Hitler's Pope. The Secret History of Pius XII.

London England: Viking, 1999. Hardback. Hitler's Pope. The Secret History of Pius XII. Slight reading marks to back D/J. Price clipped to D/J. In this book, backed by a wealth of new research, the author tells for the first time the story of the career of Eugenio Pacelli, the man who as Pius XII was Pope during the Second World War and arguably the most powerful churchman in modern history. Adding to the continuing debate about collective guilt and the Holocaust this is an extraordinary and explosive history. In the first decade of the century, as a brilliant young lawyer, Pacelli helped shape an ideology of unprecendented papal power; during the 1920s he employed cunning and moral blackmail to impose that power in Germany. In 1933 Hitler became his perfect negotiating partner and a concordat was established that granted religious and educational advantages to the Catholic Church in exchange for Catholic withdrawal from social and political action. This 'voluntary' abdication of political Catholicism imposed from Rome faciliated the rise of Nazism. By exploring the story of Pacelli's early career, including his patent anti-Semitism, the author makes a firm and final indictment of Pope Pius XII's scandalous wartime silence and its consequences. He concludes that in the latter half of John Paul II's reign the policies of Pius XII have re-emerged to threaten schism in the Catholic Church. Illustrated. 430 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Academic Literature). 1st Uk Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall Octavo. Hardback.