Читать книгу Soli Deo Gloria - M.T. Augustine - Страница 17

There is a piazza, a part of the larger square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, named for Pope Pius XII. I think it was John Paul II who renamed this area. This was probably in response to all the controversy around the historical positioning of Pius XII, for the last fifty years or so. And it turns out after all the evidence is in that the Pius has essentially been vindicated. He in fact probably saved many more lives, Jewish and Christian by deciding to take the hit to his reputation, knowing that eventually the truth would emerge; and to anyone who reads widely of the historical records; there can be no doubt that the Pope acted correctly. Hitler was mad, he not only gave orders to destroy Paris; but also would have not sacked Rome but leveled to the ground. But Mussolini was his ally and even a madman has lucid moments. If he bombed Rome, destroying the Vatican he would bring anguish to the Italian people and he would lose an important ally.

I’m not sure it is still there, but when I was in Rome at one point; I visited a wonderful exhibit on the Life of Eugenio Pacelli in Piazza St. Pedro. Also I think perhaps one of the best evaluations of events during Papa Pacelli tenure was written by Rabbi Dr. David G. Dalin, who wrote a book about Papa Pacelli in a book about myths and popes.

Eugenio Pacelli was not despite the bad press in any way sympathetic to the Nazi government; the Nazi perspective was so ensconced in the material world that it was the antithesis of Catholic philosophy and theology. If this were so, why would the Chief Rabbi of Rome convert, under the influence of Pius, to Catholicism at the end of the war?

I write these things with a certain amount of passion because for me Pius was in my mind, the Father who replace a man who was not really a bad person but was simply emotionally, for the most part, absent in my life. And I was not sure he even liked me; perhaps now, many years later, I can see that he loved me, but he mostly had trouble expressing such or perhaps any feeling. So, the nuns knowing something of this situation would tell me Papa Pacelli was also my Father and loved me; this filled a void. This is one of the saving graces of the Catholic philosophy.

So, I have always been interested in Papa Pacelli’s career; and when the accusations starting coming; not only could I not believe them; they involved a certain amount of emotional pain for me. How could people possibly be saying such thing about Papa Pacelli whom I had always thought of in quite personal terms as a Father in every that concerned the spiritual life? It was impossible; he would never sympathize with the ignorant thugs of the Third Reich. The German people were another matter; he had spent so much of his life in Germany; he initially I think really could not believe at all the outrageous reports of unspeakable atrocities; but later I think his actions show; he did, with a heavy heart, believe the reports on the concentration camps, and the torture and killings of the innocents.

And so I studied with great interest the exhibit of the life of Papa Pacelli which was right at the entrance to the Vatican opposite the Pope’s Palace on the other side of St. Peter’s Square.

One of the most interesting studies of Eugenio Pacelli’s life was written by a Jewish Rabbi by the name of Dr. David Dalin; although I think the title of his book is unfortunate; it could of course and probably will be changed at some point in the future. In any case a study of Papa Pacelli, and in particular, the years when the third reich appeared to have some power in the areas of delusional thought; then such a study is not complete without taking Rabbi Dakins work into the equation.