Papal Espionage and the Third Reich

In March 1939, throngs descended upon St. Peter’s Square to await the election of the successor to Pope Pius XI. They didn’t have long to wait. In the quickest conclave in four centuries, Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who had served as Pius XI’s secretary of state, was elected, choosing the name Pius XII to honor his mentor.

Among those who witnessed his inauguration was Joseph Roth, the great Austrian novelist and fierce opponent of Hitler. Roth contrasted Pius XII’s elevation with the rise of the Third Reich: “The pre-apocalyptic beasts who now dominate politics are already alluding to their true motives for persecuting the Church. [Pius XII] is the only one who really hurts them. What’s more, those who were not afraid of the pope before are now afraid of this one.”