Researchers assess the Vatican’s reactions to petitions from Jews

Initial findings from the -Asking the Pope for Help- project: approach of Christian charity clearly recognisable during the Nazi period. Around 10,000 petitions like this one were submitted to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people during the Second World War. WWU - Norbert Robers The team of researchers led by church historian Prof. Hubert Wolf has so far read and analysed only 850 of the approximately 10,000 petitions written by Jewish people and submitted to Pope Pius XII during the Second World War. But initial findings and tendencies identified by the experts, who have been working on the project since October 2021, show that, as project team member Dr. Elisabeth-Marie Richter says, -The Curia certainly didn-t provide standardised responses - despite the large number of petitions. Rather, it dealt with each case individually. One thing we have to bear in mind, she adds, is that the pleas for help from Jewish people only accounted for about three percent of all petitions which were sent to the Vatican during the Nazi period. This makes it clear, says Richter, how large the number of appeals was which were received by the Holy See at the time.