Foreign Minister Guiseppe Saragat charged in Parliament today that attacks against the late Pope Pius XII over his role during the Nazi slaughter of European Jewry were partly a propaganda effort to acquit partially Nazism “of its horrible crimes” and to make the Catholic Church responsible.
He made the statement in reply to questions from extreme Leftist deputies which followed a recent Foreign Ministry statement deploring the “slanderous campaign” against the memory of the late Pontiff. Debate over the Pontiffs role was touched off by publication of a play, “The Deputy,” by West German playwright Rolf Hochhuth, which evoked demonstrations throughout Europe and widespread discussion there and in the United States. The Foreign Minister, however, did not refer to the play.
The Foreign Minister said that the Ministry’s statement followed expressions of regret by the Vatican that the campaign against the Pontiff was spreading in Italy. He added that, in issuing the condemnatory message, his Ministry acted in conformity with the “special relations” existing between the Vatican and Italy. He said the condemnation had not been decided on by the entire Cabinet, which he said was unnecessary. He stressed, however, that it involved the collective responsibility of the Cabinet.
He said that, in issuing the statement, his Ministry had not intended to take sides in polemics or to hamper debate on the matter but was concerned only with the form and manner of the polemics and not with its content.
ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER EXPLAINS GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE
Declaring that freedom of the press and freedom of conscience must be protected by the state, he added that he did not hesitate to say that “the campaign against the memory of Pope Pius was originated and directed toward aims having nothing in common with justice or humanitarian feeling. We wanted to fight the issue publicly and avoid an attitude similar to that of Pontius Pilate, because the Government has political and moral sensitivity.”
He referred to the Italian constitution which establishes the Catholic religion to be the religion of the state and to the concordat on that relationship. He then quoted from a letter that the Government had pledged itself to bar in Rome everything that might conflict with the holy character of the “Eternal City.” Moreover, he added, Pope Pius was one of the most important figures of the period “in which we still live and this lends to the campaign against him a particular character.”
He declared that an evaluation of Pope Pius’s reign was already being formed by non-Catholic sources but that the polemics that started recently were not “cultural debate but a slanderous distortion of the facts having nothing to do with historical research which interpellators openly confuse with party propaganda and political passion.”
” We indeed see in the attacks against Pius XII a cold propagandist purpose of which the most serious aspect, at least for many of us, consists in an attempt to partially acquit Nazism of its horrible crimes, making the Church responsible,” he told Parliament.
He insisted again that the Government’s condemnation was by no means intended to influence historians in their function to seek truth and that the Government did not want to take measures against free discussion.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
