[b. EUGENIO PACELLI, MARCH 2, 1876–OCTOBER 11, 1958]

Italian Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, 1939 to 1958

The controversy over Pope Pius XII's alleged silence on the Holocaust is one of the most heated in modern history. Although he was praised by Jewish leaders after World War II and following his death in 1958, Rolf Hochhuth in his play The Deputy (1963) accused the pontiff of indifference to the plight of Jews. Hochhuth contended that had Pius XII spoken out in protest against the Holocaust, countless Jews would have been saved. The activities of Vatican-supported individuals and institutions in the postwar rescue of former Nazi officials only added to the criticism. The controversy that ensued pitted papal detractors against papal supporters and has continued unabated into the twentyfirst century.

Pius XII's detractors claim that as papal secretary of state (1930–1939) before he became pope,...