We deal in Centuries here.....Saying at the Vatican

To Understand the Vatican's Role in the Shoah, one need first begin to comprehend the nature of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church. While it is not our purpose here to extensively cover the history of the Roman Church, it is important to have a basic understanding. The Roman Church of today bears little resemblance to persecuted and impoverished assembly of believers of the first century headed not in Rome but in Antioch. Both the early Church [Ikklesia] and the the Roman Church claim the apostle Peter as the head of the Church, but the Roman Church, actually had its historical roots not in Antioch, but in the Constantine Empire. In fact, apart from the Quo Vadis legend¹, there is no Biblical evidence that Peter even journeyed to Rome, let alone became the Bishop of Rome.

As Constantine took power in 313ad, he immediately removed the severe persecution to the Christians of the day. Since 33a.d., progressively greater persecutions had taken place, and the most recent had been severe and brutal. These persecutions extended also to the Jews. As Constantine rose, Christians were allowed freedom and a form of Christianity was made the State Religion: it did however ecumenize certain pagan practices and symbols of the time. Persecution against the Jews however did not subside, and they were expelled from the Empire. (See "Edict of Milan" A steady succession of Church/State leaders proceeded. (For a brief history description see: Vatican City and The Rise of the Church of Rome A brief overview of "Early Church Fathers" or writers and theologians commonly referred to in the early centuries, finds a wanton disregard for Jewish civil liberties or fair treatment. (See: Edicts & Declarations or Church Fathers. Historical lists of early "Popes" differ between secular and evangelical historians and vatican historians.

Tensions between the Jews and the Vatican have lasted centuries: the Roman Church is widely known in history for persecutions, even violent against the Jews and against those considered heretics which have included both the doctrinally sound (waldenses) and true heretical positions ( such as arianism) and some with mixed doctrines such as the albigenses. The Spanish Inquisition which lasted for over 600 years is reknown for its cruelty, confiscations of property, clandestine 'trials' and charges of heresy followed by torture and death often through beheadings. In the Middle Ages @(1486) the "Malleus Maleficarum or "Witch's Hammer" provided the grounds of declaring as occult those coming against the teachings of the Roman Church. While it was intended as a guideline against witches and for exorcisms, it was used broadly in setting aside the 'enemies' of Rome. Church relations and attitudes towards the Jews have never been stellar.

As history progressed, the Church, now seemingly divested of the "Holy Roman Empire" kept its sense of "Empire" and became more and more political. With the advent of the 20th century, while Vatican City remained a seemingly small geographic point, its economics, banking, power and political influence extend virtually worldwide. Property owned by or bequeathed to the Roman Church extends into values in the billions and is located in every major city.

In the Shoah, the Vatican was a powerful agent, but its historical role continues in debate. Before the war, the Vatican seemed to have a dialogue with both the Jewish Community and the the encroaching Third Reich: history had conspired to place a cardinal seemingly friendly to the Jewish community in Jerusalem, and certainly knowledgeable, and concessions were made as the war years increased to protect Jews when possible, although this ended up as more of an individual effort than a collective effort on the part of the Vatican. The Encyclical called "With Burning Concern" was written early in the Reich, in which representatives of the Nazis, including von Papen met with Papacy officials agreeing with moderation on mutual interests: primarily the cessation of the growth of communism, which threatened both entities. While Jesuits as individuals were in influential positions, and while many of the the elite of the Gestapo and other leaders had strong Catholic backgrounds, while the influence was of little doubt, the degree of direct appointment and intervention/placement is still being determined historically. As the Shoah increased, the most the Vatican did was to serve as a pulpit decrying war in general, but the promised condemnation of the treatment of the Jews of Europe never came. The Jews of Rome (see Pius) were assured that should the Nazis arrive at their doorsteps for deportation, that any costs in keeping the Jews safe would be provided via Vatican loans to the Italian Jewish community, but when the Jews were rounded up for deportation, all communication for the intervention ceased, and the vatican promises were not forthcoming, which amounted to a deliberate betrayal.

The effects of Holy See decision-making during the war also colored the verdict on the Roman Church's behavior in the war. As mentioned before , individual acts of benevolence did take place, although often with requests for conversions, and some monasteries and convents provided refuge for the Jews and some clergy were jailed or executed protecting Jewish life.. Far many more however did just the opposite: the most extreme case was in Jasenovac, the "Balkan Auschwitz", in Zagreb, where priests dressed in full clerical garb participated in cut-throat executions and daily oppression in the camps. (See Zagreb-Jasenovac). Towards the end of the war, as well there were questionable circumstances. Basque soldiers from Spain under fascist leadership went to falling Berlin to aid in Axis resistance to Allied encroachement. Vatican "Mercy" trains usually used to providing medical supplies, food, clothing and evacuations were used in troop transport. The Basque soldiers remained in Berlin, but their transport trains, vatican trains were used not to take the soldiers back to Spain, but to transport Nazi Gold and confiscated wealth out of crumbling Berlin and surrounds. Many of the Hispanic soldiers died in battle, some were imprisoned and of the few who returned, many were executed. As the war ended, it is now known that the Vatican Bank and other world banks helped to launder and transfer funds out of the Reich, and helped many war criminals to escape justice in what is now nicknamed the "Vatican Ratline". In later post-war years, the Roman Church along with others have been held accountable for purposely misleading investigative authorities regarding the amounts and existence of accounts for restitution to survivors. Even today, worldwide, lawsuits continue regarding assets, restitutions, remunerations and restorative compensations. (See "The Church & Shoah in the News. The most reasonable summation that can be made, is that at the local level, there were clergy of noble spirit and character who sacrificed in the saving of Jewish lives, but the Church as an institution, other than verbal support, either stayed completely silent, or actively participated in the Shoah. It is reasonable to address that the Roman Church, not unlike other large Church organizations and other religious organizations, acted more as Political power or 'body politic' than as 'ikklesia'.