The newly discovered letter, written by a German Jesuit to Pope Pius XII’s personal secretary, suggests that the pope knew of Hitler’s atrocities but chose to remain silent.
The newly discovered letter, written by a German Jesuit to Pope Pius XII’s personal secretary, suggests that the pope knew of Hitler’s atrocities but chose to remain silent.
The Vatican embraced the nazis before mussolini did, and the fact that cardinals were directly involved with the rat lines shows it can’t just be about immediate threat. The reichskonkordat doesn’t just precede the pact of iron BTW, it precedes the Stresa front. Mussolini was openly contemptuous and opposed to Hitler when it was signed.
The Catholic Church was also friendly with Franco’s fascist Spain.
So, the Church was actually surrounded by friends.