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Dalin participates in Pius XII symposium
July 14, 2006
Ave Maria University professor of history and politics Rabbi David Dalin, Ph.D. recently participated in an international symposium in Rome devoted to discussing the legacy of Pope Pius XII and to vindicating the pontiff against claims that he was "Hitler's pope."
The symposium, hosted by the Pontifical Lateran University, April 27, featured participants from around the world with different areas of expertise, including Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, who was a personal friend of Pius XII, and Father Peter Gumpel, S.J., who has headed up the cause for Pius XII's beatification.
"I feel honored to be part of this distinguished group of people and scholars," said Dalin, whose book "The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis" was published last summer. "It was great to have the opportunity to help them accentuate the great legacy of Pope Pius XII as a friend of the Jewish people as well as a great pope."
Dalin contends that not only was Pius XII not a partner in the numerous crimes against humanity perpetrated by Adolf Hitler and his murderous regime-as has been claimed by several scholars in recent decades, most notably John Cornwell in his book, "Hitler's Pope"-but he was, in fact, one of the Jewish people's greatest allies during the Holocaust.
"Jews were hidden in 155 convents, churches and monasteries within Rome," Dalin said. "Many Jews were protected within Vatican City itself, and almost 3,000 were sheltered at Castelgandolfo, the pope's summer residence. The fact is, thousands of Jewish lives were saved that wouldn't have been if it weren't for the involvement of Pius XII."
In addition to clearing the late pontiff's name, the symposium also emphasized Pius XII's holiness and virtue with an eye toward presenting the case for his eventual beatification, Dalin said.
"Although he was highly praised and revered by Jewish and non-Jewish leaders in the years immediately following the war, Pius has not been given due credit by recent generations," Dalin explained. "He was a very heroic man-he and Churchill were the only two European leaders who stood up to Hitler. He was a great world leader in addition to being a great Church leader, and that is very important for people to know."