How pious was Pius XII?

Pope Pius XII, circa 1951
(Public Domain)

The word “pious,” often used to describe a devoutly religious person, is sometimes sarcastically used to connote hypocrisy. 

During World War II’s Holocaust, Pope Pius XII remained publicly silent.  He did, however, discreetly aid numerous Nazi victims.  Was his public silence a sign of cowardly hypocrisy, or did it pragmatically facilitate his clandestine efforts to save lives?

Practical as his stance may have been during the war, what happened next seems murky.  Archbishop Sergio Pagano, current Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archive, pointed out that Pius continued this stony silence long after the war ended.  Pagano firmly declared, “After the war, I would have expected a word more, for all these people who went to the gas chambers.”

Pagano has also shown “disdain for the incomplete research behind Pius’ sainthood cause, which is now apparently on hold…”  Pius may very well have been a confusing mixture of saint and sinner, very much like many a human here on Earth.

 Resources

 https://news.yahoo.com/keeper-vatican-secrets-retiring-wants-090357472.html