A Cross Too Heavy: Eugenio Pacelli, Politics and the Jews of Europe 1917-1943 - Paul O'Shea

The papacy of Pius XII (1939-1958) has been a source of near-constant criticism and debate since his death half a century ago.

Powerful myths have been created about him, and central to them is the dispute surrounding his alleged silence during the years of the Holocaust. By examining the little studied pre-papal life of Eugenio Pacelli much can be found to help understand the policies, actions and statements of Pius XII during the war. When examining the Church's reaction to the Holocaust, it is imperative to place it within the contexts of Christian Judeophobia, modernity and the many intersections between the two. Pius XII was not an antisemitic villain; nor a lamb without stain.

The opening of the Vatican's German archives up to 1939 helped Paul O'Shea add detail and nuance to his analysis of this continuing historical dispute. His methodology depends upon contextual interpretation of documents and material from many sources over Pacelli's entire professional religious life up to 1943.

This has led him to the conclusion that Pius XII did, in fact, act in a consistent manner towards the persecuted Jews of Europe, and did so from the advent of National Socialism in the 1920s. Pacelli's behaviour during the war confirms his concerns and his essential consistency, but also reveals the tragic flaw that relegated the Jews to be 'lesser victims. His failure points to the moral crisis within many parts of the fractured Christian Commonwealth, as well as the personal culpability of Pacelli, the man and pope.

Paul O'Shea is an Australian historian and educator whose research has focused on Pope Pius XII and Catholic responses to the Holocaust. A founding member of the Australian Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, he lives in Sydney and is the Senior Religious Education Coordinator at St Patrick's College, Strathfield.

Rosenberg Publishing 2008, paperback