Reverend Moon's power within the GOP

The Council for National Policy unites all of the major Religious Right leaders into a single political entity. Key CNP members are Gary Bauer (formerly with the Family Research Council), James Dobson (Focus on Family/Promise Keepers), Jerry Falwell (formerly of the dissolved Moral Majority), Bob Jones III (notorious for calling the Pope "the Anti-Christ" and his University's racialist policies), Reverend Tim LaHaye (bestselling author of apocalyptic novels -- e.g. "The Indwelling"), Beverly LaHaye, Ralph Reed (Bush advisor/formerly director of the Christian Coalition), Pat Robertson (Christian Coalition), Christian Reconstructionist R.J. Rushdoony, Phyllis Schlafly (Eagle Forum), Paul Weyrich (Free Congress) and John Whitehead (Reconstructionist/Rutherford Institute).

Also part of the CNP are dozens of Right Wing political figures such as Senator Jesse Helms, Former Sen. Lauch Faircloth, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Representative Dan Burton, Former Rep. Bob Dornan, Alan Keyes, Jack Kemp, Sen. Jon Kyl, Ed Meese (Reagan's Attorney General), Sen. Don Nickles, Oliver North, and professional Clinton haters Larry Klayman (a Jews for Jesus proponent) and Floyd Brown.

New Right Kingpins such as Joe Coors, Robert Cone and Amway's Rich DeVos are leaders of the CNP. Others are represented by proxies, as in the case of Richard Mellon Scaife. Clearly Judicial Watch's Larry Klayman is a Scaife representative on the CNP. Additionally, Scaife's fellow Heritage board members -- Edwin Feulner, Jerry Hume, Frank Shakespeare -- are key figures in the Council.

The CNP is an extremely secretive organization that meets behind closed doors to strategize and coordinate it's campaigns. It's like a grand convention of representatives from the many different Right Wing factions [38] . As Joe Conason and Gene Lyons write:

In essence, the CNP functions as the central committee of a theocratic "popular front"--an alliance of individuals and groups who set aside their differences for the sake of fighting a common enemy. Abstractly stated, that enemy appears to be America's constitutional separation of Church and State; more concretely, the CNP's targets are liberals, most Democrats, and "secular humanists" of all sorts, including moderate Republicans. Many influential CNP members adhere to a doctrine known as "Christian Reconstructionism", which essentially argues that the U.S. Constitution derives it's earthly legitimacy from the Bible as interpreted by Protestant fundamentalists. ["The Hunting of the President", p. 138].

What is most frightening about the CNP is that it's membership includes proxies for none other than the notorious Reverend Sun Myung Moon! Moon is, of course, the messianic cult leader of the Unification Church, who decries individuality and calls America "The Kingdom of Satan". Most outrageous is that Moon claims that he has replaced Jesus Christ as the World's savior!

Moon's consigliere is Bo Hi Pak--and together they wield a truly astonishing power within the Republican establishment. It is common knowledge that Moon (a.k.a. "Father" -- as he is lovingly called by the Moonies) is essentially the owner of the arch-conservative "Washington Times". In fact, some of the "Times" editors and journalists have resigned in protest over Moon's editorial interference.

Recently, Moon's network took over United Press International. The day after the acquisition was announced, veteran Washington reporter Helen Thomas resigned from UPI.

(Table of Contents)

Poppy's Sugar "Father"

Moon's influence over the Republican establishment is most obvious in his relationship with George Bush Sr. [39] , with whom he shares a history of covert activities [40] . Of these, the most scandalous was Iran-Contra. We now know that Bush was not only "in the loop", but likely played a lead role in this now notorious affair. As detailed in Robert Parry's "Lost History" and Russ Bellant's "The Coors Connection", several of Moon's front organizations, such as CAUSA, were integral components in the Iran-Contra scheme.

During the '90's, Moon paid "Poppy" (his nickname since WWII) Bush and Barbara hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of dollars in speaking fees. Sounds too incredible to be true? Check out this excerpt from a "Consortium" article by investigative reporter Robert Parry.

In September 1995, Bush and his wife, Barbara, gave six speeches in Asia for the Women's Federation for World Peace, a group led by Moon's wife, Hak Ja Han Moon. In one speech on Sept. 14 to 50,000 Moon supporters in Tokyo, Bush insisted that "what really counts is faith, family and friends." Mrs. Moon followed the ex-president to the podium and announced that "it has to be Reverend Moon to save the United States, which is in decline because of the destruction of the family and moral decay." [Washington Post, Sept. 15, 1995] [41] .

In another article Parry writes: "One well-placed former leader of Moon's Unification Church told me that the total earmarked for former President Bush was $10 million. The father of the Republican nominee has declined to say how much Moon's organization actually paid him for speeches and other services in Asia, the United States and South America." (Parry, the Consortium, 10/11/00 ).

(Table of Contents)

Republican Family Values?

As further evidence of Moon's power in high places, Republican leaders recently attended a Washington Times gala to honor Reverend Moon. Those in attendance included Alexander Haig (Reagan's Secretary of State), Sen. Orrin Hatch, Sen. Strom Thurmond, House Manager chief Henry Hyde, Chris Cox and Caspar Weinberger (Reagan's Defense Secretary). According to the Washington Times, General Haig embraced Reverend Moon and called him his "soulmate"! (This was covered by Jeanette Walls in her MSNBC column; Feb. 22, 2000).

Even Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has acted as a pitchman for the Reverend!

When U.S. Sen. Trent Lott stood before his fellow lawmakers in 1993 and encouraged them to support "True Parents Day," some said he was doing the bidding of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church." ("Parents Day shows links of Moon's church to GOP": Alabama's Mobile Register, Ben Raines, 7/30/00).

Later in the article, there is this quote from Lott's speech at the '93 event.

"I wish to join the Women's Federation for World Peace in celebrating July 28, 1993, as True Parents Day. I also urge my colleagues in the U.S. Senate, and all citizens of our Nation to recognize and support True Parents Day and the restoration of God-centered families in our society," the senator from Pascagoula said in 1993, finishing up by inviting Senate members to attend a presentation by Moon's wife, the president of the Women's Federation for World Peace.

The devout mormon Utah Senator Orrin Hatch was the emcee for the Moonie event plugged by Lott.

The following day, after an introduction by Sen. Orrin Hatch R-Utah, Mrs. Moon gave a lecture on Capitol Hill, during which she revealed that she and her husband are "the first True Parents." In Unification dogma, as Moon explained to the crowd, the True Parents will save humanity. The reverend himself sat in the front row during the speech, surrounded by members of both the House and Senate.

The article also mentions appearances at Moonie events by Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Jack Kemp (Bill Bennett's co-chair of the Heritage Foundation's "Empower America"). It concludes with this quote.

On Friday in Mobile, Alabama state Sen. George Callahan, R-Theodore, spoke at the American Leadership Conference, a Unification-sponsored event.

"I've attended several of their sessions and events. They seem to want to diversify and become part of the larger religious community of Mobile," Callahan said. "They aren't pushing their religion, it's more family values. That's why they invite me. My platform falls in line with theirs. I'm a pro-life, family values politician."

Do Senator Callahan's family values include using cult techniques to estrange people from their natural families, and then pairing them with strangers in arranged mass weddings? Are Moon's groups the kind of faith-based organizations that George W. Bush plans on funding under his program of "Compassionate Conservativism"?

Recently, Reverend Moon and the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan joined forces for the "Million Family March" in Washington DC ("Million Moon March": Salon, Clarkson, 10/9/00). Were "Compassionate Conservatives" duly impressed by this display of Family Values?

Republican politicians also express admiration for football coach Bill McCartney's "Promise Keepers" movement -- though hopefully not for the similarities between the Promise Keeper's male-bonding stadium events and Moon's mass weddings.

Coach McCartney and the Promise Keepers work closely with James Dobson and his "Focus on Family" network. McCartney was a member of the Word of God "shepherding" movement, and he continues to apply this background as the leader of the Promise Keepers. Russ Bellant's "The Coors Connection" identifies other Word of God followers who hold key positions in conservative organizations such as the Free Congress Foundation and the Christian Voice, one of Rev. Moon's key front groups.

(Table of Contents)

Moon's Ambassadors

The Christian Voice is headquartered in the Heritage Foundation building in Washington DC. The chairman is Dr. Robert Grant, who is also a member of the Council on National Policy. It is therefore likely that Grant represents Moon's interests in the CNP.[42] .

Dr. Grant also chairs the American Freedom Coalition, another Moon front group that received over $5 million dollars from the Unification Church. Among the AFC's projects for the Right Wing community was a fund-raiser for Oliver North.

Moon also appears to have a CNP proxy in Washington Times executive Ronald N. Godwin. Amazingly, another Moon ally may in fact be former Christian Coalition leader and prominent George W. Bush advisor Ralph Reed! [43]

Equally astonishing is that Edwin Feulner -- the President of the Heritage Foundation and a CNP leader -- has enjoyed a long association with Reverend Moon. As far back as the mid-seventies, the Fraser Congressional Committee reported on Feulner's ties to Moon. The below excerpt is based on Russ Bellant's highly regarded expose' of the Right Wing Network, "The Coors Connection" [South End Press, 1991]:

DR. EDWIN J. FEULNER, Pres., Heritage Foundation.
FREEDOM LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION (FLF) -The political arm of the Unification Church of America. Dr. Feulner's connections with the Korean Central Intelligence Agency through the Freedom Leadership Foundation (FLF) were investigated by the Fraser Congressional Committee. [44]

In the early 1980s, the KCIA began making donations to Heritage Foundation. In turn, Heritage established an Asian Studies Center which The Nation magazine of 1/23/89 states "has quartered apologists for [So. Korean Prime Minister] Chun's regime." [From "The Coors Connection" [45].."

The Wall Street Journal of August 1995 does not mention Sun Myung Moon, but references the Korea Foundation, one of Heritage's largest donors and an affiliate of the South Korean government. The article clearly states that the Heritage Foundation promotes pro-Korean legislation:

"...Heritage's Mr. Feulner himself has taken an active role in promoting South Korean issues in Congress through actions such as testifying before committees to promote the think tank's pro-South Korea positions. Meantime, one in six of Heritage's 24 known major donors last year -- gifts of $100,000 or more -- were Taiwanese or South Korean concerns. Over the past three years, Heritage has received nearly $1 million from the Korea Foundation which is funded by South Korea's Foreign Ministry, says the embassy's Mr. Lee." [46] .

Isn't it interesting how many of the Right Wing Leaders head ideological followings, some of which are regarded as cults? Together the Heritage Board and the CNP are comprised of Reverend Moon's proxies, the Amway families, Gary Bauer, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Paul Weyrich and Christian Reconstructionist chieftains!

Needless to say, it is very disconcerting that the leaders of ideological movements so disparate meet secretly to plan political strategies with Capitol Hill Republicans.

(Table of Contents)

Bailing out Falwell and Viguerie

Speaking of Jerry Falwell, "The Hunting of the President" details how he and his Liberty University were saved from financial ruin in 1995. Their saviors were none other than Reverend Moon and his compadres! [p. 141 & 159]

Basically, Moon's organization gave a $3.5 million "educational grant" to the Christian Heritage Foundation, run by Jimmy Thomas and Dan Reber. An official from Moon's organization told reporter Robert Parry that this grant was for "'Reverend Falwell's people' for the benefit of Liberty University". It turned out that the Christian Heritage Foundation had assumed almost half of Liberty's $73 million debt for $2.5 million, which they then forgave.

Falwell had met with Moon's people previously, and he and Reber even journeyed to South Korea for an audience with Moon himself. Reber's company, Direct Mail Communications, received over a third of it's income from Moon's organizations, and the rest mostly from direct mail campaigns for Oliver North, the NRA, the Republican National Committee and Governor George W. Bush.

But that is only recent history, as Moon, Falwell, Weyrich et al. go way back. It seems that Moon was really reciprocating a long-standing favor owed to Jerry Falwell.

In 1976, Weyrich, [Richard] Viguerie and Howard Phillips attempted a takeover of the American Independent Party and, in the wake of failure, turned to Jerry Falwell to form the Moral Majority. When Rev. Moon was indicted in 1981 for fraud and criminal tax evasion, Falwell unexpectedly joined with other religious leaders to present an amicus curiae(friend of the court) brief on behalf of the Reverend Moon. A 1987 Seattle Times explained "How Rev. Moon Got Ensconced with the New Right" via Paul Weyrich's network:

"Ron Godwin, an influential former vice president of Falwell's Moral Majority, is one of several who experienced a conversion...

"...Eighteen months later, Godwin joined the Moonie - owned Washington Times as a senior vice president, where he also serves as emissary to conservative Christian leaders. [46].

In 1987, Moon helped another old Religious Right buddy, direct-mail wizard Richard Viguerie. Since Viguerie is also in the CNP, he would be another likely proxy to represent Moon's interests.

"Then there's Richard Viguerie, until recently more than $1.5 million in debt, according to Fairfax, Va., court records. They indicate that in mid-October the U.S. Property Development Corp. paid $10.06 million to 7777 Associates for the suburban Virginia office building including Viguerie's headquarters. Viguerie owned 72 percent of 7777 Associates, according to Virginia records, and U.S. Property's president is Moon's right-hand man, Bo Hi Pak.

"Viguerie now serves with Abernathy on the five-man board of the Moonie-dominated American Freedom Coalition. The coalition, which claims a 'house list' of more than 300,000 member-contributors, is also Viguerie's biggest new direct-mail client." [46].

(Table of Contents)

The Weyrich-Scientology Connection

But wait--it gets even stranger! There are reports that the Church of Scientology is involved with Paul Weyrich and the Council on National Policy.

(CCHR) is a Scientology front which, in 1995, proposed that parents sign a pledge to eliminate psychology in the public schools. [So that they might substitute L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics!] The CCHR Pledge was heavily promoted by CNP organizations such as the Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, Concerned Women, etc. and Carolyn Steinke, who serves on the board of Scientology front Citizens Commission for Human Rights (CCHR). Clay Bock, a Scientologist of 20 years and education reform leader sponsored a conference which featured Carol Steinke as keynote speaker. The Orange County Register states that Steinke received a 1995 Award from the Scientology-supported CCHR.

Citizens Commission for Human Rights also funds Paul Weyrich's American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), according to a letter by Carol Steinke, a copy of which we have on file. An offshoot of Paul Weyrich's American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) recently honored the wife of Sun Myung Moon, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. The award was presented by Robin Brunelli, president of the National Foundation for Women Legislators and the wife of Sam Brunelli, the Director of ALEC and long-time member of the CNP. For more information, the extensive connections between the Council for National Policy and Sun Myung Moon were discussed at length during an AFN radio interview of Chey Simonton by Kelleigh Nelson.

Carol Steinke also sits on the board of Citizens for Honest Government (CHG) whose president is CNP member Pat Matrisciana (See Main page about Matrisciana), producer of a video against 60 Minutes after the latter's expose of Scientology. Matrisciana also heads a video "ministry" called Jeremiah Films which produces antigovernment agitation propaganda, e.g., The Clinton Chronicles, The New Clinton Chronicles, The Death Of Vince Foster: What Really Happened?, Obstruction Of Justice: The Mena Connection, The Mena Cover-Up: Drugs, Deception And The Making Of a President, The '60 Minutes' Deception.[47]. (See also [48]).

The CCHR web-site features "Articles by L. Ron Hubbard", as well as a section titled "Why is Scientology Opposed to Psychiatry?". Below are excerpts from a 1998 letter sent to CCHR supporters by CCHR President Bruce Wiseman.

CITIZENS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL Established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.

Wiseman's letter mentions a CCHR joint effort with Weyrich's ALEC.

Two years ago we started a similar [anti-psychiatry] project with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Also at the CCHR web-site is the below list of endorsements of the 1995 pledge. CNP-linked groups are in italics.

Organizer of the press conference, Carolyn Steinke, director of Parents Involved in Education, said that the pledge was vital, and should be signed by parents, teachers and children across the nation, because "school children are no longer treated as students but as patients."

Congressman Sonny Bono [note: Bono was a Scientologist, and his Congressional seat was won by his widow, Mary], a leading advocate of true educational reform, opened the press conference and was the first to sign the Pledge. He was joined by such individuals and groups as California State Senator and Chairman of the Education Committee, Raymond Haynes; Gary Young, President of the Hemet, California Unified School District Governing Board; Ron Sunseri, former Oregon legislator; the Eagle Forum; Citizens Commission on Human Rights; Family Research Council; The Rutherford Institute; Concerned Women of America; National Parents Commission; Kentucky Alliance; Taxpayers Involved In Education; and American Policy Foundation.

Is this the extent of the Religious Right's involvement with the Church of Scientology -- or does it go further?

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

Answers

You need to stop reading this stuff Cherri. My staunch Lutheran democrat popa wouldn't vote for Kennedy in Nov '59 for fear of the Vatican. He learned later by watching. Give yourself the same chance. Relig nuts will always be with us. They're kinda like fleas. The trick is to scratch, bite, then move along and trust that the rest of the pack is doing the same. You can. We are.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

No. Popa wasn't a screwball voting a year early. Just me doing the DUH.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

And then there's Jane Fonda. Last I heard she was a born-again Jesus freak who is still a Lib feminista.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

Carlos instead of being naive, and promoting helplessness, why not debunk the article? Why not tell us all how this all means little? These folks think it dam important, but you do not, why?

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

Cherri, are you sure that all these people are Christian Reconstructionists?

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

Whatever happened to the Christian Left? It seems like the Left has dissociated itself from Christianity, preferring to ridicule their extremists rather than court their much more numerous center. This will cost you many votes.

The Christian Left has a noble tradition, most notably in anti-slavery. The Abolitionists were motivated by Christianity. It's a stretch to call them Lefties but why not go for the stretch? In modern times there was the Civil Rights and anti-war Christian Lefties and the Social Justice Christian Lefties (remember "Liberation Theology"?).

Don't forget that the most devout Christian president of modern times was a Dem---Jimmy Carter. Anita, you like to think that "they all do it". Do you think Carter took "head" in the Oval Office? He probably never even lusted in his heart while there (except maybe for Roslyn, a most attractive woman).

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

Lars:

Where did I ever imply that "They all do it?" I know for a fact that fellatio has been used by men in power to avoid sexual charges if anyone learned of their activities. These men weren't just in government. They were CEO's, etc. It's a topic I've followed for many years.

Carter? Nah. All that guy had to do was smile and put on a sweater and I smiled and put on a sweater [AND turned down my thermostat.]

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

I wish I had the reference Anita but I understood you to say something like that on a recent thread here or at Unc's. I think you were defending Clinton's peccadilloes. (ie, they were "only" sex, everyone does stuff like that, etc). If my recollection is wrong, I apologize.

My larger point above has to do with the recent inclination of the Left to shun Christianity. You are giving Christions to the Right by default. Until very recently there was such a thing as the Christian Left. Maybe it is still there, but then you should stop identifying the "Christian Right" as if that were a tautology.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

Lars:

I know exactly what thread you're referencing, and it was on Unk's [where I STILL think I was talking to Ken.]

OF COURSE there are Christians of the left, the middle, and the right. I even know IRL some Christians of the left and middle. These folks tend to LIVE their faiths [okay...I'm stereotyping there. The ones I KNOW tend to LIVE their faiths.]

You've prompted my memory. It was on the "Lipton is a religious freak" thread. My understanding [from reading the bible twice] is that judgment for Christians comes from the Lord. Betty Bowers has a site devoted to satire/humor on the issue of "I'm a better Christian than you." You've CERTAINLY seen evidence on these boards of purported Christians who feel that THEY should judge people. Why aren't they leaving it up to the Lord to judge?

I didn't agree with anything Russ said or did, but who the hell am *I* to judge whether he should have a website devoted to what he believes?

SOME of the above groups are scary to non-Christians like me because they join together in PACS that influence government. They're scary to left and middle Christians, as well, simply because they think that what THEY believe is what EVERYONE should DO.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2001

FactFinder how do you support these folks? Being a Christian and all?

How bout you Poole?

Gee no kidding most of this "stuff" means little. But even if 5% of it is accurate(which it is and more), how can a Christian rallying behind these freaks? Please enlighten me.

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

Lars:

My larger point above has to do with the recent inclination of the Left to shun Christianity. You are giving Christions to the Right by default. Until very recently there was such a thing as the Christian Left. Maybe it is still there, but then you should stop identifying the "Christian Right" as if that were a tautology.

I don't think that the left or the moderates shun Christianity. The right has just re-defined what it means to be Christian. You have bought their story. By the way, what is a Christion.

Cheers,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

Z--

I haven't bought a thing. I have observed that the Establishment Press likes to use the phrase Right Wing Christian as if it was one word; as if all Christians are on the right. If that is true, it is a relatively new truth. If THAT is true, it may be because the Left has driven most Christians in that direction.

If THAT is not true, then the Christian Left is too quiet. Are there still Christian-Left mags like Commonweal? Are there still Christian-Left leaders like the Berrigan brothers, Father Groppi, Bishop Pike? I do know that Rev Barry Lynd(?) is still around. And of course there is always the Rev Jackson, LOL.

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

Z--

I will partly answer my own question. The Liberal Catholic magazines America and Commonweal are still alive and I presume well. This pleases me.

I link one article from the current issue. It is relevant. No, I haven't read it. It is too long to read before "The Sopranos" at 9:00 (non commercial TV) but I did scan the last part by EJ Dionne.

The Crisis of Liberal Catholicism

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

The Crisis of Liberal Catholicism, Commonweal

-- Anonymous, March 18, 2001

Now THIS is rather interesting from the link above we get to:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/112001/march%209,% 202001/3901rv.htm

The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930– 1965

Michael Phayer

Indiana University Press, $29.95, 324 pp.

---

Under His Very Windows

The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy

Susan Zuccotti

Yale University Press, $29.95, 396 pp.

---

reviewed by Richard Cohen

---

Pius XII: Not vindicated

It is a peculiar statue. The work of a well-known Italian sculptor, Francesco Messina, it is set about halfway into Saint Peter's to the right of the main nave, next to a painting of Saint Sebastian and immediately opposite a statue of Pius XI. Pius XII is standing, in full regalia; his papal cloak envelops him, draped over his shoulders like a protecting towel as if he had just emerged from a swim. With one hand he blesses the faithful, but his face is turned away to the right, as if someone or something is distracting him. The face itself commands attention. Its lower half is finely formed, ascetic—the mouth small, symmetrical, full-lipped; the nose straight, Roman, slightly humped in the center of the bridge. Above it the eyes are hidden behind thick spectacles, like the goggles worn by racing drivers of fifty years ago, making the whole visage forbidding, even sinister. It has authority, but of a daunting kind.

For the Vatican to commemorate a past pope with such an effigy is extraordinary; but then finding the right way to see a man who was known in his lifetime as "the most holy one" has been a perennial problem. When, on October 9, 1958, Pius XII died, he was immediately hailed by Catholics as a saint. "It was as though you were touching heaven with your little finger just to get an audience with him," a Vatican archivist has recalled. He was the object of praise, admiration, and gratitude. Then in 1960, as Michael Phayer writes in The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, Eugenio Pacelli's reputation underwent a change with statements by German Catholic bishops at the time of the Adolf Eichmann trial in Jerusalem and on the eve of the Second Vatican Council. The cardinal of Munich, Julius Dopfner, spoke of regrettable decisions that had been made by church leaders during the Nazi era, and collectively German bishops apologized for the "inhumane extermination of the Jewish people."

Even then there was little or no criticism of Pius XII from Jewish organizations. Many Jews were far from pleased at Pius's stance, but only with German playwright Rolf Hochhuth's The Deputy in 1963 did the floodgates open. The criticism from all sides grew so intense, including people walking out of churches at the mention of Pius's name, that the Vatican ordered a special defense.

Paul VI, who had been one of Pius's closest advisers, ordered that all Vatican documents relating to the war be made public (twelve volumes have now been published, the final one in 1981, though as Phayer makes clear, several important papers have not been released). In November 1965, undaunted, Paul VI further instructed that the first steps should be taken toward declaring Pius XII a saint. In the week of his election as pope, Paul wrote a public letter announcing, "History will vindicate the conduct of Pius XII when confronted by the criminal excesses of the Nazi regime."

History has done no such thing. There is now a shelf of books assessing Pius's career, the most contentious of which, John Cornwell's 1999 study Hitler's Pope, may well have set back the Vatican's schedule for beatifying the pontiff.

One of the many virtues of the two books under review is that, although the authors have read Cornwell and use some of his research, they do not make the same mistake of stacking the evidence. Phayer's book, particularly strong on German source material, is at pains to list Pius's strong points—his piety, his loathing of Hitler, the instances of personal warmth, the occasions when he criticized Nazism. Phayer examines not only Pius's actions but those of other leading Catholics, and his study extends beyond the end of the World War II to follow the evolution of official Catholic thinking during the rebuilding of Germany, the cold war, and the gradual theological reforms that led to Vatican II. This enables Phayer to show how the church "completely reversed its position relative to the Jews," but it also gives him a more thorough reading of Pius XII's overall record. It is a damning and convincing verdict that emerges.

Phayer, who is professor of history at Marquette University and the author of Protestant and Catholic Women in Nazi Germany, dismisses the argument that for Pius to speak out would have made matters worse. He argues that Pius was a man "whose deep concern about communism and the intact physical survival of the city of Rome kept him from exploring options on behalf of the Jewish people." Further, Pius's fondness for Germany and his wish to play a major role in brokering peace meant that he favored "a diplomatic remedy for a moral outrage." The Vatican "gambled, putting its moral authority at stake for the sake of a favorable diplomatic position." Quoting from the private diary of the French Catholic writer Germaine Ribiere, Phayer finds Pius "psychologically and temperamentally incapable of decisive action."

Of course, most of these criticisms have been made before, but Phayer's even-handed approach to Pius's character and the breadth of his analysis, taking in the Vatican's role throughout Europe from well before the Holocaust to the postwar years and beyond, gives his book an authority that is greater than any other work since John Morley's 1980 study, Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews During the Holocaust (Ktav Publishing House).

Toward the end of Phayer's book, his detached tone deserts him a little and anger breaks through. His argument that Pius not only was sympathetic to leading Nazis after the war, but also actively helped in organizing an escape route for them is not fully convincing. Much rests on the exact standing of the pro-Nazi Austrian bishop, Alois Hudal, who on his own admission harbored Nazi war criminals—including Adolf Eichmann. Hudal was working in Rome throughout the Nazi era, and according to Phayer acted as an intermediary between Pius and the Nazi occupying forces. Susan Zuccotti, on the other hand, describes Hudal as "not a confidant of the pope" and having "little influence in the Vatican." At the least, it is a case not proved.

---

Zuccotti's book, Under His Very Windows, is almost a companion volume to Phayer's. There are considerable areas of overlap, particularly in the episode which gives her book its title—when, in October 1943, 1,959 people were rounded up and detained within half a mile of the Vatican, the majority carted off in cattle trucks to die in Auschwitz, without the pope making any effective protest. For the most part, however, Zuccotti, who has written two previous books on the Holocaust, has a different ambit than Phayer. She is interested in looking at the papacy's record concerning the Jews under Italian control from 1928 on, even before Hitler's coming to power. She thus is critical of Pius XI as well as Pius XII, and she also goes further than any previous study in examining in detail every claim made in their defense.

Thus while Phayer accepts that Pius XII made concerted efforts to help Italian Jews hide, Zuccotti takes every instance where Pius is said to have so acted and subjects it to scrutiny: What did he do for Jews in Italian- occupied Croatia, or for Jews in France? What did he do after the October 1943 round-up to help hide Jews in Roman convents, monasteries, hospitals, and schools? In Vatican properties? What part did he play in the attempts to rescue Jews in the North or Central Italy, in Venice or Trieste? What exactly did he do, and what was in his power that he did not? If he did little, why did so many Jews after the war go out of their way to thank him?

Zuccotti's conclusion is as absolute and thorough as Phayer's. Disturbed by "the fundamental dishonesty of claims from ostensibly reputable sources that the Vatican helped refugees far more than in fact it did," she ends by confronting "the myth of papal involvement in the rescue of Jews." If Pius XII intervened at all, "that intervention was limited almost entirely to Jews who had become Catholics." In Italy and all areas occupied by Italian troops, she summarizes, "large numbers of priests, nuns, monks, and Catholic laypersons risked their lives to save Jews with little guidance from the pope."

These two books, taken together, seem to me the most convincing, and thus the most important, summary of the church's involvement with the Holocaust from the early 1930s to the present day. The care with which they have been written makes them especially moving. Yet they will not be the end of the story. The film rights to Hochhuth's 1963 play have recently been sold to a Spanish producer. The director will be the world-famous Greek filmmaker, Constantine Costa-Gavras, whose credits include Z and Missing. He is known for his highly politicized semifactual approach, and has stated that he wants "to reach a mass audience with films about oppression and injustice." Perhaps Phayer and Zuccotti's publishers may get their books to him in time.  [end]

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2001

And all the absolutists would do well to remember whether they are RC or Ch.Recons or whatEVER..........

Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone.

Followed nicely by "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord and **I** will repay....." not the Power Mad like Robertson, Dobson, Bauer and the rest of the BUSINESSMEN posing as "devout".

AMERICA has survived worse and from its founding the idea of the "DIS- Established Church" has served everyone well (except the leaders of those denominations totally convinced,,,,,,theirs is the ONLY way._)

-- Anonymous, March 22, 2001