The Popes on Air

Raffaella Perin is Associate Professor of History of Christianity at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan.

List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 1 The Popes and the Media: The Origins of Vatican Radio (1931-1939) 9 2 Vatican Radio and the Outbreak of the War (1939-1940) 33 3 Vatican Radio, National Socialism, and Communism 68 4 Vatican Radio, Racism, Antisemitism, and the Shoah 110 5 Toward the Axis Defeat: Vatican Radio, the Occupation of Rome, and the End of the War 142 Epilogue: The 1950s 177 Acknowledgments 183 Notes 185 Index 253

A concise and provocative study. . . Those who follow the arguments over Pius, World War II, and the Holocaust will find Perin's book indispensable.-- "Catholic Historical Review" Perin's book sheds important new light on how the controversial Pope Pius XII and the Vatican dealt with the challenges posed by the Second World War and the Holocaust. Vatican radio was a potentially precious source of news in Axis-occupied Europe, and a potent public platform for the Pope, yet he worried about broadcasts that might antagonize the Nazis and Fascists. The Popes on Air, for the first time, shows exactly how the Vatican made its way amidst these challenges.---David Kertzer, Pulitzer-prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini Perin's The Popes on Air: The History of Vatican Radio from Its Origins to World War II is a fascinating and historically nuanced study of Vatican Radio during WWII. The material in the book is largely based on archival research, some of which has only recently been made available to the public by the Vatican.---Melissa Dinsman. Assistant Professor of English at York College