A new book explains Pope Pius XII’s silence during the Shoah — but does not excuse it
Using newly-opened Vatican archives, David Kertzer discovered the pope’s secret meetings with Nazis and refusal to confirm the mass murder of Jews to the Allies
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Culture Will Pope Pius’ archives shed light on his silence during the Shoah?
Over a 75 years after Nazis conducted mass deportations of Roman Jews to Auschwitz, we may finally learn why Pope Pius XII, heralded by some as a man who quietly saved Jewish lives and dubbed “Hitler’s Pope” by others, did not speak up on their behalf. On March 2 Pius XII’s archives will be made…
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Life Beneath The Met’s Dazzling Vatican Fashion Show, A Complex History Lurks
As a Jew who spent her formative years receiving a Jewish education, studying Jewish history in depth, my relationship with Catholicism is complicated. Jewish history is a trail of bloody tears — dotted with atrocities committed during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the countless pogroms instigated by the Catholic Church — marking the Jewish…
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Culture How To See The Vatican’s Hebrew Manuscripts Without Leaving Home
My first-ever trip to the Vatican took place after an exhausting overnight train ride to Rome from Paris with two friends — one deeply Catholic, the other Buddhist — when we were all 20 years old. We were exchange students with little cash but plenty of curiosity; we knew nothing about Rome and nothing about…
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Fast Forward Stunning Menorah Depictions Are On Display — At The Vatican
(JTA) — An unprecedented exhibit centered on the image, history and symbolism of the seven-branched menorah has opened in Rome. Titled “Menorah: Cult, History and Myth,” the exhibition is a joint project of the Vatican Museum and the Rome Jewish Museum — the first time the two museums have cooperated in this way. It will run…
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Fast Forward WATCH: Pope Francis Dances With Hasidic Jews At Vatican
A delegation of Hasidic Jews and discussed with them issues including the protection of Jewish cemeteries in Europe and combating child sex abuse. The pontiff held a 45-minute audience at the Vatican on Monday with the group, which was led by Rabbi Edgar Gluck. A video on the Yeshiva World News website and also posted to YouTube…
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Fast Forward No Answer To 1,500-Year-Old Menorah Mystery At Landmark Rome Exhibit
The Vatican and Rome’s Jewish museum will jointly host an unprecedented exhibition on the menorah, the ancient symbol of Judaism, and try to put to rest legends on the fate of one candelabra missing for 15 centuries. The May 15-July 23 exhibition, which Vatican and Jewish officials presented on Monday, will be held simultaneously in…
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Fast Forward Bannon Said Nazi Influenced His World View
Steve Bannon apparently referenced an infamous Italian fascist thinker as influential on his own ideology in a talk he gave at the Vatican three years ago, continuing to raise alarms about the extent of connections between the chief White House strategist and the far-right fringes. Bannon made passing mention in that address to Julius Evola,…
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