53 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just one tool in understanding the defamation of Pius XII, April 1, 2001
This review is from: Defamation Of Pius XII (Key Texts) (Hardcover)
The Defamation of Pius XII by Notre Dame university philosophy
professor Ralph McInerny is strong on evidence of Pius XII as a true
hero in speaking out for Jews and leading a church in saving hundreds
of thousands of Jewish lives during World War II - more than all
the other relief organizations combined. McInerny's 150 pages of
evidence is noticeably missing from books that allegedly defame Pius
XII as anti-Semitic, a "Hitler's Pope", and a man who supposedly
turned his back on the Jews. An epilogue in Hitler's Pope (1999) by
John Cornwell acknowledges that The Last Three Popes and the Jews
(1967) by Pinchas Lapide (Israeli consul in Milan Italy) is "a
formidable and scholarly riposte to those who would paint Pius XII and
the Holy See as villains." Cornwell adds that Lapide
"ransacked" various Jewish archives "for details of Vatican
assistance to Jews during the war" and that Lapide "calculated
that Pius XII, directly or indirectly, saved the lives of some 860,000
Jews." Yet Lapide's details of the extensive and heroic Vatican
assistance to Jews are nowhere to be found in the chapters of Hitler's
Pope. McInerny's book provides Lapide details and more. The
Defamation of Pius XII does not by itself demonstrate defamation found
in such works as Hitler's Pope. To sense a Cornwell genius of
spinning half-truths into defamation, one must read Hitler's Pope and
reread portions while referring to McInerny's book and several other
works ("McInerny et al."):
(1)"Cornwell's Pope: A Nasty
Caricature of a Noble and Saintly Man"(ZENIT News Service, 9/16/99)
by Father Peter Gumpel, arguably the world's leading expert on Pius
XII. Gumpel's twelve-page critique, posted online, concludes,
"Cornwell who is a rank amateur in the field of history, canon law,
etc., has produced a shoddy, superficial and totally untrustworthy
book which, to say the very least, is objectively biased, tendentious
and so unilateral and one-sided that one wonders what really prompted
this man to write this book." (2)HITLER THE WAR AND THE POPE (2000)
by Ronald Rychlak, a non-Catholic attorney. The 27-page epilogue
critiques Hitler's Pope. Cornwell's account of Rome's Jews is based
in large part on Katz's book Black Sabbath (1969) which per Cornwell
"remains the most authoritative account" and was the subject of
a defamation suit "lost" by the Pope's relatives who appealed
with judgment "inconclusive." Actually, per Rychlak, Katz was fined
and received a suspended prison sentence for defaming Pius XII.
(3)Pius XII and the Second World War According to the Vatican Archives
(1997) by Pierre Blet, S.J. Whenever Cornwell cites Blet, one should
read the few pages before and after the cite to see what Cornwell
failed to mention. (4)Before the Dawn (1954, reprinted as Why I Became
a Catholic), memoirs of Eugenio Zolli, Rome's chief rabbi in 1943 when
the Nazis took over Rome. Zolli extols Pius XII as a great hero for
the Jews. Portions are quoted by McInerny and Rychlak, but additional
passages aid in questioning Cornwell's choice of facts and his
conclusion. (5) The online interview (Oct. 2000) by ZENIT News Service
of Jewish Holocaust historian Tagliacozzo who in 1943 escaped the Nazi
roundup of Rome's Jews. He also hails Pius XII as a hero for the
Jews. (6) Pope Pius XII Architect for Peace (2000) by Margherita
Marchione, a book that adds additional evidence to the heroics of Pius
XII and his staff in aiding Jews, prisoners of war, and refugees
during WW II. The evidence found in McInerny et al. compels me to
believe Hitler's Pope defamed and denied a true hero of the Holocaust
putting Cornwell and publisher Penguin Books in bed with those who
deny the Holocaust ever happened. Ironically, Penguin admirably stood
with Professor Deborah Lipstadt in successfully winning a judgment
against Holocaust denier David Irving at the same time Penguin was
shamefully promoting Hitler's Pope. McInerny does not address the
role of Penguin and the media in the defamation of Pius XII.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the Read- one of the best, April 3, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Defamation Of Pius XII (Key Texts) (Hardcover)
IN response to the recent trash novels about the role of the pope in WWII, this excellent book is a welcome arrival.
The author shows with great accuracy how the pope saved directly or indirectly the lives of some 860,000 Jews.
But why has Pius XII been so defamed? What has motivated the untruths? It has been the result, the author argues, of the Church's stance on sexuality. In fact, it can be easily argued and defended that as soon as the Church changes its teaching on sex and abortion, the "faith" would be welcomed with open arms by the left.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Defamation of Pius XII, December 28, 2009
This review is from: Defamation Of Pius XII (Key Texts) (Hardcover)
Defamation of Pius XII is an excellent source and rebuke to all the historically flawed and biased sources.
For all the Anti-Catholics and fanatics out there who word verbatim take anything that is written bad of the one true faith and Church. Whether Catholic,Agnostic,Jewish,Protestant or Deist you need to read the book to clear the misconceptions.
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