Rating: 
Summary: Serious questions about the church
Review: Cornwell's book, despite the title and the controversy, is about much more than Pius XII and the Holocaust. The Church's compliance with the rise of Nazism and its inability to speak frankly on the murder of millions of innocents in the war were only the miserable climax of the development of Eugenio Pacelli and the Catholic Church of his time. As Cornwell spins the tale, convincingly, the underlying process was (and is) the centralization, even glorification, of the unified Church under the direct control of the Pope during the 20th century, abetted by modern communications and transportation. The Code of Canon Law developed early in Pacelli's career is highlighted as setting the framework for many future events, always moving in the direction of central control and away from collegiality in the Church hierarchy.
Cornwell's writing is excellent, with copious citations. His argument suggests an antipathy toward the central model and a sorrowful judgement against Pius XII. He would be much more in tune with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, alas since muted by the current Pontiff.
All in all, an excellent "read" for this non-Catholic reviewer.
Rating: 
Summary: How not to write history!
Review: Ever since the German playwright Rolf Hochhuth published his play "Der Stellvertreter", pope Pius XII has been criticised because of his alleged silence over the Holocaust. However, historical enquiry time and again showed there is no evidence at all for this accusation. Pius XII repeatedly condemned national socialism in principle, as well as the genocide of the jewish people, be it that he, admittedly, used the not very outspoken language of international diplomacy; moreover, he was instrumental in the help catholics all over Europe tried to give to persecuted jews. - To avoid misunderstandings: of course, alas, there were catholics involved in persecution of the jewish people. On the other hand, there were catholics who tried to rescue jews, and they were the ones who got full support from the pope.-
In his book, Cornwell repeats all kinds of accusations against the pope that were made before, and most of them were already proven wrong before Cornwell published his book. Apparently, he does not know the relevant historical literature on the subject. He goes even further, and accuses Pius XII of anti-semitism; no one ever did this before, most likely because there is no evidence to support such an accusation. Cornwell does not provide this evidence either. Moreover, he choses to ignore vital evidence when he discusses other aspects of the policy of the Vatican during the Second World War; the evidence he does use is quoted very selectively - only if it confirms his own prejudices. In short, this book is a fine example of how not to write history.
In his last chapter, Cornwell gives away the reasons for this approach. Apparently, he disagrees with the policy of the current pope, and he tries to use the history of the church in his attack on John Paul II. However, if Cornwell disagrees with the current pope, he should adress the policy of this pope directly, and not through a dishonest distortion of history.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell changes his tune.
Review: From the December 9th issue of the (London)Economist: "Devil's advocates were supposed to be fair-minded, and in the past Mr. Cornwell, a prolific writer on Catholic matters, has at times been anything but. As he admits, "Hitler's Pope" (1999), his biography of Pope Pius XII, lacked balance. "I would now argue," he says, "in the light of the debates and evidence following 'Hitler's Pope', that Pius XII had so little scope of action that it is impossible to judge the motives for his silence during the war, while Rome was under the heel of Mussolini and later occupied by the Germans."
Rating: 
Summary: "Hitler's Pope" More Applicable than Ever
Review: Hitler's Pope is an important read for anyone attempting to understand the rabid anti-Semitism of Mel Gibson or the almost slavish devotion of most of the American churches hierarchy(the Archbishop of Atlanta for instance) to radical right wing politics. It is true that the Vatican's devotion to and support of radical right wing and fascist causes and it's repudiation of democratic ideals did not begin with Pius XII. Sadly ...neither did it end with him.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Pope
Review: If I wanted a good read, I certainly wouldn't read this book. It's not fact and certainly not even good fiction. I highly recommend "Hitler, the War, and the Pope", by Ronald J. Rychlak, for a much better understanding and a much more fascinating and historically accurate account of the events that took place before and during World War II. Don't let a fuzzy photograph fool you. Find out the truth...if you dare.
Rating:
Summary: This book does not let facts interfere with a good story!
Review: If you like to read books that spread lies then this one is for you. The author is not concerned with facts and just wants to make a buck by spreading lies. I wish I could give this book negative stars! Oh well, Mr. Cornwell will have to face Jesus and account for his lies.In this book the statements by the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church are constantly taken out of context. Based on this as a guidline for Mr. Cornwell's bias - and he is bias in all his books - he could easily write a book proving that Hitler was saving the Jews from the Americans and the other Allies who sought to exterminate them in WWII. It is rare to see an author who can manipulate facts and misquote whith such ease. For the truth just read other books on the subject or look up the information from the sources he listed and 'see' the truth he overlooked on purpose. I hope you pray for Mr. Cornwell, I will.
Rating:
Summary: This book does not let facts interfere with a good story!
Review: If you like to read books that spread lies then this one is for you. The author is not concerned with facts and just wants to make a buck by spreading lies. I wish I could give this book negative stars! Oh well, Mr. Cornwell will have to face Jesus and account for his lies. In this book the statements by the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church are constantly taken out of context. Based on this as a guidline for Mr. Cornwell's bias - and he is bias in all his books - he could easily write a book proving that Hitler was saving the Jews from the Americans and the other Allies who sought to exterminate them in WWII. It is rare to see an author who can manipulate facts and misquote whith such ease. For the truth just read other books on the subject or look up the information from the sources he listed and 'see' the truth he overlooked on purpose. I hope you pray for Mr. Cornwell, I will.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwall Recants
Review: It may be of interest to note that author Cornwell himself now says the following: "I would now argue, in the light of the debates and evidence following Hitler's Pope, that Pius XII had so little scope of action that it is impossible to judge the motives for his silence during the war, while Rome was under the heel of Mussolini and later occupied by the Germans." This must be kept in mind while reading this unbalanced book.
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Summary: Historical Revisionism
Review: John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope" is a convincingly written story of the papacy of Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII) during WWII, a period when the Vatican was completely surrounded by the capital of Mussolini's fascist Rome. Unfortunately the word "story" has profound meaning here, and no matter how convincing a historical statement is, it has no meaning if untrue, and the lies in this book are plentiful and outrageous. The very title (an unbelievable insult), and the accompanying cover photo of Pacelli walking past a German guard at attention (a lie of visual implication) give a glimpse of the literary chicanery lurking between the covers of this book. The offensiveness of the title speaks for itself - and contrary to what the author would have you believe, the photo was taken when Pacelli was the papal nuncio in Germany, BEFORE Hitler came to power. The soldier in the familiar "Nazi-style" helmet would stand at attention for the entrance and exit of all dignitaries. The author states in no uncertain terms that Pacelli was a villainous scoundrel, who not only didn't do or say anything to help the Jews, but actually collaborated with the Nazis. Nowhere does he tell of this Pope's heroic, behind-the-scenes rescue of thousands of Jews from the nazis. And nowhere does he answer the two definitive questions begging for an answer, "What SHOULD the Pope have done?" and "What GOOD would it have done?" The author seems to imply that he could have called out the Swiss Guard, defeated both Mussolini and Hitler, and saved all the Jews, while publicly denouncing evil in the world. If you, good reader, are interested in fiction, by all means read this book. But if you think this is factual, you're being fooled by a very successful revisionist of history and the truth.
Rating:
Summary: thoroughly discredited
Review: This book created a great sensation when it came out. However, it has now been thoroughly discredited. For those who want to learn more about this subject, I recommend the article by Rychlak that appeared several years ago in First Things (available on the web www.firstthings.com), the more recent article there by Bottum, and the books mentioned therein. Far from being Hitler's pope, there is massive documentary evidence that Pius XII was passionately hostile to nazism and its racist ideology, that he worked assiduously to rescue Jews from Nazi clutches, and that he even lent his assistence to a plot to everthrow Hitler. There is a legitimate question whether Pius XII said enough publicly in explicit condemnation of the Nazis. There are reasonable arguments on both sides. However, what is not reasonable, indeed what is detestable, is to slander this good man as "Hitler's pope". Fortunately, real scholars do not take Cornwell seriously. In fact, it seems that he is something of an intellectual fraud. It has been reported that Cornwell claimed a level of access to Vatican archives that he did not actually enjoy. There are people who fear and loath the Vatican and all it stands for, and doubtless this book will feed their appetite for things that reinforce their prejudices. Just as there is a long history of hate-mongering and conspiracy-theorizing about Jews, so there is about the Vatican. Cornwell adds his little dollop of mendacity. Sad.
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