Pius XII and His Red Line during the Holocaust Notes on the 150th Anniversary of Eugenio Pacelli's Birth

Abstract Even after the opening of the Pius XII archives in 2020, the question of the Pope's silence regarding the Holocaust remains a pressing issue. It is urgent to clarify why Pius XII subordinated his high "watchman’s" duty over morals (magisterium de moribus) to diplomatic silence. The traditional defense of Pius XII maintains that his silent restraint prevented worse outcomes for the persecuted Jews. However, neither in previous records nor in the newly accessible files are there documents in which Pius expressed the specific thesis "worse for the Jews." Rather, Pius always expressed himself only very generally regarding a cost-benefit analysis. Archive findings of secret talks concerning a future "church peace" within the Nazi state prove that this weighing of interests also – and even primarily – included the protection of the Church under Nazi rule. After remarks on Eugenio Pacelli's career leading up to his election as Pope, the article focuses on the problem of silence as the result of a deliberation. The article concludes by asking where the "red line" lay beyond which Pius XII would no longer have remained silent. In a significant address to the assembled Diplomatic Corps at the Holy See, Pius commented on this in a questionable manner.