Visit to the Bundestag ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Reichstag Building, Berlin Thursday, 22 September 2011 Pope Benedict XVI addresses the members of the German parliament in Berlin Mr President of the Federal Republic, Mr President of the Bundestag, Madam Chancellor, Madam President of the Bundesrat, Ladies and Gentlemen Members of the House, [...]
On September 22 in Berlin, the German pontiff, who had been born in 1927 and grown up after 1933 under National Socialism, gave a profound reflection on the sources of law. The tensions of that moment — a German native speaking to the government of his country, a Catholic Pope speaking to a secular legislature, a [...]
The Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome is known for having hosted a historic meeting: that between John Paul II and Ali Agca, who had tried to assassinate him. On December 18, another Pope came to visit that prison: Benedict XVI. He met with the inmates, conversed with them, took questions from them, and prayed [...]
On Christmas Eve in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI preached a powerful homily in St. Peter’s Basilica, saying that Christmas shows God’s will to save people from sin and violence. The next day, Pope Benedict XVI repeated the message in his “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) Christmas message. “The child whom we contemplate [...]
The Palestine Post, April 28, 1944; Page 6 A Papal Audience in Wartime By “Refugee” The author of this article arrived in this country in the refugee ship Nyassa. It is on a sunny Wednesday morning in the autumn of 1941. An up-to-date Roman bus takes me from the center of the Eternal City to the [...]
In a remarkable historical find, testimony has emerged revealing that, in 1941, Pope Pius XII received a German Jewish visitor at the Vatican who was seeking help for certain Jews who were being held in an Italian internment camp. After welcoming the young man and promising him help, Pius told him not once but twice—in emotional [...]
By Herman Herskovic My name is Herman Herskovic and I am 43 years old. My parents were Jews and lived in Czechoslovakia. During the last war, I was forced to abandon the country to flee from the Nazi persecution. Today I live in Cleveland where I am a furniture dealer. But I would never [...]
The book Ferramonti di Tarsia, by Mario Rende. June 04, 2009 The June 4 edition of L’Osservatore Romano includes a review of Mario Rende’s Ferramonti di Tarsia,a new book that chronicles an Italian fascist concentration camp where Jews were treated with relative humanity, thanks to the efforts of Paolo Salvatore, the camp’s director, and [...]
Pope Pius XII (1939–1938) read editor's note by clicking on photo “And now, my Jewish friend, go with the protection of the Lord, and never forget, you must always be proud to be a Jew!” The words are striking, and unforgettable. They serve as a comfort to anyone who has ever been the [...]
There has been no major figure of the World War II period (1939-1945) more inaccurately depicted than Eugenio Pacelli — Pope Pius XII (1939-1958). Perhaps the worst of these attacks come from a provocative 1960s play, and a 1990s book which claimed to be scholarly. The first is Rolf Hochhuth’s stage drama, The Deputy (1963), which [...]