David I. Kertzer, "The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler" (Random House, 2022)
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.\nIn 2020, Pius XII\u2019s archives were finally opened, and David I. Kertzer\u2014widely recognized as one of the world\u2019s leading Vatican scholars\u2014has been mining this new material ever since, revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church\u2019s power.\nBased on thousands of never-before-seen documents not only from the Vatican, but from archives in Italy, Germany, France, Britain, and the United States,\xa0The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler\xa0(Random House, 2022) 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\u2019s Jews. The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope\u2019s actions from 1939 to 1945, showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini.\nJust as Kertzer\u2019s Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning\xa0The Pope and Mussolini\xa0became 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.\nRenee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network\u2019s\xa0Van Leer Jerusalem\xa0Series on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il. She's on Twitter @embracingwisdom. She blogs\xa0here.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies