Pope Pius Xii: The Embodiment Of Evil

Adolf Hitler was not a fabricated beast from a horror movie, like many seem to think. Hitler was, in fact, a man of unjust accusations, and an evil power hungry tyrant. The fact remains that he was indeed, a human. That’s the alarming part of it. It wasn’t Satan himself that endured hardships, failed the trials of life, became a power driven leader that kept Germany first, and eventually caused the deaths of 11 million people. Hitler killed 11 million people with lives, families, and the possibility of a future that was taken away from them. He was only a man, so how could he have been capable of being so heartless and power hungry? He did not invent hating Jews, but rather added upon the ideas of his hometown. Studies show that it could have

Hitler is one of the most recognizable, and despised people to ever live. He is known world round for his oratory skills, and all the horrendous deaths that he was responsible for. He is one of the worst tyrants in history.

The contribution of Pope John XXIII has been profound, as many of his initiatives and actions are still resonating today. His acceptance of Jesus’ words “I came to save all nations.” Represented his motivation to do well and bring peace upon the world. He was an advocate of Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace. It is through his development of the Second Vatican Council, his contribution to ecumenism and his empathy for humanity that Pope John XXIII made a significant impact upon the development and expression of Christianity.

John Cornwell argues in his book Hitler’s Pope: the Secret History of Pius XII that the Pope helped legitimize the Nazi regime and that he did not speak out against or try to stop the Holocaust. Cornwell made the claim that Pius was anti-Semitic and did not care about European Jews; all he really desired was more centralized power for the Papacy.8

During his Papacy, Pope John XXIII published several encyclicals promoting world peace(Pacem in Terris) and increasing the consciousness of one’s dignity and rights of workers, women and newly independent nations (Mater et Magisterum). Pacem in Terris was addressed to the whole world and received warmly by Christians and non-Christians alike. It altered thinking about the Cold War and initiated the resurgence of Catholic social teaching.

Hitler had many beliefs, that weren’t right, and many people suffered from his decisions. Hitler was an awful dictator and goes down in History as on of the worst men to ever exist. When Hitler died, in 1945, the Reich died with him and so did the torture concentration camps, and vicious stereotypes. Some people who survived the Reich, are lucky enough to tell their stories today, others aren’t so lucky. Even though The Third Reich is over the world is still healing from it and the victims of this awful torture will always be in our hearts, and we still keep the memories of one of the worst periods in history, The Third

The atrocities of the Holocaust placed the German Jewish population in a quagmire of antisemitic persecution, but it also spread beyond Germany to affect Jews throughout Europe. Poland was such a country. The first nation invaded by Nazi Germany and the last to be liberated, the population of Polish Jews was nearly eradicated. How were the Nazis able to accomplish such a feat in a nation where antisemitism had not been as prevalent? Aside from forcibly introducing antisemitic policy into Poland, the Nazis relied on fear and self-interest to accomplish their goals. For the average Polish Catholic in 1943, a decision had to be made on where they stood regarding the “Jewish problem”. Should they sit idly by and do nothing, or perhaps even assist in the capture of the Jews? Or maybe they could risk everything by hiding and otherwise aiding the Polish Jews. If I were such a Polish Catholic citizen living in 1943 and the opportunity arose to help a Polish Jew, my conscience would prevent me from doing any less.

Two years later and just before the outbreak of World War II, in February 1939, Pope Pius XI died. Cardinal Pacelli was then elected Pope and became Pope Pius XII. Due to his previous anti-Nazi ideals, the future Allied powers were confident that Pius XII would fully support their part in WWII; however, Pope Pius XII would remain neutral throughout the war (Sanchez 17). At the beginning of his papacy, Pius XII told Vatican officials that 'to me the German question is the most important; I will reserve handling it to myself.' He added, 'Naturally I will follow German matters closer than all others" (Phayer 44). Pius XII hoped that remaining neutral in the war would evade battles in Vatican City.

Quinton Figueroa explains how Hitler wasn’t actually a bad guy, he wasn’t even a good guy, he was a really great guy, especially based on American standards today. Why is Figueroa calling Hitler a great guy? Well, naturally people place labels on things without thinking about what’s underneath, this is considered mislabeling. If you conduct research, you’ll actually find that most of the Jews were moving to America to look for better jobs, there was six million Jews, only a couple thousand were actually in camps. Most of people in camps were Germans who committed crimes. Nevertheless, have you ever heard about the idea which something changes after it’s said fifty times? It was like that. WWII was the time of propaganda, mass media control.

talk about when you involve the holocaust because he was the main figurehead behind the Nazi party and the holocaust. Hitler was the founder and creator of the nazi party. He was also the head of state, supreme commander of the armed forces and the german Fuhrer from 1933 to 1945. Hitler let people below him lead land held outside of Germany like Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels .In 1935 he broke the Versailles Treaty and made an army 5 times the number allowed and in 1949 invaded Poland starting a war to control Europe and “secure Germany’s living space”(Wistrich)

With this propaganda the Nazi attacked the churches and their members between 1934 and 1936. The Nazis shut down Catholic schools, the Hitler Youth absorbed several youth groups, and the Gestapo arrested dozens of Catholic priests and accused them of immorality. This anti-Catholic campaign produced a defensive reaction from the Church. In March 1937, Pope Pius XI issued a papal encyclical entitled Mit Brennender Sorge (‘With Burning Anxiety’), in which the Pope condemned the violations of the Reichskonkordat and criticized the racial policies of the regime and the lack of justice or natural law in the Nazi state. This marked the beginning of the resistance that the Catholic Church put up against the Nazi regime.

So who’s to say that Hitler is a villain if people continue to praise and think highly of him? According to Renegade Tribune, Hitler has been portrayed so demonic that only a short-range of people notice that he was a “man of genius, vision, and courage.”

Two years later and just before the outbreak of World War II, in February 1939, Pope Pius XI died. Cardinal Pacelli was then elected Pope and became Pope Pius XII. Due to his previous anti-Nazi ideals, the future Allied powers were confident that Pius XII would fully support their part in WWII; however, Pope Pius XII would remain neutral throughout the war (Sanchez 17). At the beginning of his papacy, Pius XII told Vatican officials that 'to me the German question is the most important; I will reserve handling it to myself.' He added, 'Naturally I will follow German matters closer than all others" (Phayer 44). Pius

“Among other things he defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary as born without original sin (1845); condemned the ideologies of liberalism, naturalism, nationalism, socialism, and communism (1864) and encouraged it to proclaim papal infallibility (18 July 1870), fostering the structure of the modern, infallible papacy.” (Coppa, 1794). Pope Pius IX also challenged the waging war of secular philosophies of the modern world by championing ultramontanism, which exalted the papacy by increasing the centralization of authority in Rome. (Coppa, 1795) This brings and sets the leadership of the Catholic Church directly to Rome.

Adolf Hitler, to some, was a great ruler, but to others he was a murderer. Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party and was the dictator of Germany. He ordered to have millions of Jews murdered or thrown in prisons.