Vatican City during World War II

Vatican Citypursued a policy of neutrality duringWorld War IIunder the leadership ofPope Pius XII.Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from September 1943 and the Allies from June 1944,Vatican Cityitself was not occupied. The Vatican organised extensive humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the conflict.

Background

TheLateran Treatyof 1929 with Italy recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City. It declared Vatican City aneutral countryininternational relations,and required the Pope to abstain from mediation unless requested by all parties. In 1939, the city state wasrecognized by thirty-eight nations,with adiplomatic corpsof thirteen full ambassadors and twenty-five ministers.^[1]

Foreign relations

Pre-war mediation attempts

As early as April 1939, Pius XII announced a plan for peace, hoping to mediate a negotiation between the major European powers on the brink of war.^[2]The first leader contacted wasBenito Mussolini,via Pius XII's usual go-between, Jesuit FatherTacchi Venturi.^[3]With Mussolini's approval, the next day Cardinal Secretary of StateLuigi Maglionecontacted thenunciosin Paris (Valerio Valeri), Warsaw (Filippo Cortesi), and Berlin (Cesare Orsenigo) and the Apostolic Delegate in London (William Godfrey).^[3]The proposed Vatican meeting accomplished very little of substance: if there was any coherent position espoused by the Vatican among its various communications, it was that ofappeasement.^[4]In particular, the Pope attempted to get Poland to accept the secession of theFree City of Danzigto Nazi Germany, a position Polish ambassadorKazimierz Papée(the former High Commissioner of Danzig) and the Polish government could not accept.^[5]

In his 24 August 1939 Radio Message, just a week before war, Pius warned: "The danger is imminent, but there is still time. Nothing is lost with peace; all can be lost with war!"^[6]

British historianOwen Chadwickdrew four themes from the Vatican mediation attempts:^[7]a particular closeness to Mussolini, to the point of sending correspondence of his drafting, from the period May–August 1939; British and Polish disinterest in Vatican proposals, which were suspected of being pro-Italian and pro-German, respectively; major European powers viewed the Pope as "no minor pawn upon their chessboard"; and, above all, Pius XII wanted to ensure compromise between the Western powers to prevent Soviet territorial gains.

With Poland overrun, but France and the Low Countries yet to be attacked, Pius continued to hope for a negotiated peace to prevent the spread of the conflict. The similarly minded US PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltre-established unofficial American relations with the Vatican after a seventy-year hiatus and dispatchedMyron C. Tayloras his personal representative. Despite the early collapse of peace hopes, the Taylor mission continued at the Vatican.^[8]

Public statements

Despite intense behind the scenes actions, Pius XII was resolved not to issue any public pronouncement that took sides in the conflict; this first manifested itself in a refusal to explicitly condemn theGerman invasion of Poland.^[9]Early on, Pius XII believed that the "rapid destruction of Poland meant the end of the war".^[10]

Outbreak of war

Summi Pontificatus( "On the Limitations of the Authority of the State" ), issued 20 October 1939, was the first papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII, and established some of the themes of his papacy.^[11]According to Chadwick,Summi Pontificatusexemplified both "the hesitancy and the care" of the pontiff.^[12]During the drafting of the letter, the Second World War commenced with theNazi–Sovietinvasion of Catholic Poland. Though couched in diplomatic language, Pius endorsed Catholic resistance, and stated his disapproval of the war, racism, anti-semitism, the Nazi/Sovietinvasion of Polandand the persecutions of the Church.^[13]

With Italy not yet an ally ofAdolf Hitlerin the war, Italians were called upon to remain faithful to the Church. Pius avoided naming the belligerent politiciansAdolf HitlerandJoseph Stalinas the evildoers, establishing the "impartial" public tone that was to be a hallmark of his pontificate: "A full statement of the doctrinal stand to be taken in face of the errors of today, if necessary, can be put off to another time unless there is disturbance by calamitous external events; for the moment We limit Ourselves to some fundamental observations."^[14]

Resistance

The Pope wrote of "anti-Christian movements" bringing forth a crop of "poignant disasters" and called for love, mercy, and compassion against the "deluge of discord". Following themes addressed inNon abbiamo bisogno(1931);Mit brennender Sorge(1937) andDivini redemptoris(1937), Pius wrote of a need to bring back to the Church those who were following "a false standard... misled by error, passion, temptation and prejudice, [who] have strayed away from faith in the true God".^[15]He wrote of "Christians unfortunately more in name than in fact" having shown "cowardice" in the face of persecution by these creeds, and he endorsed resistance:^[15]

Who among "the Soldiers of Christ" – ecclesiastic or layman – does not feel himself incited and spurred on to a greater vigilance, to a more determined resistance, by the sight of the ever-increasing host of Christ's enemies; as he perceives the spokesmen of these tendencies deny or in practice neglect the vivifying truths and the values inherent in belief in God and in Christ; as he perceives them wantonly break the Tables of God's Commandments to substitute other tables and other standards stripped of the ethical content of the Revelation on Sinai, standards in which the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount and of the Cross has no place?
— Summi Pontificatus7 –Pope Pius XII,Oct. 1939

Invasion of Poland

Pius wrote of a persecuted Church^[16]and a time requiring "charity" for victims who had a "right" to compassion. Against the invasion of Poland and killing of civilians he wrote:^[13]

The blood of countless human beings, even noncombatants, raises a piteous dirge over a nation such as Our dear Poland, which, for its fidelity to the Church, for its services in the defense of Christian civilization, written in indelible characters in the annals of history, has a right to the generous and brotherly sympathy of the whole world, while it awaits, relying on the powerful intercession of Mary, Help of Christians, the hour of a resurrection in harmony with the principles of justice and true peace.
— Summi Pontificatus106 –Pope Pius XII,Oct. 1939

In Poland, the Nazis murdered over 2,500 monks and priests and even more were imprisoned.^[18]

Opposition to racism and anti-Semitism

In a further rejection of Nazi ideology, Pius reiterated Catholic opposition to racism and anti-Semitism:

In accordance with these principles of equality, the Church devotes her care to forming cultured native clergy and gradually increasing the number of native Bishops. And in order to give external expression to these, Our intentions, We have chosen the forthcoming Feast of Christ the King to raise to the Episcopal dignity at the Tomb of the Apostles twelve representatives of widely different peoples and races. In the midst of the disruptive contrasts which divide the human family, may this solemn act proclaim to all Our sons, scattered over the world, that the spirit, the teaching and the work of the Church can never be other than that which the Apostle of the Gentiles preached: "putting on the new (man), him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free. But Christ is all and in all" (Colossians iii. 10, 11).
— Summi Pontificatus48 –Pope Pius XII,Oct. 1939.

1940 meeting with Ribbentrop

When in 1940, the Nazi Foreign MinisterJoachim von Ribbentropled the only senior Nazi delegation permitted an audience with Pius XII and asked why the Pope had sided with the Allies, Pius replied with a list of recent Nazi atrocities and religious persecutions committed against Christians and Jews, in Germany and in Poland, leading theNew York Timesto headline its report "Jews Rights Defended" and write of the "burning words he spoke to Herr Ribbentrop about religious persecution".^[19]

1942 Christmas message

In 1942,Pius XII delivered a Christmas messageover Vatican Radio, which voiced concern for the victims of the Nazis' genocidal policies.^[20]From May 1942, the Nazis had commenced their industrialized slaughter of the Jews of Europe – theFinal Solution.^[20]Romani peopleand others were also marked for extermination. The Pope addressed the racial persecutions in the following terms:

Mankind owes that vow to the numberless exiles whom the hurricane of war has torn from their native land and scattered in the land of the stranger; who can make their own the lament of the Prophet: 'Our inheritance is turned to aliens; our house to strangers.' Mankind owes that vow to the hundreds of thousands of persons who, without any fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or slow extermination. "
— Pius XII – Christmas Radio Address, 1942

The New York Timescalled Pius "a lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent."

The speech was made in the context of the near total domination of Europe by the armies ofNazi Germany,although the war had turned in favour of the Allies on all fronts. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Pius refused to say more "fearing that public papal denunciations might provoke the Hitler regime to brutalize further those subject to Nazi terror – as it had when Dutch bishops publicly protested earlier in the year – while jeopardizing the future of the church".^[21]

Contacts to the German military opposition

In the winter of 1939/40, the Bavarian lawyer and reserve 'Abwehr' officerJosef Müller,acting as an emissary for the early German military opposition against Hitler then centered around GeneralFranz Halder,the chief of staff of the German army, contacted MonsignoreLudwig Kaas,the exiled leader of the German CatholicZentrumparty, in Rome, hoping to use the Pope as an intermediary to contact the British.^[22]Kaas put Müller in contact with FatherRobert Leiber,who personally asked the Pope to relay the information about the German resistance to the British.^[23]After more than a day of "quiet reflection", Pius XII agreed to pass the information along to the British.^[23]However he refused to pass the information along to the French or even to his own Secretariat of State.^[24]

The Pope's Private Secretary,Robert Leiber,met with Müller, who visited Rome in 1939 and 1940.^[25]The Vatican considered Müller to be a representative of Colonel-GeneralBeckand agreed to offer the machinery for mediation.^[26]^[27]Oster,Wilhelm CanarisandHans von Dohnányi,backed by Beck, told Müller to ask Pius to ascertain whether the British would enter negotiations with the German opposition which wanted to overthrow Hitler. The British agreed to negotiate, provided the Vatican could vouch for the opposition's representative. Pius, communicating withBritish envoy D'Arcy Osborne,channelled communications back and forth in secrecy.^[26]The Vatican agreed to send a letter outlining the bases for peace with Britain, and the participation of the Pope was used to try to persuade senior German Generals Halder and Brauchitsch to act against Hitler.^[28]

Negotiations were tense, with a Western offensive expected, and on the basis that substantive negotiations could only follow the replacement of the Hitler regime. Hoffmann wrote that, when theVenlo Incidentstalled the talks, the British agreed to resume discussions primarily because of the "efforts of the Pope and the respect in which he was held. Chamberlain and Halifax set great store by the Pope's readiness to mediate."^[26]Pius, without offering endorsement, advised Osbourne on 11 January 1940 that the German opposition had said that a German offensive was planned for February, but that this could be averted if the German generals could be assured of peace with Britain, and not on punitive terms. If this could be assured, then they were willing to move to replace Hitler. The Pope admitted to "discomfort" at his role as mediator, but advised that the Germans involved were not Nazis. The British government had doubts as to the capacity of the conspirators. On 7 February, the Pope updated Osbourne that the opposition wanted to replace the Nazi regime with a democratic federation, but hoped to retain Austria and the Sudetenland. The British government was non-committal, and said that while the federal model was of interest, the promises and sources of the opposition were too vague. Nevertheless, the resistance were encouraged by the talks, and Muller told Leiber that a coup would occur in February. Pius appeared to continue to hope for a coup in Germany into March 1940.^[29]

Chadwick wrote that Pius XII met with D'Arcy Osborne, telling him that he knew the names of the involved German generals but did not wish to share them.^[30]Pius XII insisted to Osborne that he was merely passing on a message and that "he did not wish in the slightest degree to endorse it or to recommend it".^[30]When Osborne pressed the Pope on the vagueness of his message, Osborne reported that Pius XII replied "perhaps, after all, it was not worth proceeding with the matter and he would therefore ask me to return his communication to me as not having been made".^[30]The Pope further declined Osborne's request to guarantee the good faith of the generals, or whether they could accomplish their goal.^[30]In a second meeting, Pius XII flashed a typed, four-page letter in German in front of Osborne, but declined to let him read it or have a copy.^[31]

After the German attack on Denmark and Norway, the British refused any further contacts with emissaries of the German military opposition, fearing anotherVenlo incident.The opposition largely dissolved after the German conquest of France in summer 1940 because Halder no longer dared to stand up against an apparently successful Hitler. It only regained momentum in 1944 when a new generation of younger officers decided to conspire against the ruthless Nazi regime. Leiber remained the point of contact at the Vatican for communications from Colonel-GeneralLudwig Beckin the lead up to the 1944July Plot.^[25]

Mid-war

In late 1942, senior Italian officials first approached the Vatican with peace feelers.^[32]In the eyes of the Vatican, "the neutrality of the Vatican, achieved at such cost, was paying a dividend at last".^[33]When Mussolini sent his son-in-law,Count Ciano,as ambassador to the Vatican in 1943, the Germans and others speculated about the possibility of Ciano negotiating a separate peace.^[34]The British for their part doubted any such intentions and wanted nothing to do with Ciano.^[35]

Military history

The Vatican maintained three small forces of troops known as theSwiss Guard,thePalatine Guardand theNoble Guard.During World War II the Vatican's Swiss guards and other two armed regiments obtained additional submachine guns and gas masks to supplement the existing Vatican arsenal in the event of an attack.^[36]

Extraterritorial status

With the German occupation of Rome in 1943, after the fall of Mussolini, came rumors of aplot to kidnap the Pope;modern scholars are still at odds over the authenticity of such allegations.^[37]The Vatican City itself was never occupied; in fact, the chief concern within the Vatican was the potential for lawlessness in the period between the German and Allied occupation, not the potential for German occupation. However the Vatican Police Force in conjunction with the Swiss Guard maintained order.^[38]

Bombing of Rome

One of Pius XII's main diplomatic priorities was to prevent the bombing of Rome; so sensitive was the pontiff that he protested even the British air dropping of pamphlets over Rome, claiming that the few landing within the city-state violated the Vatican's neutrality.^[39]Before the American entry into the war, there was little impetus for such a bombing, as the British saw little strategic value in it.^[40]After the American entry, the US opposed such a bombing, fearful of offending Catholic members of its military forces, while the British then supported it.^[41]Pius XII similarly advocated for the declaration of Rome as an "open city",but this occurred only on 14 August 1943, after Rome had already been bombed twice.^[42]Although the Italians consulted the Vatican on the wording of the open city declaration, the impetus for the change had little to do with the Vatican.^[43]

Vatican City was bombedtwice during the war.

Prisoners of war

After the Italian surrender, Allied prisoners guarded by Italians were released, and many headed for Vatican City.^[44]The Vatican feared such an event would compromise its neutrality and gave strict instructions to theSwiss Guardto prevent any such person from entering the city state; a system of identity cards was instituted to prevent non-Vatican personnel from entering St. Peter's.^[45]Some Vatican officials, however, did act independently to assist such persons; the most famous example isHugh O'Flaherty,whose exploits were made famous in the filmThe Scarlet and the Black.^[46]

Bernardino Nogara,the chief Vatican financier during the war

Media

Osservatore Romano

TheOsservatore Romano,the Vatican's newspaper, published in Italian, was the only newspaper in Italy not censored by the Italian government.^[47]Despite its relatively moderate content, the paper was lionized by the British and French press and vilified by the Italian Fascist press.^[48]By 20 May 1940, the paper ceased publishing any articles about the war not authored by the "official Italian war communique", per an agreement with the Italian government.^[49]By August 1940 its weather reports were also eliminated when the Italian government protested that they might aid British aircraft.^[50]

Vatican Radio

Vatican Radiowas in a similar situation; for example, it ceased news about prisoners-of-war, which the Italian government worried would hint at the location of ships.^[51]It also ceased reporting on the weather, for the same reason.^[51]After CardinalAugust Hlondissued a fiery, Polish-language message to Poland over the radio (which could scarcely be picked up in Poland), "nothing like this broadcast was ever allowed to happen again".^[52]After German complaints, the radio ceased any discussion of the situation in Poland, and later ceased discussing the situation of the church in Germany.^[53]Pius XII spoke over the radio on several occasions, most notably duringhis 1942 Christmas addressin which he voiced concern at the murder of "hundreds of thousands" of "faultless" people on the basis of no more than their "race or nationality".

Film

During the German occupation of Rome, two films,The Gates of Heaven^[54]byVittorio de SicaandThe Ten Commandments^[55]byGiorgio Walter Chili,were shot inside the Vatican City. The shooting was discreetly prolonged. This allowed the film workers an excuse to avoid moving to Venice to participate in the propaganda of theRepublic of Salò. Several Jews and people persecuted by the Nazis were hired for the films. The filming and the sheltering of the refugees disturbed the Vatican residents.

The Holocaust

In his 1939Summi Pontificatusfirst papal encyclical, Pius XII expressed dismay at the invasion of Poland; reiterated Catholic teaching against racism and antisemitism; and endorsed resistance against those opposed to the ethical principles of the "Revelation on Sinai"and theSermon on the Mount.

Pius protested the deportations of Slovakian Jews to the Bratislava government from 1942. In 1943 he protested that "The Holy See would fail in its Divine Mandate if it did not deplore these measures, which gravely damage man in his natural right, mainly for the reason that these people belong to a certain race."^[56]In June 1942 Pius personally protested against the mass deportations of Jews from France, ordering the papal nuncio to protest to MarshalPhilippe Pétainagainst "the inhuman arrests and deportations of Jews".^[57]In his1942 Christmas address,Pius voiced concern at the murder of "hundreds of thousands" of "faultless" people because of their "nationality or race".

Following the Nazi occupation of Italy, the Pope ordered Rome's Catholic institutions to open themselves to the Jews, sheltering 4,715 of the 5,715 listed for deportation by the Nazis in 150 Catholic institutions. In the Vatican itself, 477 Jews were sheltered. As German round-ups continued in Northern Italy, the Pope opened his summer residence,Castel Gandolfo,to take in thousands of Jews, and authorized institutions across the north to do the same.^[56]

From 1943, Pius instructed his Bulgarian representative to take "all necessary steps" to support Bulgarian Jews facing deportation, and his Turkish nuncio,Angelo Roncalli(later Pope John XXIII) arranged for the transfer of thousands of children out of Bulgaria to Palestine.^[56]Roncalli also advised the Pope of Jewish concentration camps in Romanian-occupiedTransnistria.The Pope protested to the Romanian government and authorized for funds to be sent to the camps.^[56]In 1944 Pius appealed directly to the Hungarian government to halt the deportation of the Jews of Hungary and his nuncio,Angelo Rotta,led a citywide rescue scheme in Budapest.^[56]^[58]

Upon his death, Pius was praised emphatically by Israel and world leaders for his wartime leadership. But his insistence on Vatican neutrality and failure to explicitly name the Nazis as the evildoers of the conflict became the foundation for later criticisms.^[59]

Hugh O'Flaherty: the Vatican Pimpernel

From his Vatican office, and in co-operation with Pius XII,^[60]MonsignorHugh O'Flaherty,an Irishman, operated an escape operation for Jews and Allied escapees. In 2012, theIrish Independentnewspaper credited him with having saved more than 6,500 people during the war.^[61]

From 1943, he began to offer shelter to allied servicemen seeking sanctuary in the Vatican. Using fake documents and a clandestine communications network, O'Flaherty defied the Gestapo's war criminal commander of Rome,Herbert Kappler,and evaded capture through the German occupation of Rome. O'Flaherty's ' "Rome Escape Line" hid British and American soldiers and Jews in safe houses around the city.^[61]Kappler had a white line drawn around the boundary of the Vatican and offered a bounty on O'Flaherty's head. O'Flaherty forgave Kappler after the war and became a regular visitor to his prison cell – eventually presiding at his conversion to Catholicism. O'Flaherty's story was dramatized in the 1983 filmThe Scarlet and the Blackand Ireland honors his work with the Hugh O’Flaherty International Humanitarian Award.^[62]^[63]

Church organization

Occupying powers often requested that Pius XII reorganize conquered Catholic dioceses. Although such reorganization was generally refused, the decision of Pius XII to appoint German apostolic administrators to occupied Poland was "one of his most controversial decisions".^[64]These actions were the primary justification of the Polish Provisional Government for declaring theConcordat of 1925null and void in 1945, an act that had tremendous consequences for post-war Polish-Vatican relations. There was noApostolic Nuncio to Polandbetween 1947 and 1989, during the years ofcommunist Poland.

Immediate postwar aftermath

The Alliesliberated Romeon 4–5 June 1944.^[65]During the liberation, many Catholic Allied troops visited the Vatican for Mass and to hear the Pope speak, including some who drove tanks into St. Peter's Square.^[66]

The Pope was the greatest celebrity on the Italian peninsula during this period, and, given the tarnish of the King of Italy with fascism, there was even talk of extending thetemporal powerof the papacy.^[65]The Pope granted audiences with Allied soldiers and leaders, which were prominently photographed.^[67]

Pius XII had refrained from creatingcardinalsduring the war. By the end of World War II there were several prominent vacancies, includingCardinal Secretary of State,Camerlengo,Chancellor,and Prefect for theCongregation for the Religious.^[68]Pius XIIcreated 32 cardinals in early 1946,having announced his intentions to do so in his preceding Christmas message.

References

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^^a ^bChadwick, 1988, p. 62
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^Vatican Archive –Homily of Benedict XVI, 9 October 2008
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^Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum –The Vatican Files
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^Encyclopædia Britannica – Reflections on the Holocaust
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^^a ^bSUMMI PONTIFICATUS– Section 6 & 7
^108. "In the midst of this world which today presents such a sharp contrast to" The Peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ, "the Church and her faithful are in times and in years of trial such as have rarely been known in her history of struggle and suffering".
^Craughwell, Thomas J.,The Gentile HolocaustCatholic Culture, Accessed July 18, 2008
^Chadwick, Owen pp. 254–255.
^Times., Telephone To the New York (14 March 1940)."POPE IS EMPHATIC ABOUT JUST PEACE; His Stress on 'Indispensable Basis' for End of Hostilities Held Warning to Reich JEWS' RIGHTS DEFENDED Pontiff in von Ribbentrop Talk Spoke in Behalf of Persecuted in Germany and Poland".The New York Times.Retrieved2018-07-12.
^^a ^bEncyclopædia Britannica,"World War Two – German-occupied Europe"
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^Chadwick, 1988, p. 88
^^a ^bPeter Hoffmann;The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945;3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p.161 & 294
^^a ^b ^cPeter Hoffmann;The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945;3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p.160
^William L. Shirer;The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich;Secker & Warburg; London; 1960; p648-9
^John Toland;Hitler;Wordsworth Editions; 1997 Edn; p.760
^Peter Hoffmann; The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945; 3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p.160-163
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v t e History of World War II by region and country
Africa	Belgian Congo British Somaliland Egypt Ethiopia French Somaliland French West Africa The Gambia Gold Coast Kenya Liberia Madagascar North Africa Tunisia Morocco Nyasaland Sierra Leone South Africa Southern Rhodesia
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Oceania and Antarctica	Antarctica Australia Gilbert Islands Nauru New Guinea New Zealand Solomon Islands Pacific Islands

v t e Pope Pius XII
Born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958 Pope(1939–1958) Camerlengo(1935–1939) Cardinal Secretary of State(1930–1939) ArchpriestofSaint Peter's Basilica(1930–1939)
Biography	Early life Nunciature US visit Election Later years Illness and death Testament Canonization
Encyclicals in chronological order	Summi Pontificatus Sertum laetitiae Saeculo exeunte Mystici Corporis Christi Divino afflante Spiritu Orientalis Ecclesiae Communium interpretes dolorum Orientales omnes Ecclesias Quemadmodum Deiparae Virginis Mariae Fulgens radiatur Mediator Dei Optatissima pax Auspicia quaedam In multiplicibus curis Redemptoris nostri cruciatus Anni sacri Summi maeroris Humani generis Mirabile illud Evangelii praecones Sempiternus Rex Christus Ingruentium malorum Orientales Ecclesias Doctor Mellifluus Fulgens corona Sacra virginitas Ecclesiae fastos Ad Sinarum gentem Ad Caeli Reginam Musicae sacrae Haurietis aquas Luctuosissimi eventus Laetamur admodum Datis nuperrime Fidei donum Invicti athletae Le pèlerinage de Lourdes Miranda prorsus Ad Apostolorum principis Meminisse iuvat
World War II	The Holocaust statements conversion of Jews Persecution of Church German Resistance Nazi euthanasia Catholic Resistance Roman razzia Occupied dioceses Ustaše involvement Jewish orphans controversy Pontifical Relief Commission 1942 Christmas address Alleged kidnapping plot Yad Vashem Bombing of Rome
Foreign relations	Nazi Germany(Reichskonkordat) Post–World War II "Ratlines" Persecutions China Poland Russia
Theology	Social teachings Mariology Judaism Liturgy Eastern canon law Canonizations Beatifications Fátima and Balazar
Writings	Apostolic constitutions and bulls Encyclicals Apostolic writings Magisterium
Appointments	Tisserant Maglione Montini Tardini Orsenigo Muench Cardinals
Advisers	Bea Galeazzi-Lisi Kaas Lehnert Leiber Nogara Spellman Spiazzi
Works on Pius XII	The Deputy Three Popes and the Jews Actes et documents Hitler's Pope International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission Under His Very Windows The Myth of Hitler's Pope Pius XII, The Holocaust, and the Cold War The Pope's Jews
Related	Pius Wars