Welfare Work of Pope Pius XII

The Vatican issued stamps in 1942, 1944 and 1945 to recognize the ‘Welfare Work of Pope Pius XII for the Benefit of War Prisoners’ during World War II. Welfare Work of Pope Pius XII For the Benefit of War Prisoners First Issue 'MCMXLII' (Scott 77-79, 1942) Welfare Work of Pope Pius XII For the Benefit of War Prisoners Second Issue 'MCMXLIII' (Scott 84-86, 1944) Welfare Work of Pope Pius XII For the Benefit of War Prisoners Third Issue 'MCMXLIV' (Scott 99-101, 1945) Pope Pius XII has been criticized over the years for his silence during World War II concerning the Jews and the Holocaust, along with the Catholic Church doing nothing to help them. Research has shown that Pope Pius XII and the Church did everything within their power trying to prevent more killing and imprisonment of Jews and others. The Pope instructed religious to hide or provide support to these individuals. They hid them in monasteries, convents, seminaries, and other institutions. This was more easily done around Rome because many of these places were part of the Vatican City, which had extraterritorial status granted by the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that created the Vatican City State. Outside of this area, Catholics hid many Jews and others from the Nazis and their allies. Some have said that the Pope and the Catholic Church should have done more, yet the situation in the Netherlands is a primary example of what happened when the Church did speak out. The Dutch bishops denounced the Nazis every opportunity they had. The Nazis who were occupying the country rounded up all Jews in response and sent them to concentration camps where many died. Pope Pius XII and other Catholic leaders took note of what occurred in the Netherlands and were more cautious about their criticism of the Nazis. They did not want to escalate the number of victims and to save as many as possible. Through the Vatican Information Office, Pope Pius XII setup a powerful system for prisoners of war to communicate with their loved ones, and for their loved ones to learn about their imprisonment. Young and old appealed to Pius XII for help in locating missing sons, husbands, relatives, and friends. As a result, the office the Pope set up to deal with such requests sought to provide information and comfort. To help the effort, Vatican Radio broadcasted many shortwave messages asking for news about missing individuals. Not only are there hundreds of thousands of documents regarding this activity in the Vatican Secret Archives, but there are also millions of letters with additional information on file cards for each of these individuals. References: • Wikipedia, "Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust" • Margherita Marchione, "Crusade of Charity: Pius XII and POWs, 1939-1945" Article Links: • Anonymous, “Pope Pius XII and His Works of Charity During World War II” Vatican Notes, Vol.16, No. 6, pp.1-8 (1968)