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    The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
    The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
    The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler

    Written by Peter Eisner

    Narrated by Rick Adamson

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Drawing on untapped resources, exclusive interviews, and new archival research, The Pope’s Last Crusade by Peter Eisner is a thrilling narrative that sheds new light on Pope Pius XI’s valiant effort to condemn Nazism and the policies of the Third Reich—a crusade that might have changed the course of World War II.

    A shocking tale of intrigue and suspense, illustrated with sixteen pages of archival photos, The Pope’s Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler illuminates this religious leader’s daring yet little-known campaign, a spiritual and political battle that would be derailed by Pius’s XIs death just a few months later. Peter Eisner reveals how Pius XI intended to unequivocally reject Nazism in one of the most unprecedented and progressive pronouncements ever issued by the Vatican, and how a group of conservative churchmen plotted to prevent it.

    For years, only parts of this story have been known. Eisner offers a new interpretation of this historic event and the powerful figures at its center in an essential work that provides thoughtful insight and raises controversial questions impacting our own time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 19, 2013
    ISBN9780062266323
    Author

    Peter Eisner

    Peter Eisner has been an editor and reporter at the Washington Post, Newsday, and the Associated Press. His books include the award-winning The Freedom Line and The Italian Letter, which he wrote with Knut Royce. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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    Reviews for The Pope's Last Crusade

    3.5/5

    4 ratings3 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Another Conspiracy Theory book based on the supposed 'murder' of Pope Pius XI and the pro-NAZIism if Pope Pius XII. Facts and hearsay twisted to fit an agenda and propaganda, when all evidence points otherwise.
    • 5/5
      Having read many mentions of a Pope Pius and his collaborations with Mussolini and Hitler during World War II, I was astonished - for many reasons - with this book.First, despite many previous references in both novels and non-fiction to Pope Pius, it quickly became obvious that there were two Popes during the start of World War II,one good man, Pius XI, and one shrewdly evil, his successor, Pius XII.The book notes that this has confused many people, mostly non-Catholics or non-Historians.Second, it is one of the few non-fiction books I've ever read straight through and will remember forever.It is as suspenseful as any murder mystery, despite that a Pope's "divinity" prevents a solution.Utimately devastating was the revelation of the ongoing inaction of both John La Farge (author of [Interracial Justice]) and Gustav Gundlach. They co-authored the final Encyclical requested by Pope Pius XI, a document which,if delivered on time as requested and published,could not only have changed the course of World War II, but saved many, many people from horrific deaths.
    • 4/5
      An interesting read, but ultimately disappointing, in that the "American Jesuit," Fr. John La Farge was totally out-played by his Jesuit superior in Rome. I was under the impression that Jesuits took a special vow of allegiance to the pope, which, I would think, would supersede his obedience to his order's head man. Indeed, I did not finish the book because Fr. La Farge's ignorance and naivete' became so disquieting. On the other hand, the book provides a fascinating glimpse into the Vatican and Europe (especially Italy and Germany) of the 1930s. It was intriguing to learn of Pius XI's insistent and sincere distaste for Mussolini and Hitler and what they stood for (especially in light of how his successor dealt with the same issues), and how he had to battle his own aides and ministers who were more sympathetic to the despots. It was also pleasing to learn that Pius XI was a LIBRARIAN for a time prior to his assuming the papacy, gotta love that!