Why didn t Pope Pius XII join in Allied statements condemning the Axis nations?
In September 1942, Pius XII was approached by the Allies to join in a statement condemning the Nazi atrocities. This was to be an official statement of the Allied governments and, as such, it was impossible for Pius XII to join the effort. However, in his annual Christmas message of 1942, Pius XII would speak out once again forcefully. Pius condemned totalitarian regimes and mourned the victims of the war: the hundreds of thousands who, through no fault of their own, and solely because of their nation or race, have been condemned to death or progressive extinction. He called on Catholics to shelter any and all refugees. The statement was loudly praised in the Allied world. In Germany, it was seen as the final repudiation by Pius XII of the new order imposed by the Nazis. The Gestapo reported that Pope Pius XII is virtually accusing the German people of injustice toward the Jews, and makes himself the mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminal. Pope Pius XII did not join in with official All
