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>> as the war rages outside the vatican walls, pius xii becomes a target. rumors fly about a nazi plan to kidnap the pope. >> hitler actually got a general and told him to draw plans to invade the vatican. he gathered everyone together and released them if they wanted to leave, but he also submitted a letter that was his resignation that said, if i am captured, i resign the papacy. so, they will not capture the pope, they will capture eugenio pacelli, but not the pope. >> as bombs go off and jews are rounded up right under the pope's windows, pius xii must take stock. his diplomatic efforts ha...

Passed, including a boycott of all jewish businesses. enemies of the state, including catholic priests, are put on trains to labor camps. >> the concentration camp some have described it as the world's biggest seminary. at one point in time there were thousands of catholic priests there. >> 2,500 catholic priests died at daka. not catholics, catholic priests. >> at this point there's no way that the church and the third reich are going to get along. >> the vatican writes more than 50 complaints to nazis about the violation of the reich's concord ant. but pius xi doesn't speak out

The reich's concord ant. >> like the treaty, this was a defensive measure. the state says, okay, we will allow the church control over its affairs, but the price to be paid is that the church is not to be involved in politics. it's a controversial agreement. some see it as sort of a pact with the devil. it effectively takes the church out the political realm at the moment when opposition to evolving dictatorship was more needed than ever. it was a fatal stepping back from confronting pure evil. >> although the reich's concord ant prevents the vatican from working against hitler, many german ca...

Wilheln whom pacelli met when he was in germany in the 1920s. he reached out to his friend and said, help me and help germany get rid of hitler. canares then had access to explosives. >> between 1940 and 1944, there would be three failed attempts to assassinate adolf hitler. information about these plots are still shrouded in conspiracy theory, undocumented proof of pope pius xii's role is almost nonexistent. >> the pope knew he had to keep quiet about it. if he kept written records, he could get people killed. >> the pope is not involved in any of the details. he helps to facilitate the conta...

>> in 2016, as pope francis walked through the shadows of auschwitz, he must face the legacy of his predecessors. he prays for the mistakes he has inherited and for the lessons that will carry the church forward. >> pope francis is a radically different kind of pope than the catholic church has seen for a long time. he has the rule of love. that's it. love your neighbor. and if you're diagnose that, then you're a good catholic. >> modern popes engage in politics at the highest level. regularly meeting with world leaders and taking meaningful stands against atrocity and injustice. john paul ii ...