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April 13

Pius XII and Mussolini

[...]il più grande uomo da me conosciuto e senz'altro fra i più profondamente buoni: al riguardo ho troppe prove per dimostrarlo.

[...] the greatest man I have known and certainly among the most profoundly good: in this regard I have too much evidence to prove it.

It would have been said by Pius XII about Mussolini in 1952 but I had found no reliable sources, only veterans' and propaganda websites. Today, however, I found it in a book by Arrigo Petacco (more a journalist than a true historian in fact), L'uomo della Provvidenza, Mondadori, 2004, page 9. This is a secondary source because the primary source is not cited. There is a scant bibliography at the end of the book.-- Carnby (talk) 06:58, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have a question? Clearly that source cannot be trusted. Thousands of quotes are attributed to famous people with no citations, and I definitely would not trust them. Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:41, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I would ask whether a more reliable source about this quote exists or it should be considered definitely spurious.-- Carnby (talk) 08:55, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Here are two possible explanations for the apparent lack of reliable sources for this alleged statement.

Pacelli did not say this, or, if he did, it was not recorded in a traceable form.
There is a ginormous conspiracy, probably directed by the Vatican, to keep the information hidden from the faithful by making accessible sources disappear.

Take your pick. Occam's razor may apply. Apart from that, it might be somewhat believable if Pacelli had said something like this in 1932, when Mussolini had reconciled with Pius XI, but in 1952, praising the leader of a government that had already proved itself manifestly antisemitic when Pacelli ascended to the papacy? Also consider that Mussolini was an avowed atheist, known for his caustic attacks of Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular – temporarily suspended in the early 1930s but then resumed. --Lambiam 13:36, 13 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]