To many, the role of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War, and in particular his action or lack of action on behalf of the Jewish people, are the sum-total of the history of the Catholic Church during the war. This is, of course, nonsense. Whilst it is true that the Church is led by the Pope, it is not true that the Pope is the Church. This has been recognized by Popes ever since Innocent III adopted the title, ‘Servant of the Servants of Christ’, as one of the official titles of...
!--[if gte mso 9]
!--[if gte mso 9]
With an industrialized violence that claimed untold lives in indescribable fashion, the old world came to an end. It did so in four long years, years that saw the gradual and increased erosion of all that mankind had held sacred on the European Continent for many centuries. Warfare had been brutal before, but not since the Thirty Years’ War had there been such an all-encompassing disaster, and not since Napoleon had the map of Europe been so decisively redrawn.
The Great War of 1914-1918...
I would like to begin this new series with a look back to last year, and to the event that, for Catholics, will be one of the abiding memories of 2010: the state visit of the Holy Father to the United Kingdom. In his first address of the visit, in Edinburgh, Pope Benedict XVI broached a subject that has very personal meaning to him. Referring to the Nazis, he said,
"I also recall the regime’s attitude to Christian pastors and religious who spoke the Truth in love, opposed the Nazis and...
