Breaking News: There ARE Good Priests!
From the YouTube platform…
This question runs through Dennis’s mind regularly: What kind of person would risk their lives to hide someone they don’t know? Dennis once asked a Jewish couple who had been hidden in Poland during the Holocaust—if they had hoped to be rescued/hidden, whose door would they knock on: a lawyer, a doctor, an artist, or a priest? The answer reveals something incredibly important about the future of this country.
Editor writes…
During this period of turmoil in the Church, when we seem to hear nothing but bad things about priests, this is an encouraging reminder that their are good, faithful priests out there and that, still, despite it all, most people expect priests to act courageously to assist them when in danger. Let’s hope not just priests, but Catholic laity as well would “hide a Jew” if – God forbid – any such horror as the German persecution were to recur. Our Lord loved His people – He would expect no less of us…
Comments (10)
That’s a lovely video. I do like the Fireside Chats and this one is particularly touching.
I’m very proud of the fact that the Jewish couple picked “priest” out of the list of possible people to turn to in need. That’s wonderful.
I also like to think I would “hide a Jew” in those circumstances, or anyone else in such dire need. It’s getting like that with the “anti-vaxxers” campaign against those of us who won’t take the vaccine! We may have to go into hiding soon, LOL!
Lily,
I agree that is a lovely video, and, it has been a little while since we have listened to one. I do like the Fireside Chats, and, as you say this one is particularly touching.
Yes, that the Jewish couple picked “priest” out of the list of possible people to turn to in need, is a wonderful thing to hear about. Like you I would like to think that I would “hide a Jew” in those circumstances, even anyone else in such dire need.
I do think that the way things are a present, it would not surprise me that those of us who won’t take the vaccine might have to go into hiding soon. I have the feeling that in Australia not long ago about so called “quarantine camps” being set up – and – where do they go from there?
Theresa Rose,
I fear you are correct about the possibility – likelihood even – of a persecution of the unvaccinated. It’s already happening, but at an early stage. Today, in Wales, anyone who wants a night out will need to show proof of either vaccine or a negative test. What lies ahead, I dread to think. Nights out, will be the least of our worries!
I’d definitely give a room to a Jew hiding from persecution before I’d even think of giving a room to any of the illegal “migrants” pouring in from France, as we’ve been asked to do in the past without any guarantee that they’re not terrorists.
I thoroughly enjoyed the video and it was like a breath of fresh air to hear someone praising Catholic priests, even if he added “evangelical ministers” at the end – an ecumenical Jew LOL!
I sincerely hope I’d help to hide a Jew in that situation – I would pray for the grace to, that’s for sure.
Josephine,
I noticed the inclusion of evangelical ministers, too, by Dennis. He has a lot of invitations to speak from various Christian groups and he’s interviewed some evangelical ministers so he won’t want to offend anyone. In any case, I like to think that anyone who seeks to follow Christ would, indeed, help “hide a Jew” in such dreadful circumstances of persecution.
I can’t recall Dennis interviewing any Catholic priest but that’s more of a relief than anything. I saw Ben Shapiro (also a Jew) interview Bishop Barron and it was cringeworthy, specifically because Ben knew perfectly well that he was not hearing the real thing.
We have only started listening to the first 7 minutes or so; therefore, we may be offering something touched on later in Mr. Prager’s comments. We would simply point out that the European Jewish community in the 1930s and 1940s was fairly tight-knit, and had a very good secure communications system. When you look at the lies that have been spun (including books) accusing Pope Pius XII of turning his back on the Jews of Italy, we should not be surprised that the Jews of Rome really knew the truth and knew as well just who to turn to for help.
Author J. P. Gallagher wrote a book published in 1967 titled “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican,” about Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and the network he ran out of the Vatican during the months following the Italian surrender to the Allies in September, 1943. Mons. O’Flaherty (who bears a striking resemblance to actor Karl Malden) donned disguises to get Allied prisoners and Jews (as well as some Communist partisans, though he really detested Communism more than Nazism), to safe houses. The book was made into a movie in the early 80s titled “The Scarlet and the Black,” with Gregory Peck as the good Monsignor, Sir John Gielgud as Pope Pius XII (who is portrayed in the movie as being a bit reluctant to help), and Christopher Plummer as the Monsignor’s arch-enemy, Colonel Kappler. It is not completely true to the story, and even though the book is a quick read, if you wish to watch an interesting (if not completely accurate) portrayal of the SS occupation period with the Church coming out looking like the heroes, watch The Scarlet and the Black.
Anyway, to answer the question Dennis Prager raises, this is the answer: the Jews of Europe knew that priests would protect them, and the stories of the Catholic aid to Jews drove them to seek help from rectories and priories. By the way, as an interesting aside (and as proof of widespread Jewish respect for the Catholic Church), Rabbi Israel Zolli of Rome was so impressed with Monsignor O’Flaherty, Pope Pius XII, and the Church in general, that he converted to Catholicism in 1945. We will not be guilty of a spoiler alert, so we will not tell you who else was converted by the Irish Monsignor; you will have to read the book or watch the movie to the very end.
Marinaio,
Your very interesting comment reminds me of the many such comments posted by Athanasius over the years, totally destroying – as you have done here – the myth of the negligent Pope Pius XII.
On the day the archives were opened in Rome (March 2020, I believe), this nugget appeared in Zenit…
INTERVIEW: Thanks to Pius XII [left], Almost a Million Jews Saved from Nazis, Says Jewish Man Who Hated Pacelli But Now Calls Him a Hero.
Not only did Rabbi Zolli convert to Catholicism, he named his child, Eugene, after Pius XII.
I cannot believe the nerve of those who claim that Pope Pius XII did not do all he could to assist the Jews in wartime, but it’s interesting that one major critic – John Cornwell – suddenly turned his fury on Pope Saint Pius X blaming him for the child abuse scandals because (wait for this nonsense) he allowed Confession/First Communion at age 7.
Gimme a break!
With logic like that (or lack of it), he’d have to blame whichever Government official(s) permitted children to attend school at 5 years of age, because, schools and many other institutions are also, sadly, guilty of child abuse. As I say…
Gimme a break!
Editor
All eminent Jews in the world who were contemporary with Pius XII could not praise this Pope highly enough for his actions to save their people during the Nazi pogrom. It was only with the introduction of Rolf Hochhuth’s calumnious play “The Deputy” (1963) that history fell into the hands of dishonest revisionists who re-wrote the story to make Pius the villain. Hochhuth himself was a Catholic-hating Protestant from Hesse in Germany, not to mention a former member of the Hitler youth. A Romanian spymaster by the name of Ion Pacepa later revealed that Hochhuth had acted on behalf of the KGB, his work being the catalyst to launch Stalin’s “black legend” operation to turn the world against Pius and the Church. There is not a single honest Jew in the world who would subscribe to the lies generated against this Pope by the Communists, though there are some influential dishonest Jews in the world who happily go along with it. That’s why the Modernists refuse to canonise this Pope, whose cause has been ready for decades, because it would create a stumbling block for certain factions of political Jews in the matter of inter-religious “dialogue”.
Athanasius,
Your previous comments saying precisely that – that the well-known Jews who lived at the time of Nazi pogrom were full of praise for Pius XII reminds me of articles like the one linked below, which completely exposes the lies…
http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/history/79-history/223-jews-praise-pius-xii.html
Comments are closed.