Why didn't Pius call Vatican II?

Catholic Herald, 05 March 2020

Access to the Pius XII archives will affirm what is already known but may shed light on why the pontiff did not convoke Vatican II.

The opening this week of the Vatican archives from the pontificate of the Venerable Pius XII offers a chance for scholars to answer the most interesting and consequential ecclesial question of that dramatic pontificate.

Media interest will focus on the diplomatic questions, particularly in relation to the Jewish people during World War II.

They key ecclesial and pastoral question is different: why didn’t Pius XII call Vatican II?

Much of the initial reporting on the Pius XII archives will be a bore, revealing only what everyone already knows. Pius XII took decisive and heroic action to give practical aid to Jews; he did not lead a vigorous vocal campaign against the Holocaust, though he was certainly viewed by all players as a critic of the Nazis’ racial policies. The Nazis knew it; the international Jewish community knew it.

The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See likely gave the most succinct summary of the issue in 2011. Ambassador Mordechay Lewy was commenting upon the opening of convents and monasteries – including the papal residence Castel Gandolfo – to hide Jews when the Nazi occupiers began rounding them up.

“There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on,” he said. “So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true.”

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