President of the World Zionist Organization Nahum Sokolow wrote in his own words:
May 12, 1917
I was fi rst of all received by Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary for Extraordinary Aff airs and had
a few days later a long conference with Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri. Both meetings
were extraordinarily friendly and positive . . . I don’t tend towards credulity or exaggerations
and still I can’t avoid to stress that this revealed an extraordinary amount of friendship: to
grant a Jew and representative of Zionism with such a promptness a private audience which
took so long and was of such a warmth and took place with all assurance of sympathy, both
for the Jews in general and for Zionism in special, proves that we don’t need to expect any
obstacles which can’t be overcome from the side of the Vatican.
Th e Pope [Benedict XV] asked me: Pacelli told me about your mission; do you want to tell
me any more details?.
Source: Pope Pius XII and World War II: The Documented Truth
