The Last Three Popes and the Jews

After tracing (on pp. 13-85) the complex history of Christian-Jewish relations throughout the ages, marked with numerous manifestations of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, focuses on the pontificate of three Popes: Pius XI, Pius XII, and John XXIII. Their papacies coincided with the rise of fascism and Nazism, the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel. Notes that Pius XI not only condemned racial antisemitism in Germany and elsewhere, but was the first Pope to actively take a stand in defense of the Jews. Pius XII, who did not possess the assertive qualities of his predecessor, but was a good diplomat, deplored Nazi and fascist antisemitism, but kept silent on the Holocaust throughout the war years. Nevertheless, during the Holocaust, he rendered help to thousands of Jews in Italy and elsewhere. Stresses the fact that both Popes acted at a time when many Catholic priests and hierarchs in Germany and other countries supported Nazism and racism. Although Pius XII, and the entire Catholic Church, did not approve of the Zionist program to revive the Jewish state in Palestine, he spoke up for the preservation of Jewish holy places in Israel on a par with Christian holy places. John XXIII, the supporter of reconciliation between Christians and Jews, paved the way for Vatican Council II and the document "Nostra aetate".