
The Pope at War
The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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David I. Kertzer
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •
“The most important book ever written about the Catholic Church and its conduct during World War II.”—Daniel Silva
“Kertzer brings all of his usual detective and narrative skills to [The Pope at War] . . . the most comprehensive account of the Vatican’s relations to the Nazi and fascist regimes before and during the war.”—The Washington Post
“Tolstoyan.”—Cynthia Ozick
Based on newly opened Vatican archives, a groundbreaking, explosive, and riveting book about Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II, including how he responded to the Holocaust, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Pope and Mussolini
WINNER OF THE JULIA WARD HOWE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. Those questions have only grown and festered, making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history, especially now as the Vatican prepares to canonize him.
In 2020, Pius XII’s archives were finally opened, and David I. Kertzer—widely recognized as one of the world’s leading Vatican scholars—has been mining this new material ever since, revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church’s power.
Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents not only from the Vatican, but from archives in Italy, Germany, France, Britain, and the United States, The Pope at War paints a new, dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped the continent and as the Nazis began their systematic mass murder of Europe’s Jews. The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope’s actions from 1939 to 1945, showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini.
Just as Kertzer’s Pulitzer Prize–winning The Pope and Mussolini became the definitive book on Pope Pius XI and the Fascist regime, The Pope at War is destined to become the most influential account of his successor, Pius XII, and his relations with Mussolini and Hitler. Kertzer shows why no full understanding of the course of World War II is complete without knowledge of the dramatic, behind-the-scenes role played by the pope. “This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective ‘explosive,’” says Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University. “The Pope at War is a masterpiece.”
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Critic reviews
“A masterly character study of a flawed, tormented leader and a cautionary tale about the perils of both-sides-ism.”—The New Yorker
“Kertzer brings all of his usual detective and narrative skills to [The Pope at War] . . . the most comprehensive account of the Vatican’s relations to the Nazi and fascist regimes before and during the war.”—The Washington Post
“Kertzer has spent decades excavating the Vatican’s hidden history . . . [His] new book . . . documents the private decision-making that led Pope Pius XII to stay essentially silent about Hitler’s genocide and argues that the pontiff’s impact on the war is underestimated. And not in a good way.”—The New York Times
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Story
Only two years after Pope Pius IX’s election in 1846 had triggered great popular enthusiasm across Italy, the pope found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The revolutions that swept through Europe and shook Rome threatened to end the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not the papacy itself. The resulting drama was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics. David Kertzer, one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican, brings this pivotal moment vividly to life.
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Imbalanced and theologically confused
- By A. Moran on 06-18-19
By: David I. Kertzer
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Hitler's Pope
- The Secret History of Pius XII
- By: John Cornwell
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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When Hitler's Pope, the shocking story of Pope Pius XII that "redefined the history of the twentieth century" (The Washington Post) was originally published, it sparked a firestorm of controversy both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Now, award-winning journalist John Cornwell has revisited this seminal work of history with a new introduction that both answers his critics and reaffirms his overall thesis that Pius XII, now scheduled to be canonized by the Vatican, weakened the Catholic Church with his endorsement of Hitler—and sealed the fate of the Jews in Europe.
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The title is false advertising.
- By Christopher George on 09-19-24
By: John Cornwell
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The Fisherman's Tomb
- The True Story of the Vatican's Secret Search
- By: John O'Neill, Sarah Wynne, Katie Clark
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1939, a team of workers beneath the Vatican unearthed an early Christian grave. This surprising discovery launched a secret quest that would last decades a quest to discover the long-lost burial place of the Apostle Peter. From earliest times, Christian tradition held that Peter, a lowly fisherman from Galilee, whom Christ made leader of his church was executed in Rome by Emperor Nero and buried on Vatican Hill. But his tomb had been lost to history. Now, funded anonymously by a wealthy American, a small army of workers embarked on the dig of a lifetime.
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Great narrator
- By Fran on 09-10-18
By: John O'Neill, and others
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The End and the Beginning
- Pope John Paul II - The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy
- By: George Weigel
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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When he was elected pope in the fall of 1978, few people had ever heard of the charismatic Karol Wojty³a. But in a very short time he would ignite a revolution of conscience in his native Poland that would ultimately lead to the collapse of European communism and death of the Soviet Union. What even fewer people knew was that the KGB, the Polish Secret Police, and the East German Stasi had been waging a dangerous, decades-long war against Wojty³a and the Vatican itself.
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Insight into Pope John II the Great
- By Gil Michelini on 10-13-13
By: George Weigel
What listeners say about The Pope at War
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- Michal
- 12-15-22
Important book
This was absolutely fantastic book. Last thoughts however were somewhat odd given the clear and detailed account
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1 person found this helpful
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- Fernando J. Trejo
- 06-25-22
Excelente
Un libro muy interesante. Permite entender las presiones políticas y los cuidados que debió tomar Pio XII para cuidar la religión católica aun a cambio de no tomar partido con ningún país en la segunda Guerra mundial.
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- A Reader
- 11-15-24
Meticulously documented
The narrative is a good deal faster-paced and more exciting then the average thriller. You hear the actual words of the protagonists, quoted from primary sources. The amount of research is staggering, the author’s command of the material unmatched. The author is scrupulously even-handed throughout - it was not a simple time! - and his “final thoughts” are fair and well-supported by the evidence of the primary sources he quotes. The pope cared very deeply about the church, its buildings and authority, and his actions and especially his inaction during the war must be seen in that light. He seems otherwise to have been entirely without a moral sense, viewing events of the war, including the mass murder of non-combatants (which he definitely knew about), entirely in tactical, diplomatic terms, at every turn asking only what he judged best for the church as an institution. Unfortunately, his judgment was relentlessly flawed. He was timid and easily manipulated, not least by the weaselly German ambassador Weizsacker (from a long line of weasels, still going strong in Germany), and altogether a tragically inadequate rather than evil man.
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- Hebern
- 09-05-22
Interesting history
This is about Pope Pius XII during WW2. It’s based on a lot of new material. The Vatican had sealed Pius XII’s papers from this period until Pope Francis released them in 2020.
Pope Pius XI was very much against the racism and Anti Semitism of Hitler and Mussolini. He was prepared to release an encyclical saying so in 1939, but died just before delivering it. His top assistant was selected to be the new Pope and in honor of his boss took the name Pius XII. He did not however take his former boss’s stance against the Fascists.
Throughout WW2, Pius XII would never denounce Hitler or Mussolini or their actions even after it became known that Hitler was exterminating the Jews. The question is why? The book does not have a smoking gun, definitive answer. The reader is allowed to look at the actions of Pope Pius XII and come to his or her own conclusions. Did Pius XII agree with the Hitler? Doubtful. Was he afraid for his own safety? Maybe. Was he afraid for the fate of the Catholic Church? Possibly. Was he hoping by staying neutral to broker a peace at the end of the war and increase his own power as a result? That’s an option. In fact there are numerous potential reasons and the true reason probably consisted of several of them. The only thing that is certain is that Pius XII’s silence was noticeable to all and history has judged him harshly for it.
I picked this one because of my recent visit to the Vatican. WW2 buffs would probably find it more enjoyable than I did. For me it was a little more detail than I wanted, but I did learn a lot.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Christine
- 10-22-23
Captivating
I loved this book. It was so well written that it was entertaining. The subject was disturbing, but it was presented in a balanced way.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-21-23
Excellent book!
The book was well written and thoroughly researched. In addition to revealing new details on the church during WWII, it provides immersive details on the impact of the war on Italy and the world.
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- Glenn J Wojcik
- 04-28-24
Wolf in Sheeps clothing
At the end of The Godfather PT 1, during the baptism, the priest asks Michael, "Do you reject Satan," Michael "I do." Pius XII was the Vicar of the Church, the Rock, Petra, a beacon for the weak, and he did nothing. I was hoping to find clear evidence that he opposed evil. I didn't find Christ within him.
His silence condemns him and those who say, he did righteousness in secret, well that doesn't hold water in my opinion. It was a burning building and he kept silent.
He knew about the camps, he knew. I am surprised he didn't end up like Mussolini.
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- BARBARA SHAW GIFTS
- 06-30-22
A remarkable book. Incredibly important. Should be read by every Catholic and everyone
The material presented in the book is very uncomfortable but so important. Pope pious the 12th, is exposed on the basis of facts that have been hidden in the archives for 70 years. Silence was a misnomer for moral bankruptcy.
Thousands of lives could have been saved but for the silence of the Pope and church.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-16-22
Newly published - glad I got it early as it is worth the listen!
Very thoroughly researched and evenly presented, without undue prejudice or premature judgments posited before parsing all evidence. In short, not a pro/anti-catholic diatribe but a beautifully laid-out story of a pope in a giant quandary, caught between fears for his institution after whichever side in the war might come out on top. I especially appreciated the final words in the book, which sum up the uncomfortable choices which confronted Pius XII, assuring that he would fail at some part of his leadership role no matter which way he went.
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- Golfgirl
- 07-12-22
Now I know more and understand less
Pius XII is the primer example of a man in the wrong place and of the fact that not doing anything results always in doing the wrong thing.
The story also points to the fact that for the (catholic) church there are/were baptized humans and others. The ignorance of the fait of the Jewes is mind numbing.
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