Was Benedict XVI a good pope?

Answer 1

There has been much discussion about that. As an administrator of the Roman Catholic church he did well enough, but he has been much blamed for never condemning Nazi atrocities while these were happening, although he must have been well aware of them through reports of his many representatives in Germany, Poland and occupied Europe. After WW II many Nazis, including infamous people like dr. Mengele and Adolf Eichmann managed to escape to South America through a network that was aided and abetted by institutions of the Catholic church, and Pius XII has also been censured for not stopping or condemning this.

Answer 2

A:

Like all humans, Pope Benedict XVI had his faults as well as his good points, but overall was probably a better pope than many of his recent predecessors.

As a cardinal, he took a strong stance against paedophilia. In his role as Head of the the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he is credited with leading important changes made in Church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statute of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders. It is reported that Cardinal Ratzinger had wanted to take action against Marcial Maciel Degollado, but that Pope John Paul II and high-ranking officials, including several cardinals, prevented him from doing so. Unfortunately, the evil of paedophilia continued under Benedict's watch, so perhaps he should have done more as pope.

Not all popes have chosen to stand down before their failing health and mental faculties prevented them from carrying out the duties of pope satisfactorily. Pope Benedict XVI should be commended for his abdication on 28 February 2013, because of his advanced age.

As pope, Benedict had a fondness for finery that represented a departure from the more austere tastes of Popes Paul VI and John Paul II. For example, he favoured gold, jewel-encrusted mitres that neither of his immediate predecessors, nor Pope Francis would be comfortable with. In spite of this, he saw no irony in condemning what he called excessive consumerism, especially among youth. Richard Sipe reports a widespread belief in the Vatican that Benedict XVI was gay, but there is no suggestion that this prevented him from discharging his duties as pope.

Answer 3

A:

Pius XI was pope from 6th February 1922 to his death in 1939. The evidence is mixed, with Pius XI showing some admirable qualities as well as an ability to put aside moral qualms and past tradition when this benefitted the papacy or the Church. He had a violent temper, of which the cardinals and others who came to see him lived in fear.

An accomplished scholar, librarian and priest, he issued numerous encyclicals, including Quadragesimo Anno in which he addressed the condition of workers and the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He also commissioned an encyclical Humani Generis Unitas ('The Unity of the Human Race') to denounce racism in the US, Europe and elsewhere, as well as antisemitism, colonialism and violent German nationalism, but died without promulgating it.

His most important legacy was the Concordat he signed with Mussolini, to stave off bankrupcy for the Holy See. Not only did that turn the Vatican into an enormously wealthy organisation, but it led indirectly to overturning a long-held and apparently infallible and unchanging doctrine against usury. St. Ambrose defined usury as "whatever is added to capital," and this represented one of the most grievous sins of Catholic tradition. The practice of earning interest from loans and investments was condemned from by various councils, from the Council of Nicaea onwards, but under Pope Pius XI the Vatican's funds were lent out at interest or invested in profitable enterprises, some of which were quite contrary to Catholic teaching.

Another important legacy was his support for Mussolini and the fascist regime in Italy, particulary as Hitler used that support to convince German Catholics he had the Church on his side. Then in 1933, he approved a Concordat with Nazi Germany. Hitler was ecstatic, saying in a letter to the Nazi Party on 22 July 1933, "The fact that the Vatican is concluding a treaty with the new Germany means the acknowledgement of the National Socialist State by the Catholic Church."

Answer 4

Catholic Answer:
Pope Pius XII was a most saintly man, head and shoulders above his successors and many of his predecessors. During his papacy the Catholic Church did more than all other countries combined to rescue, house and feed Jews. Pius, at the risk of his own personal safety, would disguise himself as a simple Franciscan friar and go into the streets of Nazi occupied Rome late at night to rescue Jewish families. Remember, Hitler had placed a price on Pius' head and wanted him taken prisoner. As long as Pius remained in the Vatican, he was relatively safe. On the streets of Rome it was an entirely different story. After the war, the head rabbi of Rome, was so impressed by Pius that he converted to Catholicism and took the Christian name of Eugenio after Pius' birth name. Pius spoke out vigorously against the Nazis until he started receiving pleas from clergy in Nazi occupied countries to "cool it." When Pius spoke, the Nazis simply responded by ramping up their atrocities.

Pius XII should have been declared a saint shortly after his death in 1958. Unfortunately, he was the victim of the Kremlin's disinformation campaign which they titled 'Operation Seat 12' - see link below. As Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev put it, "Dead men can't defend themselves." At one time, the Soviets had more people assigned to their disinformation campaigns than they had soldiers in the entire Soviet army.

For more information on Operation Seat 12, the Soviet disinformation campaign against Pope Pius XII click here.

Answer 5

We may never know the truth about the involvement of Pope Pius XII in World War II, nor whether he helped ex-Nazis or, on the other hand, Jews. Perhaps on these issues, he should be given the benefit of the doubt. However, his fingerprints are all over the Enabling Act, the passage of which enabled Adolf Hitler to assume dictatorial powers. The (Catholic) Centre Party was in coalition with Hitler's party, which needed a two thirds majority for passage of the Act. The Centre Party's chairman, Ludwig Kaas, a Catholic priest, was a close confidante and friend of Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII. With Vatican prompting, Kaas argued strongly within his party for its support of the Enabling Act, then left almost immediately for Rome. Within four months, a Concordat had been signed by Pacelli on behalf of Pope Pius XI. The Concordat improved the position of the Catholic Church in Germany, but especially provided for a church tax of 9 per cent from the gross salaries of all practising Catholics. As pope in the aftermath of World War II, Pius XII put a high priority on preserving the Concordat from the Nazi era.

On the broader issue of whether Pius XII was a good pope, he has often been accused of nepotism - somewhat of a different sort from that of the Renaissance period, but nepotism nevertheless. There is a fine line between nepotism and outright corruption, a line that a good pope would not even approach.