Pope Pius XII Versus Henri de Lubac: What is Supernatural?

Pope Pius XII and Nazi Germany

Inside the Vatican News March 4 2003:

Exclusive: New Letter Shows Pius XII Opposed Hitler

by Antonio Gaspari

An extraordinary letter has emerged from the Vatican archives. The letter,

written in 1923 by the future Pius XII, proves his opposition to Nazi

anti-Semitism. The complete text in world exclusive

Vatican City, March 4, 2003 -- Inside the Vatican has just obtained a copy

of an extraordinary letter written by Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius

XII). It was discovered in the last few days in the Vatican archives by one

of the historians working there since the archives for this period

(1922-1939) were opened in mid-February.

The letter is dated November 14, 1923, and was written by Eugenio Pacelli,

at that time the Holy See's nuncio (ambassador) in Bavaria (southern

Germany), to Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Vatican Secretary of State under Pope

Pius XI (1922-1939).

The letter refers to Adolf Hitler's failed attempt to take over the local

government in Munich in the National Socialist Party's "putsch" of November

9, 1923 -- just five days before the day this letter was written.

In his letter, Pacelli -- contrary to the allegations of a number of recent

authors like John Cornwell (author of "Hitler's Pope") on the relations

between Pius XII and the Nazis -- denounces the National Socialist movement

as an anti-Catholic threat and at the same time notes that the cardinal of

Munich had already condemned acts of persecution against Bavaria's Jews.

Therefore, this letter is previously unpublished proof that Pacelli was in

opposition to Nazism, seen both as anti-Catholic and as anti-Semitic,

already in 1923 -- 10 years before Hitler came to power, and 16 years

before Pacelli was elected Pope Pius XII.

The letter thus is important evidence against the charge of Cornwell and

others that Pius XII was in some way sympathetic to the Nazi regime.

Here below we publish the Italian original and our own English translation

of the text of the letter -- the first time ever that this text has been

published.

We will include this material in the March edition of Inside the Vatican

along with other new material which has recently emerged from the archives,

which were opened February 15 for scholarly research.

(Here is the original Italian text of the letter, which bears protocol number

28961 and is dated November 14, 1923, and which deals with the anti-Catholic

nature of the nationalist movement in Munich.)

Eugenio Pacelli writes to Cardinal Pietro Gasparri:

"I particolari della sommossa nazionalista, che ha turbato nei giorni scorsi

la città di Monaco (cfr. cifrati NN. 443, 444 e 445), sono ormai noti

all'Eminenza Vostra Reverendissima dalla stampa italiana; non ho quindi

bisogno di ripeterli in questo rispettoso Rapporto. Sopra un punto tuttavia,

cui allusi già nel cifrato N.444, credo opportuno di comunicare all'Eminenza

Vostra, qualche ulteriore dettaglio, vale a dire sulle manifestazioni di

carattere anticattolico, le quali hanno accompagnato la sommossa stessa, ma

che non hanno sorpreso chi aveva seguito le pubblicazioni degli organi dei

radicali di destra, come il Volkischer Beobachter e l'Heimatland.

"Tale carattere si è rivelato soprattutto nelle sistematiche eccitazioni

contro il clero cattolico, con cui i seguaci di Hitler e di Ludendorff,

massime nei discorsi nelle pubbliche strade, aizzavano la popolazione,

esponendo così gli ecclesiastici ad insulti e dileggi. I loro attacchi

avevano tuttavia in modo speciale di mira questo dotto e zelante Cardinale

Arcivescovo, in quale, in una predica da lui pronunciata nel Duomo il 4

corrente e nella sua lettera al sig. Cancelliere del Reich pubblicata

dall'Agenzia Wolff il giorno 7 s.m. aveva riprovato le persecuzioni contro

gli ebrei.

"A ciò si aggiunge l'infondata ed assurda voce sparsa, probabilmente ad

arte, nella città che accusava l'Eminentissima di aver egli fatto cambiar di

opinione il Sig. von Kahr, il quale, com'è noto mentre sul principio nel

Burgerbraukeller aveva apparentemente, per sottrarsi alla violenza, aderito

al colpo di Stato Hitler-Ludendorff, si era poi dichiarato contro di esso.

Così avvenne che, durante i torbidi del pomeriggio di Sabato scorso, un

numeroso gruppo di dimostranti si portò dinanzi al palazzo arcivescovile,

gridando "Nieder mit dem Kardinal!" (Abbasso il Cardinale!).

"L'Eminentissimo trovavasi fortunatamente assente da Monaco, essendo partito

in quel giorno per recarsi a consacrare una nuova chiesa in una località

presso Mühldorf; ma, quando la sera seguente tornò col suo automobile, fu

fatto parimenti segno ad una dimostrazione ostile.

Questi sentimenti anticattolici si manifestarono altresì nelle tumultuose

riunioni degli studenti, che ebbero luogo ieri l'altro, nella Università ed

a cui si mescolarono pure torbidi elementi estranei alla medesima (ed anzi

alla stessa Baviera), obbligando alla fine il Rettore a chiuderla fino a

nuovo ordine. Anche in detto Ateneo, oggetto in questi ultimi tempi

ripetutamente della caritatevole sollecitudine e generosità del Santo padre

a favore degli studenti, si schiamazzò contro il Papa, contro l'Emo

Arcivescovo, contro la Chiesa cattolica, contro il clero, contro il sig. von

Kahr, il quale sebbene protestante, venne da uno degli oratori designato

come membro d'onore della Compagnia di Gesù ('Ehrenmitglied der Jesuiten)."

Here is an English translation of the text:

"The facts about the nationalist uprising, which in recent days has

disturbed the city of Munich (see dispatches No. 443, 444 and 445) are

already known to your most reverend eminence from the Italian press; I

therefore do not need to repeat them in this respectful report. Still, upon

one point, which I alluded to already in dispatch No. 444, I believe it

opportune to communicate to Your Eminence some further details, that is,

regarding the demonstrations of an anti-Catholic character which accompanied

the uprising itself, but which have not surprised those who have followed

the publications of the papers of the right-wing radicals, like the

Volkischer Beobachter (Folkish Observer) and Heimatland (Homeland).

"This character was revealed above all in the systematic attacks on the

Catholic clergy with which the followers of Hitler and Ludendorff,

especially in street speeches, stirred up the population, thus exposing the

ecclesiastics to insults and abuse.

"The attacks were especially focused on this learned and zealous Cardinal

Archbishop, who, in a sermon he gave in the Duomo on the 4th of this month

and in a letter of his to the Chancellor of the Reich published by the Wolff

Agency on the 7th, had denounced the persecutions against the Jews.

"To this was added the unfounded and absurd rumor in the city, probably

spread intentionally, that accused the cardinal of having changed von Kahr's

mind, who, as is known, while at the beginning in the Bürgerbraukeller (beer

hall) had apparently, to avoid violence, adhered to the Hitler-Ludendorff

coup d'etat, later came out against it.

"Thus is was that, during the confusing events of last Saturday, a numerous

group of demonstrators gathered in front of the front door of the bishop's

residence, shouting "Down with the Cardinal!" ("Nieder mit dem Kardinal!")

"His Eminence was by good fortune absent from Munich, having left that day

to consecrate a new church in a town near Müldorf; but, when he returned in

his car the following evening, he was greeted by a similar hostile

demonstration. These anti-Catholic sentiments also manifested themselves in

chaotic student gatherings, the day before yesterday, in the University,

which were attended by people who did not attend the university (and were

not even from Bavaria) obliging the Rector in the end to close the

university until further notice. Also in the university, object recently of

repeated acts of the charitable solicitude and generosity of the Holy Father

on behalf of the students, there were denunciations of the Pope, of the

Archbishop, of the Catholic Church, of the clergy, of von Kahr, who, even

though he is a Protestant, was characterized by one of the orators as an

honorary member of the Society of Jesus (Ehrenmitglied der Jesuiten)."

Historical Background Note:

On 8th November, 1923, the Bavarian government

held a meeting of about 3,000 officials. While Gustav von Kahr, the prime

minister of Bavaria was making a speech, Adolf Hitler and armed

stormtroopers entering the building. Hitler jumped onto a table, fired two

shots in the air and told the audience that the Munich Putsch was taking

place and the National Revolution had began.

Leaving Hermann Goering and the SA to guard the 3,000 officials, Hitler took

Gustav von Kahr, Otto von Lossow, the commander of the Bavarian Army and

Hans von Lossow, the commandant of the Bavarian State Police into an

adjoining room. Hitler told the men that he was to be the new leader of

Germany and offered them posts in his new government.

Aware that this would be an act of treason, the three men were initially

reluctant to agree to this offer. Adolf Hitler reportedly was furious and

threatened to shoot them and then commit suicide: "I have three bullets for

you, gentlemen, and one for me!" After this the three men agreed.

Soon afterwards Eric Ludendorff arrived. Ludendorff had been leader of the

German Army at the end of the First World War. He had therefore found

Hitler's claim that the war had not been lost by the army but by Jews,

Socialists, Communists and the German government, attractive, and was a

strong supporter of the Nazi Party. Ludendorff agreed to become head of the

the German Army in Hitler's government.

While Adolf Hitler had been appointing government ministers, Ernst Roehm,

leading a group of stormtroopers, had seized the War Ministry and Rudolf

Hess was arranging the arrest of Jews and left-wing political leaders in

Bavaria. Adolf Hitler now planned to march on Berlin and remove the national

government. Surprisingly, Hitler had not arranged for the stormtroopers to

take control of the radio stations and the telegraph offices. This meant

that the national government in Berlin soon heard about Hitler's putsch and

gave orders for it to be crushed.

The next day Adolf Hitler, Eric Ludendorff, Hermann Goering and 3,000 armed

supporters of the Nazi Party marched through Munich in an attempt to join up

with Roehm's forces at the War Ministry. At Odensplatz they found the road

blocked by the Munich police. As they refused to stop, the police fired into

the ground in front of the marchers. The stormtroopers returned the fire and

during the next few minutes 21 people were killed and another hundred were

wounded, included Goering.

When the firing started, Adolf Hitler threw himself to the ground

dislocating his shoulder, then ran to a nearby car. Although the police were

outnumbered, the Nazis followed their leader's example and ran away. Only

Eric Ludendorff and his adjutant continued walking towards the police.

Later Nazi historians were to claim that the reason Hitler left the scene so

quickly was because he had to rush an injured young boy to the local

hospital.

After hiding in a friend's house for several days, Hitler was arrested and

put on trial for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. If found guilty, Hitler

faced the death penalty. However, it soon became clear that the Nazi

sympathizers in the Bavarian government were going to make sure Hitler would

not be punished severely. At his trial Adolf Hitler was allowed to turn the

proceedings into a political rally, and although he was found guilty he only

received the minimum sentence of five years. Other members of the Nazi Party

also received light sentences and Eric Ludendorff was acquitted.

Other texts:

(1) In 1923 Ernst Hanfstaengel took part in the Beer Hall Putsch. He wrote

about the experience in his book, "Hitler: The Missing Years" (1957):

"Kahr was sending us off to sleep. He had just said the words 'and now I

come to the consideration' which, for all I know, was to be the high spot of

his speech, when the door behind us which we had come through flew open and

in burst Goering with about twenty-five brownshirts with pistols and

machine-guns. Hitler began to plough his way towards the platform and the

rest of us surged forward behind him. Tables overturned with their jugs of

beer. On the way we passed a major named Mucksel, one of the heads of the

intelligence section at Army headquarters, who started to draw his pistol as

soon as he saw Hitler approach, but the bodyguard had covered him with

theirs and there was no shooting. Hitler clambered on a chair and fired a

round at the ceiling. It is always maintained that he did this to terrify

the gathering into submission, but I swear he did it to wake people up.

Anyway, on home ground at last, Hitler barked an impromptu proclamation:

'The national revolution has broken out! The Reichswehr is with us.

Our flag is flying on their barracks.'"

(2) Adolf Hitler, speech made at the Burgerbraukeller (8th November, 1923):

"The Bavarian Ministry is removed. I propose that a Bavarian government

shall be formed consisting of a Regent and a Prime Minister invested with

dictatorial powers. I propose Herr von Kahr as Regent and Herr Pohner as

Prime Minister. The government of the November Criminals and the Reich

President are declared to be removed. I propose that, until accounts have

been finally settled with the November criminals, the direction of policy in

the national Government be taken over by me. Ludendorff will take over the

leadership of the German National Army, Lossow will be German Reichswehr

Minister, Seisser Reich Police Minister."

* * * * * *

(An article based on a piece by Carlo Cavicchioli in the FAMIGLIA CRISTIANA)

At the beginning of 1940 Pope Pius XII participated in a plot to overthrow Hitler. Such was the startling revelation of Owen Chadwick, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University in a book entitled: Britain and the Vatican during the Second World War dedicated to an analysis of the relations between Britain and the Vatican during the period of the war.

At the beginning of 1940 Pope Pius XII was

contacted indirectly by a group of German officers

who were disposed to overthrow Hitler under the

condition that the allies would guarantee an

honorable peace. The Pope immediately informed

Sir Osborne, but his government in London

expressed its disinterest in the plan.

Professor Chadwick drew from various archives up

until then unexplored; but especially he based

himself on the diaries and the private and public

documents of an exceptional eye-witness, the

wartime British Delegate to the Holy See, Sir D'Arcy

Godolphin Osborne, who had the opportunity to

deal with and observe the Pontiff and the Vatican on

a day to day bases during that period and who in

fact was confined within the walls of the Vatican

from the summer of 1940 until the summer of 1944,

first under the surveillance of the fascists and then

under that of the Nazis.

Pope Pius XII, according to the papers of Osborne,

was involved, at the beginning of the war, in a plot

against Hitler, making himself a spokesman of the

conspirators. It was in the first months of 1940.

German Officers, led by a Colonel Oster, had

planned to overthrow the Fuhrer and put an end to

the conflict with a negotiated settlement. They

needed, however, to inform the British Government

in order to have certain assurances. Moreover they

hoped that Pius XII would in some manner

constitute himself a guarantor of the accords which

would be stipulated.

Their ambassador, a Bavarian lawyer, Joseph

Muller, contacted at Rome Monsignor Kass, the

Center Party's old leader, now in exile in Italy. Kass

directed them to the private secretary of the Pope,

Father Leiber. This Jesuit listened to him, took

notes and immediately informed the Holy Father.

Pius XII reflected on the proposal for a whole day,

and then, to the amazement of Father Leiber,

resolutely gave his assent to the plan, specifying

that the overthrow should be bloodless.

In the plan, the Pope's part was to obtain from

London honorable terms of peace to be negotiated

with the future Government of Berlin. The Pope,

therefore, summoned Sir Osborne to a private

audience, the first in a series. In the diaries of the

English diplomat, on the date of January 12. One

reads: "I saw the Pope at eleven and we spoke for a

half an hour. He was in great form. He gave me a

message for Lord Halifax, enjoining me to secrecy".

The documents of Osborne to the Foreign Office

furnish concerning that discussion, as likewise the

succeeding ones, a more complete record.

The Pope, it establishes, had communicated to him

about having received a visit from a representative

of certain leaders of the German Army. Of these he

knew the names, but preferred not to reveal them.

Their message was that a violent offensive in the

west was being prepared for February, through

Holland, but that they would prevent it, deposing

Hitler, if they might have from London the

guarantee of a dignified peace, "not on the model of

Versailles".

Osborne found the plan "desperately vague".

"Perhaps", responded the Pope, "it is not worth

proceeding further, and therefore you may consider

my communication as never having happened."

The diplomat, however, refused. "I do not wish, he

said, to assume the responsibility of Your

Holiness's conscience".

The plot, for which Great Britain had showed little

interest, was then dropped by the military leaders

themselves. Later Pius XII confided to Osborne that

he had assumed that part because he did not wish

to lose the possibility, however small, of saving

many human lives. A surprising thing about this

whole affair was that the Pope never breathed a

word concerning this either to Cardinal Maglione,

the Secretary of State or to his two assistants,

Montini, the future Pope Paul VI and Tardini.

The former Prime Minister of Italy, Giuglio

Andreotti, was able to corroborate the broad

outlines of this account, by Vatican documents

which had nevertheless discretely concealed the

names of people who might have, at that time, been

in danger on account of participation in this plot

against the German State.

In 1987 the startling facts revealed in Chadwick's

book were making headlines in European papers,

but were practically ignored in the American press.

During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope Paul VI said of Pope Pius XII:

"To remember him, is piety;

to thank him, is justice".

Links: Rabbi David Dalin

It is troubling that authors like Cornwell and Hochhuth, a former member of the Hitler Youth, can, with the help of the media, so easily succeed in damaging a man's well earned reputation.