Pope Pius XII's Presumed
by Sr. Margherita Marchione, M.P.F.
A review of the biography of John Paul II brought to light facts that will now oblige critics to rewrite the story of the presumed "silence" of Pius XII during the Holocaust. Salvatore Giannella explains the "silence" of Pius XII in Oggi (August 17, 2000), and credits Cardinal Adamo Stefan Sapieha, the Archbishop of Cracow during World War II, for having saved the life of Wojtyla, the future John Paul II, by burning the anti-Hitler encyclical sent to him by Pius XII. The Pope denounced the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime and asked Sapieha to have it published in Poland. But the Archbishop destroyed it in the presence of witnesses for fear of reprisals against the Polish Church.
Pius XII's "silence" with regard to the Nazis is simply not true. His scathing encyclical against Hitler's folly was burned by Sapieha, a prince and Polish prelate, who, in 1942, acted as though he had a divine mandate. To avoid reprisals, not only did he silence one pope, but he discovered another. He recognized the gifts of the young actor Karol Wojtyla, and his intuition saved Wojtyla from the Nazi raid against the Resistance. He also encouraged him to enter the underground seminary.
This is an unknown episode (See, I dilemmi e i silenzi di Pio XII by Giovanni Miccoli, published by Rizzoli). Referring to the behavior of Pius XII with regard to Nazi atrocities, Cardinal Ersilio Tonini of Ravenna explained: "They reproach Pius XII with an act of cowardice for his silence. But that is not the case. When he had to speak out, the Pope was not afraid. He condemned Hitler's invasion of Belgium, defining it a crime against every human and divine right. In Rome he ordered that the doors of all buildings belonging to the Vatican be opened for Jews and other political refugees. Jewish students were forbidden by Fascist law to continue their studies. The Pope arranged for the pontifical universities to accept them."
During World War II, when the Nazi persecution began in Poland, Pius XII was deeply concerned. One of his classmates, Monsignor Quirino Paganucci, was appointed Chaplain of the Supreme Military Order of Malta. His assignment was to accompany the trains that brought help directly to Poland. On one of these occasions, Pius XII asked him to bring a message to Archbishop Sapieha. The Pope intended to denounce the crimes that were being committed and wanted the Polish bishop's opinion. Archbishop Sapieha implored the Holy Father not to act. The Polish people would have to pay dearly in terms of reprisals.
Reporter Giannella found another testimonial regarding this episode in the writings of the well-known Church historian and priest, Rosario F. Esposito, author of the book, Processo al Vicario (Ed. Saie, Torino, 1965) and collaborator of the monthly magazine, Vita pastorale.
From his office at the Generalate of the Society of Saint Paul in the Portuense Quarter of Rome, Father Esposito confirmed his 1965 statements: Monsignor Quirino Paganuzzi was born in 1914 in Varsi, Diocese of Piacenza. He and Cardinal Ersilio Tonini were classmates. For years after ordination to the priesthood on April 18, 1937, Paganuzzi worked in the Office of the Papal Maestro di Camera. He was also the ambassador for secret missions to countries occupied by the Axis. On the afternoon of August 14, 1942, Father Joseph Kaul, who had been drafted by the Wehrmacht (the German Army), accompanied Monsignor Quirino Paganuzzi in a military car, from the station of Cracow to the Archbishopric, opposite the SS headquarters. In his Diary published in the1970s, four years before his death, and re-printed recently by 30 Giorni, Paganuzzi writes: "Six meters separated the two entrances. I experienced the agitation and violence of those inflexible men in front of the Archbishop's residence. The Reverend Kaul jumped out of the car with the typical naturalness of one of the leaders of the period, rang the doorbell that opened the door with difficulty. I don't know why, but of all that scene what attracted my attention was the entrance of the SS. With smiles, and pointing to the bottles of wine we were carrying, we tried to distract the attention of the guards on duty who scrutinized us with penetrating glances. I don't think the guards appreciated our familiarity . . . They were not aware that Pius XII's documents were camouflaged and packed with spaghetti labels inserted in bottles inserted in bottles labeled Chianti. As always, Archbishop Sapieha greeted us affectionately and particularly enjoyed the packaged Fiaschi."
What happened in those decisive moments coincides with the story by both Kaul and Paganuzzi. Kaul states: "Midst tears of joy the Archbishop read the Holy Father's handwriting. Then he broke the seal of the large package given to him by Monsignor Quirino and opened it. I saw that it was a printed encyclical in Polish, the work of Pius XII. The main topic of the encyclical and the title were: Ideological Differences and Opposition to National Socialism. The Cardinal began to read it. Suddenly he hit his head with his hand, dropped the sheet and exclaimed: 'For the love of God! It is absolutely impossible for me to share His Holiness' encyclical with my clergy, and much less can I communicate it to the people of Poland. It would be sufficient for only one copy to reach the hand of the SD (Sicherheits Dienst) and all our heads would fall. In this case, the Church in Poland would be lost. But doesn't the Holy Father know the terrible position we are in? This encyclical must be burned immediately.' And without thinking further, the entire package was thrown into the fire."
Monsignor Paganuzzi confirms this in writing with the following version: "Archbishop Sapieha opened the package, read several pages and commented in a very understanding manner. Then he opened the door of the stove in the wall, applied more wood to the fire, and threw the correspondence into the fire . . . Finally, when he noticed my astonishment, to justify his action, he said: 'Thank the Holy Father very much, dear Monsignor. No one is more grateful to the Holy Father for his interest than the Poles. It is not necessary for us to have an external demonstration of the love and interest of the Pope regarding our troubles, when that would only serve to increase our sufferings. This is precisely the case, Monsignor.'" "Your Excellency, have I been too bold, too irresponsible?" I asked. "That is not the case, dear Monsignor," Sapieha answered. "But don't you know that if I publicize these words or if they are found in this house by the Nazi Gauleiter Franck, all the heads of the Poles will not suffice as a reprisal? Come, come, Monsignor, it is better not to speak of this. Why, yes, the Jews! . . . But here they kill everyone. What is the purpose of saying what everyone knows? Naturally we know that the Pope is with us. But why speak about the sorrow and the condemnation of the Pope, if it serves only to augment our troubles?"
Thus the astonished Vatican prelate listened to Archbishop Sapieha describe the apocalyptic spectacle of the ghetto of Cracow: "Do you see, Monsignor Paganuzzi, what we have been reduced to? But the saddest fact is that we have to leave those unfortunate people without help, isolated by the entire world. They are people dying for whom even a word of comfort is lacking. In order not to abbreviate their days we cannot, we must not speak. We live the tragedy of those unfortunate people and no one more than the Poles would like to help them; no one is in such an impossible situation of trying to help the Jews. Between Jews and Poles there is no difference. The Nazis have taken from us our bread, our freedom. At least, let us keep our life . . . and, with life, the hope of seeing the end of our Calvary."
In this same period, the well-established information services of the SS in Cracow elaborated their list of intelligentsia to be decapitated, beginning with Wojtyla, who was to be captured in his underground house-theater at Number 10 Tyniecka Street. In the archives of the Stary theater in Cracow one can examine a map belonging to the Gestapo where the apartment is pointed out as a den of opposition leaders in which the name of Karol Wojtyla is listed. But the future Pope, responding to the invitation of Archbishop Sapieha, moved to the Archbishop's house with six other underground seminarians and remained there until the end of the war. He definitely consecrated himself to the Church. It is useless today to search for the text of that Polish encyclical in the Vatican; the archives relative to Pius XII will not be opened for some years to come.
Sister Margherita Marchione, Ph.D., the author of 30 books and 100 articles, received the Michael award from the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame in 1993. She is one of the world's leading scholars on the Holocaust and Pope Pius XII. Her books on this topic are in both English and Italian: Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy (1997), and Pius XII: Architect for Peace. Her last article in HPR appeared in April 2000.
© Homiletic & Pastoral Review / Ignatius Press
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