Vatican Opens Hitler's Pope Archives

- The archives, which opened to researchers on March 2, 2020, contain approximately 16 million documents from Pope Pius XII's pontificate, which spanned from 1939 to 1958. - A central point of debate is Pius XII's public response to the Holocaust. Critics argue he remained silent and did not forcefully condemn the Nazis, while the Vatican maintains he worked behind the scenes to save Jews through quiet diplomacy to avoid Nazi reprisals. - Even before becoming Pope, as Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli and Vatican Secretary of State, he lodged approximately 55 protests against Nazi policies and helped draft the 1937 anti-Nazi encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge" ("With Burning Concern"). - The process for his sainthood began in 1967, and he was declared "Venerable" by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, a step toward beatification. This move has been controversial, with some Jewish groups calling for it to be halted until the archives could be fully examined. - In June 2022, the Vatican made 170 volumes of files concerning requests for help from Jewish people during the Nazi and fascist persecutions available online for everyone to access. - Early research since the opening of the archives has uncovered new details, including previously unknown backchannel negotiations between Pope Pius XII and Adolf Hitler. - Supporters of Pius XII point to actions taken by the Church to hide thousands of Jews in religious institutions across Rome and Europe as evidence of his efforts to save lives. - One of the early and persistent criticisms of Pius XII during the war came from those who felt he did not speak out forcefully enough against the persecution of Catholics in Poland by the Nazis.