George Weigel writes about a story I have seen recently making the rounds of St. Blogs.
Serious scholars have long suspected that the origins of that campaign lie in the anti-Catholic machinations of the KGB, the Soviet intelligence service. Confirmation of that thesis now comes from General Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former Romanian intelligence officer and the highest-ranking Soviet bloc spymaster ever to defect, in an article posted on National Review Online on January 26.
According to General Pacepa, the Soviets, stung by the public relations bludgeoning they had taken because of the persecution of Catholics in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and elsewhere decided to accelerate the anti-Catholic propaganda offensive they had launched toward the end of World War II by depicting the Church as a bulwark of Nazism. Pius XII was the primary target — because, as the KGB liked to say, “Dead men cannot defend themselves.” So the KGB concocted a scheme whereby its Romanian ally would penetrate the Vatican archives, using agents disguised as priests; certain Vatican officials, it seems, took the bait, assured by Romanian operatives that cooperation would lead to official Holy See-Romanian diplomatic relations. No documents incriminating Pius XII were found, but the plot now shifted. In 1963, a senior Soviet intelligence official told his Romanian colleagues that the centerpiece of the anti-Catholic offensive would now be a play defaming Pius XII, The Deputy. Its author, Rolf Hochhuth, was a former Hitler Youth turned communist fellow-traveler; the play was produced by a lifelong communist. The results — for The Deputy was the Pearl Harbor of the Pius War — vindicated KGB chairman Yuri Andropov’s conviction that the gullible find smut easier to believe than holiness.
Don’t bet the mortgage money that this new evidence will appear in the New York Times anytime soon.
6 comments
Wasn’t there a GOOD book defending Pius XII? I tried to read a popular book on this subject but it was rough-going, especially since the author seemed suspicious of Pius, I had no real knowledge of that pope, and I’m so accustomed to the informal writing style of V2 popes that Pius XII’s was almost incomprehensible to me.
Joanne,
There are plenty of good books on the subject. Most recently Rabbi David G. Dalin�s “The Myth of Hitler�s Pope”, Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII And the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis by Ronald Rychlak. Sister Margherita Marchione has also written many fine books in defense of Pope Pius XII.
I would suggest “Hitler, the War, and the Pope” by Ronald J Rychlak.
There is an interveiw with him at http://home.olemiss.edu/~rrychlak/zenit_interview/outsideframe.htm
The NYT won’t report this because its irrelevant. The serious critisms of Pius XII are not based on KGB nonsense, but on British Diplomatic files, US army CIC files, FBI documentation, and Pius XII’s actions. The KGB stuff is unimportant because nobody, outside of The Deputy clowns, used it.
If the KGB couldn’t find incriminating files on Pius XII, it couldn’t have been trying very hard, because Yugoslav intelligence had compromised the Ustashi, and thus knew of Pius XII’s bad behavior in the late 40s.
KGB Smeared Pope Pius XII
Tag:No TagsPope Pius XII is probably the most maligned of the Catholic popes. This pope has been given several insulting monickers, among which are, The Deputy and Hitler’s Pope.
Now finally the truth has been revealed and we know that the KGB wa…
Hoodlum, since I doubt you’ve researched the primary documents yourself, would you be so kind as to provide a source for these “new” accusations against Pius XII? Given the communist influence in Yugoslavia, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were tainted by same problem as the original libel against Pius XII.
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