What were some of Pope Pius XII's accomplishments?

Answer 1

One of his greatest accomplishments was to save hundreds of thousands of Jews and other persecuted groups from the Nazi's during WWII by hiding them in churches, monasteries and convents, even within the Vatican itself. Unfortunately, he is given little credit for this. Those actions to save the Jews should be sufficient in themselves to canonize him as a saint.

After World War 2 Pius became a target of the USSR to discredit his efforts to save the Jews and they had a specially designated disinformation group call Operation Seat 12. Unfortunately, many fell for these lies.

For additional information on Seat 12 click here.

Answer 2

A:

Pius XII was pope of the Catholic Church from March 1939 to his death in October 1958. He opposed the German invasion of Poland, criticised the Nazi atrocities, and was instrumental in saving many from the gas chambers, but some point to his relative silence on the Holocaust, perhaps unfairly.

In the only instance that ex cathedra papal infallibility has been explicitly invoked, he announced the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in his 1950 Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus.

Pius XII accepted the rhythm method as a moral form of family planning, although only in limited circumstances. In Humani Generis he acknowledged that evolution might accurately describe the biological origins of human life, while criticising those who "imprudently and indiscreetly hold that evolution... explains the origin of all things."

In modern times no head of the church was so indulgent in favouring members of his own family as Pius XII. Paul Hoffman (Anatomy of the Vatican) says that nepotism again became quasi-official in the Vatican under Pius XII, whose three nephews all played important roles during his pontificate and formed a tight little group that wielded great power in the Vatican. They all served on the boards of directors of many financial and business corporations that were controlled by the Vatican or by other church bodies. A nephew, Prince Marcantonio Pacelli, was for many years President of the Banco di Roma per la Svizzera, a subsidiary of the Vatican Bank.

Answer 3

Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews and other persecuted groups during World War II by opening Churches, convents and monasteries to accept and care for refugees.