Source: Jewish-Christian Relations
Jewish-Christian Relations
Jewish-Christian Relations
Insights and Issues in the ongoing Jewish-Christian Dialogue
Pope Pius XII’s Role in Establishing the State of
Israel
31.03.2014 | JCR
NEW YORK, March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF) has posted
on its website surprising documents showing that Pope Pius XII was instrumental in the
establishment of the modern state of Israel. This new documented evidence proves that this
pope, who has been largely vilified by the Jewish community, actually helped the Zionist
Organization (ZO) beginning in 1917 to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, served as the pontiff during the entirety of World War II, until his
death in 1958. Beginning in 1962, an orchestrated campaign of press, books, plays, films and
lectures has sought to portray this pope as evil, even to the extreme of dubbing him Hitler’s Pope.
Gary Krupp, President of PTWF said “Pave the Way Foundation began researching this
controversy in 2006, with no agenda beyond a search for the truth.”
Elliot Hershberg, PTWF Chairman, revealed that documents from the Vatican Archives show how,
in 1917, Eugenio Pacelli (as Archbishop at the time) arrange for Nahum Sokolow, President of ZO,
to meet with Pope Benedict XV to discuss the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Additional documents, and even newspaper accounts, show that Pacelli intervened again in 1925
to arrange further meetings Sokolow and Vatican officials to advance the subject.
In 1926, Pacelli stood with prominent Jewish and Catholic leaders such as Albert Einstein and
Ludwig Kaas encouraging all to join the German pro-Palestine organization.
Addressing an Arab delegation opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state in 1946, Pacelli
stated, “Just as we have also several times in the past condemned the persecutions that a
fanatical anti-Semitism unleashed against the Hebrew people, we have always observed this
attitude of perfect impartiality in the most widely varied circumstances, and we intend also to hold
ourselves to it in the future.”
As Pope Pius XII in 1947, Pacelli ignored some Vatican objections, and encouraged Catholic
countries to vote in favor of the United Nations vote to partition Palestine. This crucial resolution,
which passed in a 33 to 11 vote, created the Jewish homeland of Israel.
Mr. Hershberg further revealed that official Israeli foreign policy documents indicated that it was
Pacelli’s childhood friend Dr. Guido Mendes, an orthodox Jew, who acted as a behind-the-scenes
diplomat.
Gary Krupp, Co-Founder and President of PTWF, stated, “Thousands of original documents can
be uploaded from our website www.ptwf.org. Sadly, many of those who consider themselves
historians and scholars have simply not researched primary source documentation from the open
Vatican Secret Archives, publicly available since 2006. They have relied primarily on the published
works of others.”
All documents are available at the following link:
Copyright JCRelations 1 / 2
Pope Pius XII’s Role in Establishing the State of Israel
http://legacy.ptwf.org/vatican_docs_register.aspx
About Pave the Way Foundation
PTWF is a nonsectarian public foundation working to identify resolve obstacles between religions
through cultural, educational and technological gestures between the faiths. Our mission is to
ultimately remove the use of religion as a tool to justify private agendas. Website: http://www.ptwf.org/