Scholars and Jewish voices revisit the legacy of Pius XII, exposing myths and highlighting his aid to Jews during WWII.
Newsroom (03/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) “No serious historian could speak of ‘Hitler’s pope.’” With those firm words, Emilio Artiglieri, president of the Pope Pacelli Committee–Pius XII Association, pushes back against a decades-old narrative that continues to shadow one of the most studied pontiffs of the twentieth century. As the 150th anniversary of Eugenio Pacelli’s birth—later Pope Pius XII—is marked this March, renewed scrutiny of his wartime actions collides once more with media portrayals and long-standing myths.
Born in Rome on March 2, 1876, Pius XII led the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958, years marked by global conflict, moral upheaval, and world reconstruction. His pontificate remains one of the most thoroughly documented and hotly debated in modern Church history. Yet, according to Artiglieri, the weight of academic evidence stands clearly against the defamatory image of the “silent pope” that has been popularized by pop culture and superficial commentary.
Science Versus Propaganda
In a recent interview with journalist Edward Pentin, Artiglieri defined the current debate as a struggle between scholarship and propaganda. For decades, serious historians have dismantled the “black legend” surrounding Pius XII with archival evidence. As early as the 1960s, under Pope Paul VI, Jesuit historians Pierre Blet, Angelo Martini, Burkhart Schneider, and Robert A. Graham published the monumental Actes et Documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, granting unprecedented access to primary Vatican sources.
More recently, Pope Francis’ decision to open the Vatican archives from the Pacelli era has added new depth to the research. Scholars such as Johan Ickx (Pius XII and the Jews), Matteo Luigi Napolitano (The Century of Pius XII), and Pier Luigi Guiducci (Pius XII and the Shoah: What Silences?) have drawn heavily from these sources. Their findings are unequivocal, Artiglieri stresses: “In light of the extensive documentation available, no historian could seriously speak of ‘Hitler’s pope.’”
The real challenge, he explains, lies in public perception. “Traces of the defamation campaign remain in the collective consciousness,” Artiglieri warns, “and it is precisely on this cultural level that we must act to restore shared historical truth.”
The Netflix “Nuremberg” Controversy
That cultural battle has flared again with the release of Nuremberg, the new Netflix film by James Vanderbilt, which portrays Pius XII as evasive and sympathetic to Nazism. Artiglieri calls it “a new media offensive,” noting that its historical claims crumble under scrutiny. Professor Napolitano, writing in L’Osservatore Romano on January 12, dissected the film’s narrative, refuting, among other points, its invention of a meeting between the pontiff and American prosecutor Robert H. Jackson.
The documented truth, Artiglieri points out, is almost the exact opposite. The Vatican, at the request of the Nuremberg judges, supplied the Tribunal with confidential materials concerning Vatican policies before and during World War II—files Jackson himself described as “of extreme importance.” So fully did the Holy See cooperate, Artiglieri notes, that Nazi war criminal Hans Frank once wondered whether the Vatican acted as an “assistant prosecutor.”
Voices of Jewish Gratitude
Perhaps the most resounding yet often forgotten testimony to Pius XII’s wartime conduct came from Jewish leaders themselves. Rome’s Chief Rabbi, Israel Zolli, famously converted to Christianity in February 1945, choosing the baptismal name “Eugene” in honor of the pontiff. Zolli expressed gratitude for “what [Pius XII] had done for the Jews during the war, with a spirit of unparalleled humanity and Christian charity.”
That gratitude echoed far beyond Rome. In 1946, the Third Congress of Italian Jewish Communities passed a motion of thanks, later inscribed on a plaque outside Via Tasso—the former SS headquarters in Rome. A decade later, in a deeply symbolic gesture, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performed Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony at the Vatican on May 26, 1955, in tribute to the pontiff’s aid to Jews during the Shoah.
The pope himself articulated his inclusive pastoral vision in an L’Osservatore Romano note from October 1943, emphasizing “the paternally universal charity of the Supreme Pontiff, which does not stop at any border of nationality, religion or race.”
Between Devotion and Canonization
Pius XII’s cause for canonization, initiated decades ago, has already advanced to the stage of “Venerable,” a recognition by Pope Benedict XVI of heroic virtue. For beatification, a verified miracle remains necessary. Artiglieri admits that existing claims “do not yet fulfill all the required conditions,” but encourages the faithful to continue praying for divine confirmation. Meanwhile, public devotion remains notably strong. “Judging by the requests for images and relics we receive, there is worldwide reverence for the Angelic Shepherd,” he observes.
Remembering the Angelic Shepherd
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Pius XII’s birth, the Pope Pacelli Committee and the Jesuit General Postulation have organized a year-long program of events. The celebrations opened on March 2 with a conference at Chiesa Nuova—Santa Maria in Vallicella—the parish of Pius XII’s youth, followed by a solemn Mass. Throughout the year, additional gatherings will explore his contributions to peace, education, and the arts, as well as his defense of persecuted peoples during the darkest hours of the twentieth century.
For Artiglieri and the historians he represents, the anniversary is not merely an exercise in commemoration—it is an act of intellectual justice. “The time has come,” he says, “to free history from propaganda and restore to Pius XII the truth that serious scholarship long ago secured.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Infocatholica
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