Peter and John had just performed a great act of mercy and compassion. Through their prayers, a man who had been crippled from birth was completely healed of his infirmity! And how do the Jewish religious authorities respond to this act of kindness? They throw the apostles into jail, and put them on trial before their Supreme Court! You think they would have been happy that there was one less beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the Jerusalem Temple, but they weren’t. They were enraged! Peter, it seems, was shocked at their reaction. And so he says to the members of the Sanhedrin—almost in a tone of disbelief: "If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple . . . then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead."

An act of love—performed in the name of Christ—portrayed as evil.

I think Pope Pius XII could relate. My homily today will consist of a series of "Did you knows." I do this because over the last 37 years Pius has been attacked—especially in the secular media—as being at the very least indifferent in the face of the Jewish Holocaust, and at worst a full blown Nazi collaborator. And the fact is: both are lies! Over the last several months I’ve done a great deal of reading and personal research on this matter. And it’s only made clear to me something which deacon-to-be Mike Najim has said many times: "We are the most lied to generation in the history of the world!"

Here are some facts which many of you probably have never heard before:

Did you know that prior to 1963 nearly everyone—Jew and Gentile alike—praised Pius XII for what he did during the Second World War to help save the lives of about 800,000 Jews?! That’s right—800,000 Jews. (That figure, by the way, comes from a Jewish historian, Pinchas Lapide, who defended Pius in a book he wrote back in 1967.)

Here are some examples of the positive testimonials about Pius before 1963:

Golda Meir, who would later become Prime Minister of Israel, said this when Pius died in 1958:

"When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for its victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out about the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace."

Many others, like Rabbi Joachim Prinz, President of the American Jewish Congress, praised Pius for helping Jews during the Holocaust. Rabbi William Rosenblum of New York publicly thanked Pius for hiding "thousands of Jewish victims of Nazism and Fascism in the monasteries and convents of various Catholic orders."

Did you know that even Albert Einstein praised the Church for its clear anti-Nazi stand prior to and during the war? These words of Einstein were quoted in Time Magazine on December 23, 1940:

"Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany I looked for the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the case of truth; but no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom. But they, like the universities were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I had never any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess, that what I once despised, I now praise unreservedly."

In 1945, toward the end of the war, Israel Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem said: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundation of true civilization, are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history, which is living proof of divine Providence in this world."

Did you know that the New York Times, which has published a number of slanderous articles about Pius in recent years, praised him in their Christmas editorials of 1941 and 1942?! Either the Times was lying then, or they’re lying now. Here’s what they said in 1942:

"The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe this Christmas . . . He is about the only ruler left on the Continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all." The Times was commenting on the Holy Father’s Christmas message that year. Would you like to know what the Nazis thought of that same message? Listen to what the Gestapo said about it: "In a manner never known before . . . the Pope has repudiated the National Socialist New European Order [i.e., Nazism]. It is true, the Pope does not refer to the National Socialists in Germany by name, but his speech is one long attack on everything we stand for. . . . Here he is clearly speaking on behalf of the Jews."

And here’s an extremely big "Did you know": Did you know that the Chief Rabbi of Rome—who knew what Pius was doing to help Jews as well as anyone did outside the Vatican—did you know that this man, Israel Zolli, became a Catholic after the war and took Pius’ baptismal name (Eugenio) as his own?! Later Eugenio Zolli wrote his autobiography. It was entitled Why I Became a Catholic, and in it he had nothing but praise for Pius.

So what happened to cause this 180 degree turnaround in public opinion? What caused this horrible, diabolical revision of history? a play! That’s right—a play! In 1963 a man named Rolf Hochuth wrote a play called, "The Deputy," in which he portrayed Pius XII as coldhearted, silent and indifferent in the face of the Jewish Holocaust. (This is a perfect example of how people can be manipulated by the arts and the entertainment industry.) At first there were many protests against the play from Catholics and Jews alike, but over time it’s message has become "accepted historical fact." And here’s one final "Did you know": Did you know that Mr. Hochuth, the author of this slander, was once a member of Hitler Youth?! So now—get this—the world believes a lie put forth by a man who was a Nazi disciple in his youth! And you think the world isn’t crazy?!

Many Catholics are wondering why Pius XII is being considered for canonization. Many Catholics and non-Catholics are wondering why John Paul II did not apologize for the "silence" of Pius XII when he was in Israel last month. It’s because John Paul II knows the truth! And so do we need to know the truth. Pius XII hid Jews in the Vatican and at his summer residence at Castel Gondolfo. Knowing that a protest which was too strong would only result in more Nazi murders, Pius used the resources of the Church in a quiet manner to help save as many innocent people as possible. As Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda chief, wrote in his diary in 1943: "Again and again reports reach us that the Pope is feverishly at work during this entire crisis." Goebbels was right; Pius XII was at work!