany, the Communist Soviet Union and liberal- capitalist United States, as well as the role of the Catholic Church during the war, those of the Allies, the Shoah and the use of the Holy See to the rescue of persecuted Jews.
Speakers have been gathered from a broad range of Catholic and Jewish experts (the full program of the meeting ). Organizers of the conference are the Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome, the Knigths of Columbus and initiated by Gary Krupp 2003  of Pave the Way Foundation, which is significantly involved with historical research on the pontificate of Pius XII. and in connection to the historical profession, even more so in the political field and contributes to the collective consciousness, a rethinking of the person and the work of Pius XII..
Pope Benedict XVI. wanted to perform the beatification of Pius XII at the beginning of his pontificate, since the corresponding regular procedure was completed successfully.  But he refrained because Jewish protests and the urgent requests of several leading church officials. At the same time he ordered a re-evaluation of the archives in order to avoid possible criticism. Since his resignation, the beatification process has largely remained a construction site.

Memorial Mass for the 56th Anniversary of the Death of the Servant of God

Two days later, on Saturday, October 4, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura, will celebrate a memorial Mass for Pope Pius XII. at the grave in the Vatican grottoes under St. Peter's Basilica.The Mass will mark the dies natalis, celebrating the 56th anniversary of the death. Pope Pius XII. died on October 9, 1958th
Believers who wish to attend the celebration have to be present at 10:15 clock at the Porta del Petriano in Piazza del S. Uffizio. The celebration begins at 11 o'clock.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: papapioxii.it
Trans: Tancred  vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Canonization Without Miracles and Church Politicis -- Capovilla: Says John XXIII. Not the "Sweet-Natured Pope"

Good Pope John
Edit: an uncanonical canonization for an pastoral Council.

(Rome) John XXIII., the Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council and is to be canonized without a miracle in a few days by Pope Francis.  He was commonly known in the collective memory as the "good" and "sweet-natured" Pope .  In contrast, his personal secretary Loris Capovilla is protesting: "Please, don't call him the good-natured Pope. '"


 Capovilla's Elevation to Cardinal in Honor of the Council


 Monsignor Loris Capovilla was the personal secretary of John XXIII. during his pontificate.  This past February 22nd, Pope Francis made him a cardinal.  Capovilla, born in 1915, has become since then the oldest living Cardinal.

He's been 50 years fighting against this appellation of John XXIII., as the "Good Pope" or "sweet-natured Pope," Cardinal Capovilla has been giving  a few interviews  for the canonization of Pope Roncalli.   The figure of John XXIII. says Capovilla,   is being overwhelmed by this "good nature", said Capovilla, because Pope Roncalli was "very determined" and had been primarily  "for the Church and the world and  peace, of great importance.  His greatest importance is connected to the Second Vatican Council," said Capovilla in the newspaper Eco di Bergamo.


Johannes XXIV. oder Franziskus?  


 Again the almost century-old cardinal insisted with particular emphasis, on the similarity between John XXIII. and Pope Francis. Francis reminds  people "very" much of Pope Roncalli, says Capovilla.   The Argentine cardinal had wanted to call himself for a moment even John XXIV.  "Pope Francis and John are very similar.  Cardinal Bergoglio had thought to take the name John.  He wanted to be the successor of John XXIII.    But he also thought of Francis.  Then he spoke to the Brazilian Cardinal Damasceno and advised him to adopt a name that speaks for the poor and of poverty. So Bergoglio has opted for Francis.  But Pope John was in his thoughts."

 

Canonizations as Motivated by Church Politics?


Pope Francis, it can also be said,  that he very rarely mentions the turning point in history of  the Second Vatican Council is a point of distinction.    This includes the collection of Cardinal Loris Capovilla on February 22, whose merit it is mainly to have been the secretary of John XXIII.   and to have been  a   tireless exponent of the "epochal significance" of Vatican II.  This primarily involves the canonization of John XXIII.  on April 27, bypassing the canonically prescribed standards.  Two events with which Pope Francis contends in the large intra-church conflict, on the one hand  John XXIII and Paul VI., on the other hand, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.   The canonization of John XXIII.  is ultimately a product of chance  in internal  Church circles, which is directly related to the canonization of John Paul II.


The no Longer Preventable Raising of John Paul II to the Altars


Shortly after Cardinal Bergoglio was elected Pope, the Congregation of Saints convened on the 2nd of July, 2013  to acknowledge the miracle that paved the way for the canonization of the Polish Pope.   The schedule was at the time of the election already fixed.  This was only a formality, since the examination and approval of the miracle had already taken place by both medical as well as theological side.    Thus, it was clear that the canonization would take place within a year.  Only an administrative act by  the new pope,   would have been able to prevent what would, however, his opposition in substantial parts of the church, and not only of Poland would have been  introduced with  the John Paul II as a reference point. The idea that he of all people should raise John Paul II to the altars  is a visible gain in the validity  of his understanding of the Church seems not to have been savored by the Argentine Pope.


Causa Johannes XXIII.:  Neutralize the "Poles" Canonize the Council


So  Pope Francis quickly placed  it on the agenda of the Congregation of Saints.   However, there is for the Roncalli Pope to date, no recognized miracle.   When Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to Pope Francis went to tell him the decision of the Congregation on the Polish Pope, John Paul II,  the new pope also unexpectedly decided to canonize the Council Pope. 

 How this could happen without a miracle, has been rather met with an ashamed silence  in Rome.   The official media of the Holy See has never broached the subject and most accredited to the Vatican press journalists have somewhat averted both eyes, because it is the "sweet-natured Pope", who, after all, convened the Council.

Both large Postconciliar "Souls" of the Church Equal? –   Only Superficially


On 27 April, in a sense, both big "souls" of the Catholic Church, who represented a contrasting understanding of the Church since the Council, are raised to the altars.   Thus the impression.  The sarting point, however, was that the canonization of John Paul II was already too advanced at the time of the election of Pope Francis to put it on the back burner still.  However, for Pius IX und Pius XII. and Pius XII.   this has been the case for decades. The beatification of Pius IX. in 2000   had become possible only in a church-political maneuver.  It was wrested in return for the beatification of John XXIII.   
  
The double canonization of popes on April 27, 2014 will go down in the first place as an object lesson  ecclesiastically politically motivated decisions in the history of the Church.


Text: Giuseppe Nardi    
Picture: Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Friday, October 4, 2013

Commemoration Mass for Pope Pius XII in St. Peter's -- When Will the Canonization Process Proceed?

(Vatican) On the 12th of October Maria Jose Cardinal Saraiva will celebrate Holy Mass in memory of Pope Pius XII. Holy in St. Peter's Basilica. Four years ago, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the Venerable Servant of God. When will the beatification process continue? The Church also has a question of political developments, such as the miracleless canonization of Pope John XXIII Council. points to the timely commemoration of 50 years of the Second Vatican Council.

On the 9th of October 1958, he died 55 years ago, the last Preconciliar Pope, as the Pastor Angelicus was called. On the 18th of October in 1967, nine years after his death and the death of his successor in the Chair of Peter, Pope John XXIII., the process of beatification and canonization of Pius XII was opened at the diocesan level.

On the 19th of December 2009, the second phase of the process involved numerous delays and political interventions reached its conclusion with the elevation of the deceased to the rank of Venerable Servant of God. Pope Benedict XVI., who wanted to advance the beatification, but then ordered a re-examination of the entire archived material under Jewish pressure, signed a decree in the fifth year of his pontificate, which recognized Pope Pius XII's heroic virtues.

The method has been overshadowed since the 60s by artificially nourished doubts about the alleged "silence" of the Pope against the Nazi persecution of the Jews. "Criticism, which was vociferously supported by an equally progressive, hypocritical faction within the Catholic Church," said Messa in Latino.

Hochhuth's silence about the background to the idea of ​​"The Deputy"

The starting point of a defamation campaign against Pius XII. was first performed in the 1963 play The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth. Because of persistent silence, Hochhuth is still unclear how exactly he came to his theses. The assertion that the Pope was standing by watching the Nazi extermination of the Jews, comes from the propaganda of the Soviet Intelligence Service and came from the Soviet controlled East German Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany. What connection is there between the starting point of Hochhuth and Moscow, however, has not yet been clarified. The play, translated into several languages, has created the image of the late Pope influenced lasting until today.

The systematic scientific study of the pontificate of Pius XII. has refuted the accusation. Instead, it brought a new set of documents to light of the personal intervention of the Pope to the rescue of Jews. The Israeli historian Gary Krupp came to the conclusion that Pius XII. during the Second World War "did everything in his power to protect and defend the Jews." According to Krupp's archival research, Pius XII. saved more Jews than all the leaders of the world. "And this from a city under siege, and not from a comfortable chair in London or Washington." wrote Krupp, who has compiled 76,000 pages of original documents in support of his thesis.

Contribution of historians to relax in relation to Israel Pius XII.

The relationship between Israel and the figure of Pius XII. has now eased considerably. Not least was this helped by Benedict XVI. with the order for an investigation. On the German side, Hochhuts publicity legend for a "silent" Pope in the face of mass murder is contradicted especially by Michael Hesemann. According to Hesemann the Pope alone rescued more than 11,000 Jews in Rome during the life of the war. Among them was the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, Eugenio Zolli (born in Israel as Anton Zoller), who had himself baptized after the war and was received into the Catholic Church. Hesemann relies on some of it in the archives of the documents of the German national church in Rome.

Also, the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Israel changed the caption for Pius XII., a first step towards rehabilitation of the Pope to the Jewish people. When the beatification process will be resumed, however, is unclear. The question is the subject of a fierce struggle between various currents within the Church. Church policy issues may have a significant influence on the beatification and canonization process sometimes. The canonization of Pope Pius IX., the Syllabus Pope, became possible when John Paul II in the Holy Year 2000, also beatified Pope John XXIII.

Political Church Circles in Beatification and Canonization from Pius IX. to John Paul II

The same is taking place currently on the 27th of April, 2014 with the canonization of John Paul II. His canonization should be "neutralized" in Church politics by the simultaneous canonization of John XXIII. Although the council Pope no regular canonization process came to a conclusion. The "completion" of the canonization of the Polish Pope, who was rejected by a part of the Church is, from both sides "satisfactory" and prevents, that the raising to the altars could be construed as a statement of the direction for the Church and the current pontificate.

The canonization of John XXIII. without the recognized second miracle opened a vulnerable flank for the Church, which at the present, however, does not matter because of the role media popularity plays for Pope Francis.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Venite ad me
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Link katholisches...

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

Le Fleur de Lys too: Hitler's Plan to Kidnap Pope Puis XII

Spiritual Weapons Are More Powerful Than Material Ones

As soon as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was ousted from power on July 25, 1943, Adolf Hitler began hatching a plan to kidnap Pope Pius XII and plunder the Vatican. Clearly, the Fuehrer thought, the "Jew-loving" pope had encouraged King Victor Emanuel II and some rival fascist leaders to overthrow his Italian puppet.

The following day Hitler called for an urgent meeting of his military leaders. They must liberate Mussolini and return him to power, he cried. And "we must occupy Rome" and "destroy the Vatican's power, capture the pope, and say that we are protecting him." The pope might even have to be killed.

About six weeks later, on September 13, SS General Karl Wolff, the SS commander in Italy, received a phone call from his boss, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler, orchestrator of the Holocaust. Himmler, Wolff told me, bellowed that the Fuehrer wanted to see him urgently.


Le Fleur de Lys too: Hitler's Plan to Kidnap Pope Puis XII

 Top image of Pius XII at prayer is from, A Catholic Life.

Friday, December 24, 2010

"God Protect Austria" -- New Book About Pius XII Confirms Rejection of Hitler's Ideology

(Vatikan/Vienna)  A new book about Pope Pius XII affords a further confirmation that future Pope Pius XII would stand against National Socialism and Adolf Hitler. "It betrays the clarity with which Pius XI and his State Secretary and future successor, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, rebutted the attempt, and the danger to underestimate, that was assessed to the German Reich's desire to seize nearby Austria."   With a discussion of the new book, "God protect Austria!"  by Paolo Valvo Osservatore Romano attempts to explain the relationship of Pius XII to National Socialism.

Valvo presents new material from the Vatican Archive.  "The freeing up of Vatican Sources to the end of the Pontificate of Pius XI. in 2006, allowed for a new appreciation and a deeper understanding about the events then, above all for the time at the end of the First World War till the dawn of the Second,"  says Msgr Antonio Filipazzi in his review.  Naturally, said Msgr Filipazzi, it will not fail those who, because of their  opinions and deep prejudices or look for "verification of their preconceived notions" and choose to "ignore" the plentiful documentation, which don't correspond to their prejudices.  Athough they are not found, they don't correct their opion, rather they they are determined to promote archive openings.

The situation which Valvo substantiates, establishes on the contrary, that Pius XI and the future Pius XII., "show they held the possible collaboration between the Hitler Movement and the Catholic  Church as a complete impossibility , and not even in an anti-Bolshevist function,"  says Filipazzi.

The Italian ambassador to the Holy See, Bonfiacio Pignatti, attempted to advise the past Cardinal Secretary "despite his famous, insurmountable opposition against everything that savored of Nazism, that it would is beneficial to Austria, to improve its relationship to the Reich".  For it was from this demonstrable opposition against National Socialism which dictated the complete policy of Cardinal Pacelli's during his years in Austria and left him, to be described according to the accommodating disposition of some of the Austrian Bishops toward Hitler as "the most shameful chapter in Church History."

From Katolishces Info....

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Rabbi calls Israel's Treatment "Outrageous"

Haaretz

Israel's behavior toward the Vatican over the past 15 years has been "outrageous," one of the figures behind the 1994 establishment of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Vatican City told Haaretz last week. "Any [other] country would have threatened to withdraw its ambassador long ago over Israel's failure to honor agreements," Rabbi David Rosen said.

Rosen is to attend the meeting scheduled in Rome today between Pope Benedict XVI and a delegation from Israel's Chief Rabbinate, which is taking place at a time of crisis in the Vatican's relations with Israel and with Jewish leaders.

Rosen, a British-born former chief rabbi of Ireland who is the international director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, said the Vatican agreed to diplomatic relations with Israel after Jerusalem pledged to recognize the legal status of Catholic institutions in Israel and exempt Vatican property in Israel from taxes. The process was to take two years, he said.
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"Fifteen years later, the state has not ratified an agreement recognizing the church's legal status," Rosen said. He said the Vatican wants its internal hierarchy recognized by Israeli law, which at present treats each Catholic church as a separate nonprofit organization.

Israeli bureaucrats wore down the Vatican by negotiating every tax clause separately instead of granting a general concession, as expected by the Vatican, Rosen said. He called claims that the Vatican wants Israel to cede territory to it "falsehoods" propagated by "xenophobes."

Last month Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon discussed the legal issues in Rome with Vatican officials. He later said the talks "broke down" and that there was a "crisis" in relations.

Meanwhile, some Israeli politicians and Jewish leaders were angered by the Pope's proclamation last month that Pope Pius XII is eligible for for beatification, despite evidence that he may have turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

"Most people don't know that almost every current problem in Vatican-Jewish relations began not with Pope Benedict, but with his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who is now seen as a saint by Jews," Rosen said.

Link to original...

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Ven. Pius XII Defender of the Jews

If anything, Pius XII did too much for the Jews. This video made by a high-school student demonstrates the facts that big-name publications like New York Times keep getting wrong; but it was a Communist inspired disinformation campaign in the first place, thats well documented.

In repayment for his courage and generosity of spirit, many Jews have chosen to defame his name with their usual allies in print and broadcast media. It is truly a testament to their true spiritual bretheren Cane, Esau and the elder brothers of Joseph, that modern Jews persecute the only organization that stood by them in the Second World War.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

"Goldblog" Tells it Like it is



Jewish blogger, Jeff Goldberg at "Goldblog" expresses frustration with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Who can blame him? Simon Wiesenthal was a huge charlatan and a fraud. There are all kinds of Nazis in the Vienna phonebook, but Simon never went after them.

One wonders if all of the whining won't, as Jeff observes, undermine the cause of Jewish security rather than help in the long run?

We'd like to thank Jeff for his sanity and good will, finally, someone gets it. Jews have no more business harping about Vatican Canonizations than Catholics have lecturing Jewish leaders about how they run their internal affairs.


He writes:

Put me down as both unshocked and uninterested. I don't particularly care who the Catholic church elevates to sainthood, because I'm not Catholic. It's not my business who the Catholics decide to call saint. The Catholic Church today is respectful of Jews and Israel; it also adores its former Popes. I don't see a contradiction. I'm not sure why I'm so unmoved by these Jewish protests -- maybe because I think Jews should keep their powder dry for actual problems. Or maybe because excessive whining is just so damn annoying.


Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked

Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked: "From the AFP:The founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center voiced dismay and disappointment Monday at weekend Vatican moves to raise controversial wartime pope Pius XII to sainthood.The Vatican sparked anger in Jewish communities worldwide with moves to nudge Pius --..."

Speaking of professional whiners... another Liberal blog attacks Bill Donahue who engages the media on behalf of the Catholic Church, not only winning scattered approval from elderly Catholics who send him money, enough to fund a $15 Million dollar a year non-profit, but allows him a broad platform to potentially discredit and undermine the thing he claims to be saving. In our opinion, he shouldn't be allowed to talk about rancorous sexual topics on television. He seems to us no more credible than Simon Wiesenthal or the 700 Club, but because he gets face time and fits a certain image, he'll continue speaking for the Church though he has no official position and receives hearty endorsements from Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles.

Vatican Sends Anti-Communist Message with Canonizations

Lifesite

By Hilary White

ROME, December 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican has sent the world a message of Catholicism's fundamental opposition to communism with the announcement this weekend from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Three of the greatest twentieth century opponents to the communist and socialist ideologies, Pope John Paul II, Pope Pius XII and the Polish Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko, all moved a step closer to canonisation. The two popes were declared "venerable" for their heroic virtues and the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had approved the decree of beatification for Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, the "Solidarity chaplain" murdered by the communist secret police.

In his lengthy biography, "Witness to Hope", American author George Weigel credits Pope John Paul with instrumental behind-the-scenes work in bringing down the communist regime in Eastern Europe. According to Weigel, John Paul, a Polish nationalist, was the third leg of an international triumvirate of world leaders - with US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - who gave moral authority to the economic and political pressure that finally led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Following the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Piazza in May 1981, it was widely speculated that the assassination attempt had been ordered by Moscow in retaliation for the pope's support for the Polish Solidarity movement. In March 2006 an Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla."

Pius XII, from the beginning of his pontificate in 1939 to his death in 1958, was implacably opposed to communism which was brutally persecuting Catholics throughout Eastern Europe. In July 1949, he formally excommunicated all members of the communist party and anyone who aided or abetted it. He forbade Catholics, on pain of excommunication, to write, publish, distribute or read books, periodicals, paper or pamphlets promoting communist doctrines. His 1951 letter to the Catholic Church of Czechoslovakia denounced the Communist regime for its vicious persecution.

Link to original...

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Pius XII to be Made Venerable Angers Jewish Groups

Jewish leaders expressed disgust Saturday when Pope Benedict XVI pushed a controversial predecessor one step closer to sainthood.

The pontiff declared Pius XII "venerable" even though he's been criticized for not doing enough to help Jews during the Holocaust.

Jewish groups had asked for the move - one step before beatification - to be postponed until they're allowed to review Vatican archives on Pius' World War II actions.

Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Benedict's decision "profoundly insensitive and thoughtless."


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