a picture worth 0 words

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 23, 2009

You’ve probably seen the picture hundreds of times. On the cover of John Cornwell’s book, Hitler’s Pope, the photo seems to show Pope Pius XII in full regalia. We are led to believe that he is leaving Hitler’s headquarters, and the uniformed men flanking him are Nazi soldiers. The overall impression is indeed damaging.

The Hermeneutic of Continuity blog has thoroughly fisked that photo. It turns out:

• The picture was taken in 1927—long before the Nazis took power. The soldiers are troops of the Weimar Republic.
• The man in the center of the picture is indeed future Pope Pius XII. But at the time he was not Pope, nor the Vatican Secretary of State (which he would later be), nor even a cardinal; he was Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli, the papal nuncio in Germany.
• Archbishop Pacelli was visiting German President Hindenburg, not Hitler (who would not come to power for 6 more years). That’s something papal nuncios do; they visit heads of state. But in fact this was not a formal visit but a social event: a birthday party.
• The man saluting the archbishop is not a soldier, but his chauffeur.
• So how does this photo show that Pope Pius XII was “Hitler’s Pope?” It doesn’t.

Which is probably just as well, because the author of the book, John Cornwell himself, has conceded after further research that the description of Pius XII as a Nazi sympathizer is inaccurate. Possibly as inaccurate as the impression created by that famous photo. But probably not.