A leading Italian politician is giving his support to plans for a
museum in Rome to commemorate the memory of the wartime pontiff, Pope
Pius XII.
“I’ve taken on the impetus of this important idea that wishes to give
the proper place in history to this great Pope,” Italian Senator
Stefano De Lillo told CNA.
“During his life he was exalted by all, and at the time of his death
the Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, said that he died a ‘grande
giusto’ – a ‘great, just man.’”
The plans for the museum are at an early stage but they have already
been discussed at an international conference organized by Sen. De Lillo
this month. The idea has also gained the support of the former Italian
Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks, however, is the continually
recycled accusation that Pope Pius didn’t do enough during the war to
save Jews from persecution. Sen. De Lillo hopes the new museum can help
set the record straight.
“There are so many writings from Italian and Roman Jews who thank the
Pope for having permitted them to seek refuge in convents, institutes
and churches throughout Rome. It is estimated that at least 5,000 people
were saved through the direct action of the Pope.”
“We can say that a museum of this type can help give back a just
historical truth, in full harmony with our elder brothers of the Jewish
religion, with whom our rapport is extremely good,” the Italian lawmaker
said.
The museum idea was initially given to Sen. De Lillo by the
90-year-old New Jersey nun, Sister Margherita Marchione, who has been
campaigning since 1995 to clear the name of Pope Pius XII.
In fact, over
the past 16 years she’s become one of his leading biographers.
Sen. De Lillo says the museum would “bring together all of the
documentation that the sister possesses, along with other documentation
possessed by other sites.”
He also wants to mark what he sees as the bravery and loyalty of Pope Pius towards the citizens of Rome during the war.
“Thanks to Pope Pius XII, Rome was declared an ‘open city’ during the
Second World War so it was prohibited by an international convention to
bomb the city,” Sen. De Lillo recalled.
Actually both before and after the granting of this status in 1943,
Rome was bombed by both Allied and Axis powers. But unlike the Italian
king, Victor Emmanuel III, and the country’s dictator, Benito Mussolini,
who fled Rome due to the threat of bombing, Pope Pius XII remained in
the city throughout.
“After the war, the citizens and the city of Rome put up a plaque in
Pius XII Square near the Vatican thanking the Pope for having saved
Rome,” the senator noted.
The Romans also honored him with the title “Defensor Civitatis” or
“Defender of the City,” which is the name Senator De Lillo would like to
give to the new museum.