Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was the Greek Orthordox Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece from 1941 until his death in 1949. Thus he was the religious leader of most Greeks during World War II and the Nazi occupation.
Unlike Pope Pius of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Papandreou stood up to the Nazi's in a clear and unambiguous fashion. He wrote and published a letter demanding equal treatment for the Jews who were being rounded up by the Nazi's and sent to camps. He stood up to the criminal actions of the government and was willing to pay the price. The German Commander Jurgen Stroop threatened to put him in front of a firing squad. The Archbishop famously told him:"According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions!"
The Archbishop also quietly told his priests to issue baptismal certificates to Jews who were under suspicion of being Jews by the Nazis so they would not be sent to camps. He stood up in the face of evil without fear or favor and did the right thing.
23 comments:
Unlike Pope Pius of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Papandreou stood up to the Nazi's in a clear and unambiguous fashion.
Your information about Pope Pius XII is incorrect. As has been detailed in a number of books about Pius in recent years, he:
> Oversaw the organization of massive efforts to shield and aid targets of the Nazis, Jews in particular. These efforts, coordinated by the Vatican, saved between 700,000 and 860,000 -- more than any other effort saved, except for the end of the war itself.
> Was pointed in his criticism of the Nazis before and during the war. He was the force behind an encyclical by his predecessor, Pius XI, which was smuggled into Germany, written in German, called Mit Brennener Sorge, and ordered it read from every Catholic pulpit. That was in 1937. In 1941 and 1942, the New York Times commended Pius, in war-time editorials, for being a lonely voice against Nazism.
> Assisted the allies, and the German resistance, at great risk to himself and the Church.
Quite a lot has been written on this subject, of course. The main lines of attack on Pius XII have taken severe hits on their credibility. The origin of the calumny is clearly the Soviet-prompted play "The Deputy," and John Cornwall's Hitler's Pope has been pretty thoroughly demolished. A number of very well researched works have been published that paint a very different picture. See here (and scroll down for recent historiography): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII_and_the_Holocaust
Now, it is true that Pope Pius XII did not issue the sort of thundering statements we might prefer. That said, however, he was entirely surrounded by the Axis, and at risk of kidnapping and worse at any time. Perhaps he decided that carrying out good works -- which he undoubtedly did, on a massive scale -- counted more than words.
It's notable that the chief Rabbi of Rome during that time converted to Catholicism, and took the name Eugenio (the pope's given name).
It is the difference between Pius and the Archbishop that I am pointing out Father. The Archbishop stood up and spoke out in no uncertain terms. He was much more vulnerable than Pope Pius. I am sure that Pope Pius took many steps to help the Jews. Under the table. Away from the spotlight. Without using his moral authority to sway many believers to the right thing to do.
That's the difference I was pointing out. You put your finger right on it.
Listen to that rooster. How many times did he just crow?
Pope Francis is coming to America. Will he say anything about Planned Parenthood? I know he will be in Philly. Will he go to Gosnell's abortion clinic to say a prayer for the unborn? When he speaks to the United Nations will he vehemently preach about the persecution of Christians and the wholesale murder of the Copts and Yazidi's and the Kurds by ISIS?
Or will he ride through Central Park in the Pope Mobile and wave to the crowd?
What is reasonable for a Catholic to expect?
Maybe I am wrong to point this out. I am weak. I don't know if I would speak out the way I suggest Pope Pius should speak out. So I guess it is wrong to point out that he fell short. We all fall short and depend on Jesus's mercy.
But I do feel that the current Pope can speak out in ways that seem to be foreign to him. I guess I am asking too much from him. I have lost friends over this issue. I just think that he is really mistaken and I am sick about it.
So the Benedict solution is the way to go.
My Dad's Greek patients used to gift him with pastries. They were very simple soft cookies covered with powdered sugar. Very fragile. They would crumble in your hand if you weren't careful. The taste was almost unearthly good. Anyway, I've been pro-Greek ever since.
In fact my statement is not incorrect. The Pope did not publicly and vociferously speak out in defiance of the Nazi's in the way that the Archbishop did with his letter.
"The thunderous statements" are in fact point I was making.
They are also severely lacking today. I wonder why?
The Vatican was in the middle of Occupied Italy and a lot of top Nazis (Bormann, Himmler, Goebbels) wanted the Catholic Church taken out along with the Jews - Goering even alluded to it in his speech to the German people as head of the Gestapo the night Hitler was made Chancellor.
Doubtless, the Pope had to walk a fine line because there was next to nothing to stop the Krauts from rolling on in.
A lot of Resistance cells were composed of Catholic priests and nuns, some run by the American Ambassador to the Vatican. There were also those inside the Vatican who were on the Krauts' side.
Bravado isn't always smart. Gotta go with the padre on this.
Gotta go with Trooper York on this one. No offense intended Father Fox....we all have our opinions.
So what does the current Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Athens have to say on the matter?
I don't know but I suspect that he is not in favor of rounding up the Jews. But you never know.
I know the President doesn't have a problem with it. So you never know.
Trooper:
Well, it strikes me as odd to fault Pius for not doing enough for the Jews when his efforts on their behalf resulted in at least 700,000 rescued. If you read what has been written on this (I have read several books), this was a massive effort on the part of the Vatican, all of which had to be hidden from the Nazis. Add to this the fact that Pius actively helped the allies, and the resistance in Germany.
Now, of course, he could have denounced the Nazis in the loudest terms possible. When the bishops in the Netherlands did that, even more vicious retribution was dealt out by the Nazis, both against the Church and the Jews. That might have been on Pius' mind.
Had Pius been arrested by Hitler -- he had plans to do so -- and taken to Germany, or had he "had an accident," might not the massive efforts he was coordinating have suffered? Perhaps this was part of his calculation? Say more v. save more?
Hard for me to fault him, particularly since his actions were undeniably heroic. You're faulting him for not being even more heroic. That seems strange to me.
I am not expressing myself properly Father. I am just contrasting what the Pope did in relation to what the Archbishop did. That is what I was pondering.
It ties into the Kim Davis situation in a way. She did not have to take a stand. She did not have to put her career at risk. It is of course in no way the same as the Nazi's and the Jews but in a small way she was called to bear witness.
I can not condemn Pope Pius. I certainly don't have that right. It is just as Spiderman would say those who have great power have a great responsibility.
As a famous moral relativist once said "Who am I to judge."
Those are interesting questions, Troop.
What will the new pope say? Whathisname? [new pope] Francis heh heh heh Fra-a-a-a-a-n-siss. That's a friend's name, I give him no end of grief. It's a GIRLS's name if it was spelled differently, I guess, it translates to Frank, thud. So, Pope Frank. My guess, condemn the excess of capitalism, distortion of markets on human values, shortcoming of democracy chief among them inability to deal effectively with THE CRISIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
Perhaps he should drop in San Francisco and say, "Hello. Peace be upon you. I said, settle down. Greetings everybody from Rome. I must say it is a great pleasure to visit with all you faithful gathered today in California here at Saint Me.
But I suck at pope-related prognozzlecation.
I just wish that the Pope would address the Planned Parenthood videos. I googled Pope Francis and Planned Parenthood videos and could not find anywhere that he addressed the substance of what was revealed in those videos.
Has anyone else found something? Somewhere he denounced Planned Parenthood directly in no uncertain terms? Talked about it the way he talks about climate change?
Maybe the plight of the unborn is not an area of interest for him.
The original proposition is a kind of apples and oranges question, but, yes, he should come out strongly against the peddlers in flesh, as it were.
Seems there are a lot of people in Rome who'd like it, too.
Can a Pope be impeached?
The chalice with the palace or the vessel with the pestle?
Trooper:
I don't have any issue with you wanting Pope Francis to say more about certain things. I want that too. But you dragged Pope Pius XII into it. That got me going.
I think they share certain things in common. Omission is a sin right?
"Omission is a sin, right"?
It can be. Not always.
Sometimes it is just bread crumbs to tell you what the path they are following and where it end up. Just sayn'
I am equally averse to politics in religion as I am to religion in politics. The two should never be joined. Like I said earlier, I'm in your corner on this issue.
Not to take away from that Orthodox Bishop, who was a hero, but Pope Pius was not a collaborator with the Nazis and Hitler almost assassinated him.
If you want a betrayer of Jews, go look at FDR. He went out of his way not to help them every chance he got. Jews were those people they never let come up to Hyde Park.
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