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Pope and Devil: The Vatican's Archives and the Third Reich
The Vatican’s dealings with the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich have long been swathed in myth and speculation. After almost seventy years, the crucial records for the years leading up to 1939 were finally opened to the public, revealing the bitter conflicts that raged behind the walls of the Holy See. Anti-Semites and philo-Semites, adroit diplomats and dogmatic fundamentalists, influential bishops and powerful cardinals argued passionately over the best way to contend with the intellectual and political currents of the modern liberalism, communism, fascism, and National Socialism. Hubert Wolf explains why a philo-Semitic association was dissolved even as anti-Semitism was condemned, how the Vatican concluded a concordat with the Third Reich in 1933, why Hitler’s Mein Kampf was never proscribed by the Church, and what factors surrounded the pope’s silence on the persecution of the Jews. In rich detail, Wolf presents astonishing findings from the recently opened Vatican archives—discoveries that clarify the relations between National Socialism and the Vatican. He illuminates the thinking of the popes, cardinals, and bishops who saw themselves in a historic struggle against evil. Never have the inner workings of the Vatican—its most important decisions and actions—been portrayed so fully and vividly.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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March 16, 2015
UPDATE 3/15/15 ...
Rarely have I been so angry about a book as I now am with this one. After earlier chapters with which I had no quarrel (praised below in my earlier comments) I have now read the chapter dealing with the Concordat signed by the German Reich and the Vatican in 1933. The following sequence of events seems not to be in controversy.
... The Vatican (Cardinal Pacelli) had been seeking a Reich Concordat for almost a decade before Hitler became Chancellor
... Pacelli had concluded there was no chance of reaching an agreement with the democratic parliament (Reichstag); only a dictator like Hitler could offer such a deal
... Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933
... Hitler failed, in elections held on March 5, 1933, to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass an Enabling Act which would make him an absolute dictator
... the Enabling Act thus required the votes of the Catholic Center Party to become law
... the Center Party, and the German bishops, had adamantly opposed the Nazis for years, including in the March 5 elections
... on March 23, 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, with all Center Party delegates voting for it, a stunningly sudden reversal of their earlier position
... a few days later, the German bishops reversed their long-standing admonitions against the Nazi Party. A Party whose principles had been judged completely incompatible with Catholicism was now viewed quite differently ... "Catholic Christians, for whom the opinion of their Church is sacred, need no particular admonition to be loyal to the legally constituted authorities, to fulfill their civic duties conscientiously, and to reject absolutely any illegal or revolutionary activity." ... in other words, it is now permissible for Catholics to be Nazis and to support the Nazi Party
... shortly thereafter, a Concordat was entered into between Germany and Rome
... a few months later, the Center Party was dissolved, leaving the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany
Wolf does not disagree with any of the above facts.
However, he asserts that Cardinal Pacelli was NOT involved in the Center Party's consent to the Enabling Act, or in the declaration by the bishops, or even with the idea of a Concordat.
Wolf asserts that all initiative for those fateful decisions came from the Center Party delegates or the German bishops. He supports this assertion by stating that there is no evidence in Church archives that the initiative for any of these events came from Rome.
Wolf is correct that there is no documentation so far released by the Vatican to implicate Pacelli in the actions of the Center delegates or the bishops.
There is voluminous evidence from other sources, however, that Pacelli was continually negotiating with Hitler regarding the proposed Concordat, through Prelate Kaas for sure and perhaps directly with Goering.
There is also considerable evidence that the last minute votes by the Center delegates, and the recanting of the German bishops' fierce admonitions against Nazism, were ordered by Pacelli and were carried out by obedient Catholics for whom the option to disobey Rome did not exist.
Wolf actually cites some of this evidence, before reaching his opposing and unsupported conclusion that Pacelli was not involved, which he bases solely on Pacelli's later, self-serving statements to that effect, which statements I believe are blatant lies.
Wolf's chapter is not history. It is apologetics, perhaps with the intent of trying to preserve a portion of the unsavory reputation of Pacelli, later Pius XII, who is even now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.
***
UPDATE 11/15/14 ...
I am reading the sections which raise the question of whether Pacelli undermined the Center Party and the German bishops in order to make a deal with Hitler which essentially traded the Enabling Act for the Reich Concordat. I have a question. Pacelli seems to have documented so much, but nothing on this particular topic. It occurs to me that the absence of evidence is in fact very much evidence in itself.
***
Prof. Wolf has done a sterling job of assembling details of the Catholic Church's attitudes and actions before and during the Nazi era. So far I have focused on the chapter regarding a group called Amici Israel (Friends of Israel), formed in 1926 and disbanded in a humiliating way by Pius XI in 1928.
Amici Israel was initiated by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich (and others) and grew in two years to include 1800 cardinals, bishops and priests. In 1928, they produced a document called Pax super Israel (Peace over Israel) which, among other things, recommended eliminating the pejorative word "perfidious" from the Good Friday liturgy. The Vatican's most respected liturgical scholar reviewed the recommendations contained in Pax super Israel and gave all of them his approval.
Then ... a Cardinal named Merry del Val, the head of the Holy Office of Inquisition, reviewed the document at the request of Pius XI and rendered an excoriating judgment.
Merry del Val wrote ...
*** "The entire attitude of this little book is decidedly positive toward the Jews with rather adverse imputations about the Church and its servants. It is as if the bride of Christ stood accused of negligence, or even worse of unjustified aversion toward the people which is called the Chosen."
*** the activities of the "so-called Friends of Israel" must be stopped once and for all
*** the reform of the Good Friday prayer is completely unacceptable and nonsensical, not even a matter for discussion
*** the liturgy aptly (and correctly) expresses "the abhorrence for the rebellion and treachery of the chosen, disloyal and deicidal Jewish people"
*** the Good Friday prayers are not about individual Jews; they are about stiff-necked jewish people burdened with the curse that they as a people (properly) bear for having spilled the blood of the holiest of the holy
The Holy Office of the Inquisition then rejected the reform of the Good Friday prayer and all the other Amici Israel recommendations with very little discussion, repeating Merry del Val's demand that Amici Israel be disbanded.
Pius XI very quietly issued a decree incorporating Merry del Val's recommendations and dissolving Amici Israel. He later asked his close associate Enrico Rosa, publisher of the more or less official journal of the Catholic Church called Civilta Cattolica, to write a public defense of his actions. Rosa wrote ...
*** the Church must protect against the appearance of friendship with the Jews, to which Amici Israel has fallen prey
*** the danger emanating from the Jews should never be underestimated
*** Jews have become presumptuous and powerful since their emancipation at the turn of the 19th c
*** Jews have come to dominate large portions of the world's economic life and to build up their hegemony in many sectors of public life
*** Jews have manipulated all revolutionary activity from the French Revolution of 1789 up to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
*** Jews are forging plans for world hegemony
LMW COMMENT:
THESE WORDS OF CARDINAL MERRY DEL VAL AND ENRICO ROSA, ENDORSED BY POPE PIUS XI, ARE OF COURSE PRECISELY THE SAME JEW-HATING MESSAGE OF HITLER AND THE NAZIS, ADOPTED WITH ENTHUSIASM BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 1928.
Amici Israel was a huge opportunity for the Catholic Church, upon the recommendation of high-ranking Cardinals and approval by its own foremost liturgical experts, to change the whole tone of antisemitism that had pervaded Catholic liturgy and sermons for centuries. This change, if adopted in 1928, would have sent a message to Germans and others that Hitler’s hysterical Jew-hatred was unacceptable to the Church, and perhaps there is every reason to speculate that Hitler would not have come to power in 1933.
The bishops of Germany, led by Cardinal Faulhaber, were pleading for support in their efforts to hold back the Nazi surge. The Vatican in Rome sent exactly the opposite message: Hitler’s Jew-hatred was fine with them.
In my view, Pius XI deserves to be condemned for this clear act of antisemitism and its awful consequences.
AFTER NOTE … The elimination of the word “perfidious” and all of the other changes recommended by Amici Israel, which had been rejected in 1928, were adopted by the Catholic Church in 1965 in the conclave known as Vatican II.
Rarely have I been so angry about a book as I now am with this one. After earlier chapters with which I had no quarrel (praised below in my earlier comments) I have now read the chapter dealing with the Concordat signed by the German Reich and the Vatican in 1933. The following sequence of events seems not to be in controversy.
... The Vatican (Cardinal Pacelli) had been seeking a Reich Concordat for almost a decade before Hitler became Chancellor
... Pacelli had concluded there was no chance of reaching an agreement with the democratic parliament (Reichstag); only a dictator like Hitler could offer such a deal
... Hitler was appointed Chancellor on January 30, 1933
... Hitler failed, in elections held on March 5, 1933, to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to pass an Enabling Act which would make him an absolute dictator
... the Enabling Act thus required the votes of the Catholic Center Party to become law
... the Center Party, and the German bishops, had adamantly opposed the Nazis for years, including in the March 5 elections
... on March 23, 1933, the Enabling Act was passed, with all Center Party delegates voting for it, a stunningly sudden reversal of their earlier position
... a few days later, the German bishops reversed their long-standing admonitions against the Nazi Party. A Party whose principles had been judged completely incompatible with Catholicism was now viewed quite differently ... "Catholic Christians, for whom the opinion of their Church is sacred, need no particular admonition to be loyal to the legally constituted authorities, to fulfill their civic duties conscientiously, and to reject absolutely any illegal or revolutionary activity." ... in other words, it is now permissible for Catholics to be Nazis and to support the Nazi Party
... shortly thereafter, a Concordat was entered into between Germany and Rome
... a few months later, the Center Party was dissolved, leaving the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany
Wolf does not disagree with any of the above facts.
However, he asserts that Cardinal Pacelli was NOT involved in the Center Party's consent to the Enabling Act, or in the declaration by the bishops, or even with the idea of a Concordat.
Wolf asserts that all initiative for those fateful decisions came from the Center Party delegates or the German bishops. He supports this assertion by stating that there is no evidence in Church archives that the initiative for any of these events came from Rome.
Wolf is correct that there is no documentation so far released by the Vatican to implicate Pacelli in the actions of the Center delegates or the bishops.
There is voluminous evidence from other sources, however, that Pacelli was continually negotiating with Hitler regarding the proposed Concordat, through Prelate Kaas for sure and perhaps directly with Goering.
There is also considerable evidence that the last minute votes by the Center delegates, and the recanting of the German bishops' fierce admonitions against Nazism, were ordered by Pacelli and were carried out by obedient Catholics for whom the option to disobey Rome did not exist.
Wolf actually cites some of this evidence, before reaching his opposing and unsupported conclusion that Pacelli was not involved, which he bases solely on Pacelli's later, self-serving statements to that effect, which statements I believe are blatant lies.
Wolf's chapter is not history. It is apologetics, perhaps with the intent of trying to preserve a portion of the unsavory reputation of Pacelli, later Pius XII, who is even now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.
***
UPDATE 11/15/14 ...
I am reading the sections which raise the question of whether Pacelli undermined the Center Party and the German bishops in order to make a deal with Hitler which essentially traded the Enabling Act for the Reich Concordat. I have a question. Pacelli seems to have documented so much, but nothing on this particular topic. It occurs to me that the absence of evidence is in fact very much evidence in itself.
***
Prof. Wolf has done a sterling job of assembling details of the Catholic Church's attitudes and actions before and during the Nazi era. So far I have focused on the chapter regarding a group called Amici Israel (Friends of Israel), formed in 1926 and disbanded in a humiliating way by Pius XI in 1928.
Amici Israel was initiated by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich (and others) and grew in two years to include 1800 cardinals, bishops and priests. In 1928, they produced a document called Pax super Israel (Peace over Israel) which, among other things, recommended eliminating the pejorative word "perfidious" from the Good Friday liturgy. The Vatican's most respected liturgical scholar reviewed the recommendations contained in Pax super Israel and gave all of them his approval.
Then ... a Cardinal named Merry del Val, the head of the Holy Office of Inquisition, reviewed the document at the request of Pius XI and rendered an excoriating judgment.
Merry del Val wrote ...
*** "The entire attitude of this little book is decidedly positive toward the Jews with rather adverse imputations about the Church and its servants. It is as if the bride of Christ stood accused of negligence, or even worse of unjustified aversion toward the people which is called the Chosen."
*** the activities of the "so-called Friends of Israel" must be stopped once and for all
*** the reform of the Good Friday prayer is completely unacceptable and nonsensical, not even a matter for discussion
*** the liturgy aptly (and correctly) expresses "the abhorrence for the rebellion and treachery of the chosen, disloyal and deicidal Jewish people"
*** the Good Friday prayers are not about individual Jews; they are about stiff-necked jewish people burdened with the curse that they as a people (properly) bear for having spilled the blood of the holiest of the holy
The Holy Office of the Inquisition then rejected the reform of the Good Friday prayer and all the other Amici Israel recommendations with very little discussion, repeating Merry del Val's demand that Amici Israel be disbanded.
Pius XI very quietly issued a decree incorporating Merry del Val's recommendations and dissolving Amici Israel. He later asked his close associate Enrico Rosa, publisher of the more or less official journal of the Catholic Church called Civilta Cattolica, to write a public defense of his actions. Rosa wrote ...
*** the Church must protect against the appearance of friendship with the Jews, to which Amici Israel has fallen prey
*** the danger emanating from the Jews should never be underestimated
*** Jews have become presumptuous and powerful since their emancipation at the turn of the 19th c
*** Jews have come to dominate large portions of the world's economic life and to build up their hegemony in many sectors of public life
*** Jews have manipulated all revolutionary activity from the French Revolution of 1789 up to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
*** Jews are forging plans for world hegemony
LMW COMMENT:
THESE WORDS OF CARDINAL MERRY DEL VAL AND ENRICO ROSA, ENDORSED BY POPE PIUS XI, ARE OF COURSE PRECISELY THE SAME JEW-HATING MESSAGE OF HITLER AND THE NAZIS, ADOPTED WITH ENTHUSIASM BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 1928.
Amici Israel was a huge opportunity for the Catholic Church, upon the recommendation of high-ranking Cardinals and approval by its own foremost liturgical experts, to change the whole tone of antisemitism that had pervaded Catholic liturgy and sermons for centuries. This change, if adopted in 1928, would have sent a message to Germans and others that Hitler’s hysterical Jew-hatred was unacceptable to the Church, and perhaps there is every reason to speculate that Hitler would not have come to power in 1933.
The bishops of Germany, led by Cardinal Faulhaber, were pleading for support in their efforts to hold back the Nazi surge. The Vatican in Rome sent exactly the opposite message: Hitler’s Jew-hatred was fine with them.
In my view, Pius XI deserves to be condemned for this clear act of antisemitism and its awful consequences.
AFTER NOTE … The elimination of the word “perfidious” and all of the other changes recommended by Amici Israel, which had been rejected in 1928, were adopted by the Catholic Church in 1965 in the conclave known as Vatican II.
August 11, 2022
Книгата е подарък от д-р Стоян Монев. Авторът е професор по църковна история към университета в Мюнстер и е преподавал на д-р Монев.
В началото на ХХI век са разсекретени архивни документи на Ватикана за периода преди Втората световна война. "Папата и дяволът" е базирана именно на тях, а основни действащи лица са Ахиле Рати (папа Пий XI) и неговият наследник Еудженио Пачели (папа Пий XII). Осъзнах, че абсолютно всички действия на "Светия престол" са подчинени на една основна цел - разпространение на католическата доктрина на всяка цена и борба срещу многобройни "врагове". Ватиканът вижда заплаха за абсолютната си духовна власт в твърде разнородни противници - модернизъм, социализъм, комунизъм, екуменизъм, секуларизъм и разбира се атеизъм. Еудженио Пачели дори многократно изразява недоволството си от женските спортни дисциплини, където облеклото е прекалено оскъдно.
През лятото на 1933 г. е сключен т.нар. Райхсконкордат, който на пръв поглед гарантира правата на католиците в Третия райх, но на практика премахва и последната пречка пред установяване на абсолютна власт в Германия. Дипломацията взима връх пред християнската догма. Ватиканът остава абсолютно сляп и глух за гоненията срещу евреи. Учудващо висшият католически клир създава списък от забранени книги, където попада "Митът на двадесети век" на нацисткия идеолог Алфред Розенберг, но не и "Моята борба". Ватиканът никога не се противопоставя открито на Хитлер и не изказва официална позиция в защита на многобройните му жертви. Дори един от малкото "дисиденти" в Германия - епископът на Мюнстер Клеменс фон Гален, е твърде избирателен в критиките си. През 1941 г. той изнася серия от проповеди срещу програмата за "евтаназия", позната като Т4. Но епископ фон Гален не реагира по никакъв начин на насилието срещу евреи, "Кристалната нощ" и Холокоста като цяло.
Нека завърша с последните две изречения от книгата - "Хитлер остава член на Католическата църква до деня на смъртта си. Също като папата, дори и дяволът може да бъде католик."
В началото на ХХI век са разсекретени архивни документи на Ватикана за периода преди Втората световна война. "Папата и дяволът" е базирана именно на тях, а основни действащи лица са Ахиле Рати (папа Пий XI) и неговият наследник Еудженио Пачели (папа Пий XII). Осъзнах, че абсолютно всички действия на "Светия престол" са подчинени на една основна цел - разпространение на католическата доктрина на всяка цена и борба срещу многобройни "врагове". Ватиканът вижда заплаха за абсолютната си духовна власт в твърде разнородни противници - модернизъм, социализъм, комунизъм, екуменизъм, секуларизъм и разбира се атеизъм. Еудженио Пачели дори многократно изразява недоволството си от женските спортни дисциплини, където облеклото е прекалено оскъдно.
През лятото на 1933 г. е сключен т.нар. Райхсконкордат, който на пръв поглед гарантира правата на католиците в Третия райх, но на практика премахва и последната пречка пред установяване на абсолютна власт в Германия. Дипломацията взима връх пред християнската догма. Ватиканът остава абсолютно сляп и глух за гоненията срещу евреи. Учудващо висшият католически клир създава списък от забранени книги, където попада "Митът на двадесети век" на нацисткия идеолог Алфред Розенберг, но не и "Моята борба". Ватиканът никога не се противопоставя открито на Хитлер и не изказва официална позиция в защита на многобройните му жертви. Дори един от малкото "дисиденти" в Германия - епископът на Мюнстер Клеменс фон Гален, е твърде избирателен в критиките си. През 1941 г. той изнася серия от проповеди срещу програмата за "евтаназия", позната като Т4. Но епископ фон Гален не реагира по никакъв начин на насилието срещу евреи, "Кристалната нощ" и Холокоста като цяло.
Нека завърша с последните две изречения от книгата - "Хитлер остава член на Католическата църква до деня на смъртта си. Също като папата, дори и дяволът може да бъде католик."
October 26, 2020
An interesting deep-dive into the Vatican Secret Archives to understand the inner workings of the highest levels of the Papacy leading upto and during WWII.
Certainly not a page turner. But I'm glad I read it.
Minus 1 star for what we lose in the translation from German to English. Some sentences were just hard to read. Also, I was disappointed how many Latin terms were left undefined. Sure this book is written for academics, but I would have preferred not having to Google the many unrecognizable Latin terms.
Minus 1 star because the author doesn't recognize the major body of works around the same topic. Someone else left a great review highlighting (almost sentence-by-sentence) the unacknowledged anti-Semitism and identifying areas where what might be contained in the Vatican Secret Archives might not reflect what actually happened.
Overall, not a great jumping off point for understanding this topic. Wouldn't recommend it for someone who's not a nerd about these things.
Certainly not a page turner. But I'm glad I read it.
Minus 1 star for what we lose in the translation from German to English. Some sentences were just hard to read. Also, I was disappointed how many Latin terms were left undefined. Sure this book is written for academics, but I would have preferred not having to Google the many unrecognizable Latin terms.
Minus 1 star because the author doesn't recognize the major body of works around the same topic. Someone else left a great review highlighting (almost sentence-by-sentence) the unacknowledged anti-Semitism and identifying areas where what might be contained in the Vatican Secret Archives might not reflect what actually happened.
Overall, not a great jumping off point for understanding this topic. Wouldn't recommend it for someone who's not a nerd about these things.
February 9, 2023
This book was published in 2008 and is based on the authors work on the Vatican archives available at that time. Of course an immense amount more is now available and an immense amount more research has been published based on the new information available but this book is still essential reading.
The role of the catholic church and popes Pius XI and XII during the inter war and war years is constantly being reassessed and reexamined. The passions around what was done and not done are 'heated' in polite terms 'vitriolic' in all honesty and perhaps 'poisonous' would be way to describe them. I have no admiration for much of what the church and the popes did during those years (but then I don't have much time for catholic church or popes at any time in history, including now) but if you are to condemn you must understand and you can only do that by looking at what was known and done at the time. It is marvellous fun to denounce with passion and vehemence but that is not history it is indulging in retrospective fireworks to make yourself feel moral and just. The problem is that to much of what has been written on the subject of the church, Popes and the relationship with the Nazis has been based on passionate knowledge. Books like this one provide the real information for justified anger.
Wolf goes into the archives and reveals the bitter conflicts raging in the Vatican and through the church between Philo- and anti-semites, adroit diplomats and dogmatic fundamentalists. Bishops and cardinal's argued passionately about the best way to contend with the intellectual and political currents of the modern age. Not even what was the main threats or important trends to be fought was not agreed over or even easily discerned. What the church thought important is not always what we imagine was important.
This book, and others, provide the reality of what people thought and fought about. Just because an examination of the archives reveals things different to simplistic cardboard devil figure of Pius XII doesn't mean he provides rehabilitation. Just because long cherished views of what he, or the church, did or didn't do are often challenged or demolished doesn't mean he white washes or provides comfort to those who try and excuse or expculpate the church or Pius. If anything the picture painted is more devastating because it is made up of a thousand little truths.
If you want simple stories of good and bad then avoid this or any other proper history book. But if you want to see and understand the real devastating ugly truth then read this book.
The role of the catholic church and popes Pius XI and XII during the inter war and war years is constantly being reassessed and reexamined. The passions around what was done and not done are 'heated' in polite terms 'vitriolic' in all honesty and perhaps 'poisonous' would be way to describe them. I have no admiration for much of what the church and the popes did during those years (but then I don't have much time for catholic church or popes at any time in history, including now) but if you are to condemn you must understand and you can only do that by looking at what was known and done at the time. It is marvellous fun to denounce with passion and vehemence but that is not history it is indulging in retrospective fireworks to make yourself feel moral and just. The problem is that to much of what has been written on the subject of the church, Popes and the relationship with the Nazis has been based on passionate knowledge. Books like this one provide the real information for justified anger.
Wolf goes into the archives and reveals the bitter conflicts raging in the Vatican and through the church between Philo- and anti-semites, adroit diplomats and dogmatic fundamentalists. Bishops and cardinal's argued passionately about the best way to contend with the intellectual and political currents of the modern age. Not even what was the main threats or important trends to be fought was not agreed over or even easily discerned. What the church thought important is not always what we imagine was important.
This book, and others, provide the reality of what people thought and fought about. Just because an examination of the archives reveals things different to simplistic cardboard devil figure of Pius XII doesn't mean he provides rehabilitation. Just because long cherished views of what he, or the church, did or didn't do are often challenged or demolished doesn't mean he white washes or provides comfort to those who try and excuse or expculpate the church or Pius. If anything the picture painted is more devastating because it is made up of a thousand little truths.
If you want simple stories of good and bad then avoid this or any other proper history book. But if you want to see and understand the real devastating ugly truth then read this book.
December 17, 2018
Fascinating account of the ins and outs of the Vatican leading up to WW2
December 6, 2025
Hubert Wolf’s Pope and the Devil is a deeply researched study of how the Vatican—especially under Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI, and through the actions of Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli (later Pius XII)—responded to the rise of totalitarian ideologies between the two world wars. Drawing on newly opened Vatican archives, Wolf reconstructs in detail the Church’s complex, often ambivalent engagement with Communism, Fascism, and particularly National Socialism.
Wolf shows that the Vatican’s primary concern in all diplomatic activity was the safeguarding of souls and the preservation of institutional freedom. Pius XI believed that the Church must sometimes negotiate even “with the devil” if it could protect the faithful from greater harm. This principle shaped the Vatican’s relationship with Germany during the turbulent Weimar years and the early Nazi period. Pacelli, as nuncio in Berlin and later as secretary of state, worked to defend Church interests, especially in the appointment of loyal bishops, the autonomy of seminaries, and the protection of Catholic education and associations. He viewed Communism as the greatest threat to Christian civilization, and this perception colored many of the Vatican’s political judgments.
Wolf highlights the early, explicit theological rejection of Nazi racism by many German bishops, who condemned the movement as incompatible with Christianity. Yet he also demonstrates how, after Hitler’s rise to power, Vatican diplomacy shifted toward cautious accommodation. The Reichskonkordat of 1933 stands at the center of this narrative. Seen in Rome as a necessary concession to preserve pastoral and institutional life under a hostile regime, it was simultaneously the Nazis’ first major international success and indirectly facilitated the dismantling of Catholic political parties in Germany.
A major theme of the book is the Vatican's struggle with anti-Semitism, both within the Church and in Nazi persecution. Wolf reveals that Pius XI and his advisors condemned racial anti-Semitism early and clearly, yet hesitated to alter traditional liturgical language or publicly confront antisemitic policies when doing so risked retaliation. The Vatican often left interventions to local bishops, whose responses varied. The dramatic Dutch episcopal protest of 1942—and its tragic consequence for Jewish converts like Edith Stein—reinforced the fear that public condemnations could worsen the situation.
Wolf also uncovers internal efforts within the Holy Office to draft a solemn papal condemnation of racism and National Socialist ideology, even debating whether Hitler’s Mein Kampf should be the basis of a formal syllabus of errors. Despite years of theological work, political considerations and diplomatic caution stalled the project. Although Pius XI issued the strong anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge in 1937, his more radical plans—an encyclical against racism and a major address condemning totalitarian falsifications of history—remained unpublished at his death.
In the final analysis, Wolf portrays a Vatican navigating between moral conviction and diplomatic necessity. The Church recognized the evil of Nazi ideology, yet often responded with caution, fearing reprisals that could endanger Catholics or worsen Jewish suffering. The result was a policy filled with contradictions: prophetic in some moments, silent or hesitant in others. Wolf’s book ultimately illuminates the painful complexity of confronting modern political evil with the limited tools of diplomatic and ecclesiastical power.
Wolf shows that the Vatican’s primary concern in all diplomatic activity was the safeguarding of souls and the preservation of institutional freedom. Pius XI believed that the Church must sometimes negotiate even “with the devil” if it could protect the faithful from greater harm. This principle shaped the Vatican’s relationship with Germany during the turbulent Weimar years and the early Nazi period. Pacelli, as nuncio in Berlin and later as secretary of state, worked to defend Church interests, especially in the appointment of loyal bishops, the autonomy of seminaries, and the protection of Catholic education and associations. He viewed Communism as the greatest threat to Christian civilization, and this perception colored many of the Vatican’s political judgments.
Wolf highlights the early, explicit theological rejection of Nazi racism by many German bishops, who condemned the movement as incompatible with Christianity. Yet he also demonstrates how, after Hitler’s rise to power, Vatican diplomacy shifted toward cautious accommodation. The Reichskonkordat of 1933 stands at the center of this narrative. Seen in Rome as a necessary concession to preserve pastoral and institutional life under a hostile regime, it was simultaneously the Nazis’ first major international success and indirectly facilitated the dismantling of Catholic political parties in Germany.
A major theme of the book is the Vatican's struggle with anti-Semitism, both within the Church and in Nazi persecution. Wolf reveals that Pius XI and his advisors condemned racial anti-Semitism early and clearly, yet hesitated to alter traditional liturgical language or publicly confront antisemitic policies when doing so risked retaliation. The Vatican often left interventions to local bishops, whose responses varied. The dramatic Dutch episcopal protest of 1942—and its tragic consequence for Jewish converts like Edith Stein—reinforced the fear that public condemnations could worsen the situation.
Wolf also uncovers internal efforts within the Holy Office to draft a solemn papal condemnation of racism and National Socialist ideology, even debating whether Hitler’s Mein Kampf should be the basis of a formal syllabus of errors. Despite years of theological work, political considerations and diplomatic caution stalled the project. Although Pius XI issued the strong anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge in 1937, his more radical plans—an encyclical against racism and a major address condemning totalitarian falsifications of history—remained unpublished at his death.
In the final analysis, Wolf portrays a Vatican navigating between moral conviction and diplomatic necessity. The Church recognized the evil of Nazi ideology, yet often responded with caution, fearing reprisals that could endanger Catholics or worsen Jewish suffering. The result was a policy filled with contradictions: prophetic in some moments, silent or hesitant in others. Wolf’s book ultimately illuminates the painful complexity of confronting modern political evil with the limited tools of diplomatic and ecclesiastical power.
September 4, 2018
Pope and Devil looks at the controversial pontificates of Pius XI and Pius XII through newly released Vatican documents from the former's time in power. Wolf does nothing to radically change the traditional perception of either pope. However, he does include some interesting insights that provide a more nuanced perspective. I knew little about either pope prior to reading this work, so I feel inadequate to judge the effectiveness of Wolf's analysis (though most of his claims seem persuasive to me). Nevertheless, I will say that the organization of this book is often difficult to follow. Wolf uses a topical approach to organizing each chapter and then orders the chapters more or less chronologically. However, he frequently jumps around in time during each chapter and rarely makes it clear when he is doing so. In addition, it would have been nice for each chapter (which are all around 50 pages) to include a proper summary, so the reader could have an idea of why the information just presented was relevant. Wolf does include some summary analysis at the ends of a couple chapters, but he just abruptly ends the others. Likewise, this book could really use a conclusion. It simply ends with the final page of the fifth chapter, rather than providing anything to tie the disparate chapters together.
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November 8, 2010Survey of primary documents released from the Vatican Secret Archives by Pope BXVI in 2005-6, concerning mainly the Curia's ambassador to Germany in the 20s, who went on to become both the Secretary of State in the 30s and Pope in the 40s.
Wolf illustrates and records in fine detail the correspondence of letters between Rome and Vienna, the collaboration of German bishops with opposition parties (both Marxist and nationalist), various factions fighting to protect Jewish citizens, Rome's support for the constitutional change which ushered in the Furher's absolute rule, the Reichskoncordant (sp?) which in many eyes legitimated the Nazi party, banning various books (but not Mein Kampf), etc., etc.
Doesn't so much construct an argument for or against Pius XI ("Hitler's Pope," some say), or for or against Curial positions, as demonstrate precisely how and why people did what they did.
Wolf illustrates and records in fine detail the correspondence of letters between Rome and Vienna, the collaboration of German bishops with opposition parties (both Marxist and nationalist), various factions fighting to protect Jewish citizens, Rome's support for the constitutional change which ushered in the Furher's absolute rule, the Reichskoncordant (sp?) which in many eyes legitimated the Nazi party, banning various books (but not Mein Kampf), etc., etc.
Doesn't so much construct an argument for or against Pius XI ("Hitler's Pope," some say), or for or against Curial positions, as demonstrate precisely how and why people did what they did.
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August 22, 2011What did Germans see in Adolf Hitler? It is difficult for people of our era to see the appeal of history’s most infamous murderer. Charisma often does not travel over time and space. Another case of incomprehensible charisma is Hitler’s contemporary, Pope Pius XII, originally Eugenio Pacelli, an Italian nobleman who became an Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in 1917 and pope in 1939. Read more...
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August 7, 2011Wooden translation - from the original German - sadly mars the saga of the Vatican's relations with Nazi Germany. Wolf traces the recent history of Catholic anti-semitism with a forensic eye but is too much of an apologist for my taste. An interesting, but not crucial, addition to the ongoing debate.
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August 27, 2013See the review at http://academia.co.in/reviews/?p=18
The book is complete with a ten page chronology of this period which is very useful even to those who are familiar with the dates and events of this period.
The book is complete with a ten page chronology of this period which is very useful even to those who are familiar with the dates and events of this period.
August 20, 2012
Μελέτη πάνω στα αρχεία του Βατικανού για τη σχέση Γ΄Ράιχ και Βατικανού. Πολύ σημαντικό βιβλίο, καλογραμμένο και τεκμηριωμένο, από έναν σημαντικό σύγχρονο ιστορικό.
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