Klaus D. Kuck’s denunciation of the Catholic Church for its “deafening silence” in regards to Nazi atrocities committed against Europe’s Jews is such nonsense that I can only wonder at his audacity in repeating it in this forum once again (Dec. 3).

Kuck doesn’t refer to him explicitly, but we know from his past letters that he considers Pius XII, the wartime pope, to have been the worst offender in this alleged dereliction of duty. Now if it can only be shown that Pius was not an unspeaking bystander during that crisis, then the charge of total, unmitigated silence that Kuck levels against the whole church is exposed for the despicable slander that it is.

It’s an indisputable fact of history that Pius XII’s denunciations of Nazism and the persecution it visited on European Jewry were reported in major newspapers worldwide. In America, the coverage given by The New York Times throughout the war (1939-1945) was nothing short of massive. Here are just a few of its eye-opening headlines:

“Vatican Denounces Atrocities in Poland” (Jan 23, 1940);

“Vatican Reveals Terrors in Poland” (Jan. 23, 1940);

“Vatican Amplifies Atrocity Reports” (Jan. 24, 1940);

“Poland’s Agony,” an editorial praising the Vatican for its detailed disclosures of Nazi crimes (Jan. 24, 1940);

“Jews’ Rights Defended” by Pius XII (March 14, 1940);

“Vichy Seizes Jews; Pope Pius Ignored” (Aug. 27, 1942);

Vatican “Denounces Decision to Intern and Strip All Jews in Italy” (Dec. 4, 1943).

Deafening silence? In what universe?

William LaRochelle, Lewiston

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