Yad Vashem past tekst over paus aan

Paus Pius XII

Yad Vashem heeft zijn beschuldiging dat het Vaticaan in de Tweede Wereldoorlog niets ondernam tegen het antisemitisme aangepast. Dat betekent in feite: Ingetrokken.  Het erkent immers dat er onduidelijkheid over de kwestie bestaat.  Ik ontleen aan het Reformatorisch Dagblad het volgende:

Eerst verklaarde het onder meer dat [paus] Pius XII „actief” streefde naar een verdrag met nazi-Duitsland om de rechten van de kerk te beschermen „zelfs als dat inhield dat het racistische naziregime werd erkend”. Ook [zei Yad Vashem] dat hij een brief tegenhield waarin racisme en antisemitisme werden veroordeeld en dat hij niet in het openbaar tegen de moord op de Joden protesteerde. [Nu zegt Yad Vashem] onder meer dat Pius in 1942 in een radiorede de dood van honderden mensen veroordeelde, zonder dat hij de Joden noemde.

In 2008 schreef ik in mijn proefschrift 'Gospel in the Air' een alinea of wat over deze kwestie en Radio Vaticaan:

Pope Pius XI ascended to the pontificate on 6 February 1922. In 1925 the directo- general of communications for Vatican City, the Jesuit Giuseppe Gianfranceschi began drawing up plans for the establishment of a SW station in the Vatican. In 1929, four days after the signing of the Lateran Treaty which established Vatican City as an independent state, Marconi received permission to begin working in the Vatican Gardens. Gianfranceschi became the first director-general of Radio Vatican.

During the construction, Pius XI personally discussed with Marconi every step and detail. After a brief introduction of the pope by Marconi, Pius XI took the microphone and inaugurated the first worldwide radio message ever given by a pope. In Latin he used Bible verses that emphasized the universality of the Gospel message. 

Listen, O Heavens, to that which I say; listen, O Earth, listen to the words which come from my mouth […] Listen and hear, O Peoples of distant lands!

During World War II, Radio Vatican was in a very precarious situation. The Vatican was formally neutral during the war and broadcasts by Radio Vatican were increasingly censored through German and Italian intervention. In spite of that, Radio Vatican reported frequently about Nazi atrocities in no unclear terms condemning them as acts against the Gospel. The rounding up of Jews and racial segregation were condemned throughout the war on Radio Vatican and listeners were encouraged to not believe German and Italian propaganda. They were urged to resist the prevalent ideologies of Nazism and Communism in Europe by keeping the Roman-Catholic faith.

Bij deze laatste alinea heb ik deze voetnoot:

See for instance Robert Speaight, La Voix du Vatican: Radio-Vatican et la Guerre (Beirut, 1943). This booklet was originally written in English. Its intention was ‘to answer those, possibly in Spain and Ireland, who said: “The Pope is neutral. Why do you want us to side against the Pope?”’ Speaight, La Voix du Vatican: Radio-Vatican et la Guerre, p. 3. The writer uses concrete examples of broadcasts of Radio Vatican to prove that the Vatican resisted Nazism and the atrocities against the Catholic Church and the Jews; See also the brochure L’Eglise et la Guerre of an unknown writer, probably published in 1943 by the Catholic French underground press. The brochure also shows how the Catholic leaders of Europe spoke out against Nazism. Radio Vatican is quoted to show the resistance of the Vatican against Nazism. Ronald J. Rychlak in an email to the author (12 July 2004). See also Francois and Renee Bedarida, ‘The Voice of the Vatican and Religious Resistance’, in Revue de l'Histoire de l'Eglise de France (No. 64, December 1978), pp. 224-225 and Jacques Adler’s article ‘The “Sin of Omission”?, Radio Vatican and the anti-Nazi Struggle, 1940-1942’, in Australian Journal of Politics and History (Vol. 50 No. 3, 2004), pp. 396–406.