Synopsis and a critique Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Synopsis and a critique - Assignment Example Coppa asserts that Pius XI, according to the evidence, was outspoken about the problems of racism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Against the advice from those closest to him, he condemned Hitler and his practices on numerous occasions. He, also, gives detailed account of how his opponents in fact undermined his intentions and worked toward Vatican’s policies of silence. With his death, Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary of State, was elected to be the new pope, and he reigned the Catholic Church till 1958 as Pius XII. New pope was quite different from Pius XI. He openly stressed many times that he liked German people, which was reflected in the fact that his housekeeper, private secretary, and confessor all hailed from the Reich. He, also, was punctual and well organized, a characteristic often associated with Germans. Pius XII implemented new policy toward both Germany and Italy, a one of impartiality and appeasement toward Nazis and fascist. Coppa writes that â€Å"Pius refused to alter his impartial stance even though he received repeated reports of Nazi crimes against humanity in 1940 and 1941, and a series of sources within and outside the church alerted him to the genocide of the Jews. In May of 1942, Pius was told of the mass extermination (uccisioni in massa) of Jews from Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine while the military chaplain Father Pirro Scavizzi personally reported to Pius of the almost-total elimination of Jews through mass murder.† His position never changed and scholars are still looking for answers to why that was the case. Coppa uses pope’s own words to clarify the issue- â€Å"First, there are over forty million German-speaking Catholics. If I should denounce the Nazis by name as you desire and Germany should lose the war, Germans everywhere would feel that I had contributed to the defeat, not only of the Nazis but Germany herself†¦.Second, if I denounce the Nazis by name I must