Th is 1925 letter confi rms the 1917 meeting between Nachum Sokolow, President of the World Zionist
Organization, and Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli. Sokolow discusses establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Pacelli was positive about this idea. Pacelli arranged a private audience for Sokolow with Pope Benedict XV in
1917. His personal feelings about a Jewish homeland are further sustained by his actions to urge all Catholics
to join the pro-Palestine organization in Germany.
Based on Information provided by Sokolow, the
Jewish Chronicle of November 25, 1949, wrote: “For
the preparation of this talk (with the Pope) the main
advisor and the person who set it up was Cardinal
Pacelli, who later became Vatican Secretary of State
and now is Pope Pius XII.”
- Courtesy of Michael Hesemann
Th is speech was made by Pope Pius XII on August 3, 1946, to the Arab delegation from Palestine. Th ey stated
that after this meeting, they felt betrayed by the Vatican. Th e speech was published in the
ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS COMMENTARIUM OFFICIALE.
Below, is the speech made to a delegation of Arabs of Palestine who came to Rome to try to
convince Pope Pius XII not to remain neutral but to take sides against the Zionist in Palestine.
Bottom left is an excerpt from the documents from the foreign ministry of Israel recalling
this meeting stating the Arabs were “disillusioned and felt betrayed” because of the Pope’s
condemnation of anti-Semitism. Below right is a New York Times article.
To the delegates of the Supreme Council of the Arab People of Palestine:
First and foremost, we are happy to welcome a commission, which comes in the name of a people
whose generous character we know, as well as their attachment to certain principles which form
the basis of religion and, for that reason, constitute the conditions which are indispensable for
social order, and for civilization.
Furthermore, we cannot fail to take into consideration the way in which the Commission present
here has been composed—a Commission that we are pleased to greet as a sign of social solidarity
and of that peaceful community which, independent of one’s belonging to various ethnic families,
ought to have its home (so to speak) precisely in Palestine, where Jesus, the Prince of Peace,
announced and brought peace to the human beings of every time and every place.
It is doubtless the case that peace can only take shape within the context of truth and justice.
Th is presupposes respect for the rights of the other, for certain positions and traditions (especially
in the religious realm) which are a given, just as each group of inhabitants is bound to a strict
fulfi llment of [their own] duties and obligations.
Th is is why, having received—even in these last several days—numerous appeals and requests
from various parts of the world, and for various motives, we do not need to tell you that we
condemn all recourse to force and violence, whatever the source, 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.
But it is clear that this impartiality—which our apostolic ministry imposes on
us, and which places us above the confl icts that, especially in this very diffi cult
time, have shaken human society—cannot mean indiff erence. We also assure
you that, to the degree that it depends on us, and according to the possibilities
provided to us, we will make every eff ort in order than justice and peace in
Palestine become a reality, creating—through the eff ective cooperation of
all the interested parties—an order
which will guarantee to each of the
parties currently in confl ict, a secure
existence, together with . . .
– Translation courtesy of Fr. Murray
Watson PTWF Canada
In November 1947, the United Nations voted for the partitioning of Palestine; eleven states were against and
thirty-three in favor. Of the thirty-three in favor, seventeen were Catholic countries, some of whom asked Pope
Pius XII what they should do, and he stated that he did not object to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.
Twelve Latin American countries supported partition. Six abstained. Only Cuba voted against it. In fact, Pius
XII personally supported a Jewish homeland, which was opposed by many high-ranking Vatican offi cials,
including Secretary of State Tardini. Because of the large number of Catholics living in Arab countries, the
Vatican had to maintain its neutrality in this issue, but Pope Pius XII privately enabled a positive vote.
Below left is a Jerusalem Post article interview with the Jewish childhood friend of Pope Pius XII, Dr. Guido
Mendes, dated October 10, 1958, wherein he states that Pius XII reportedly told a group of seventy Jewish
survivors in 1945, “Soon you will have a Jewish State.”
Recent research of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation states that Nuncio Angelo Roncalli interceded to
infl uence Pius XII for a positive vote at the UN. We also know that Secretary of State Tardini was not
enthusiastic about this effort.
