- Description
- Consists of digital images of selected records from the Apostolic Nunciature in Paris related to the Papacy of Pope Pius XII from the files of Mons. Valerio Valeri and Mons. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII), papal nuncios to Paris (AAV, Arch. Nunz. Parigi). The selected records consist of communication on a variety of matters between the Apostolic Nuncios and the Vatican's Secretary of State, such as political reports, newspaper clippings, communication with other Nuncios and the Red Cross, and aid to Polish refugees. The selected records also feature reports and communications about Jews seeking to emigrate abroad and prisoners of war; post-war communications with the Rev. Edward J. Killion, the Vatican's representative to the United Nations in Geneva from 1947 to 1953 and administrative director of the Pontifical Emigration Office for Germany and Austria; and appeals to the Holy See for intervention from and on behalf of accused war criminals.
Of particular relevance to Jews are the following boxes and fascicoli:
-b. 619, fasc. 940, Nunziatura Apostolica di Francia, Guerra, Varie, Rifugiati politici, Archivio Monsignor Valeri (Apostolic Nunciature of France, War, Various, Political refugees, Monsignor Valeri Archive); features requests for information and searches for missing persons and political refugees: includes the case of Otto Abel, "non-Aryan Catholic" originally from Vienna and residing in Nice who is desiring to emigrate to Brazil, May to September 1941, features communication from Card. Maglione to Mons. Valeri.
-b. 620, fasc. 944, Ebrei (Jews); features various communication about assistance to baptized Jews, including letters with appeals from "non-Aryan Catholic" individuals interned in various concentration camps such as Saint Cyprien, Vernet and Gurs addressed to Pope Pius XII and Card. Maglione; communication from the Comite Catholique du Camp St. Cyprien; lists with names of Catholic Jews for visas to Brazil; communication with the section on foreigners of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vichy, concerning Jewish and political refugees; recommendations by the Raphaelsverein; various communication, such as from the nuncio in Switzerland Mons. Bernardini, from the Diocese of Nice, from Mons. Montini, from the Bishop of Bayonne, from the Centre Catholique d'Emigration, and others.
-b. 691, fasc. 783, Juifs (Jews); features post-war communication on Jewish matters and the state of Israel, including from a converted Jew residing in the Middle East who wants to remarry in the Church; report on the impending end of the British Mandate for Palestine by the president of the Sephardic Jewish community of Jerusalem dated January 22, 1948; newsletter of the Union of Zionist-Revisionists, April 1948.
Of particular relevance to accused war criminals is box 687, in particular the following fascicoli:
-b. 687, fasc. 729, Nonciature Apostolique de France, Archives de Monsignor Roncalli, Processi a "criminali di guerra" (Apostolic Nunciature of France, Monsignor Roncalli Archives, Trials of "war criminals"); features communication concerning L'affaire d'Ascq, a massacre perpetrated by the SS unit Das Reich at Villeneuve-d'Ascq in June 1944 (June 15, 1948 - February 25, 1953).
-b. 687, fasc. 730 to 732, Nonciature Apostolique de France, Archives de Monsignor Roncalli, Procès à des criminels de guerre, In ordine alfabetico: A-E; F-R; S-Z (Apostolic Nunciature of France, Monsignor Roncalli Archives, Trial of war criminals, In alphabetical order [in three folders]: A-E; F-R; S-Z); features appeals to the Holy See on behalf of accused war criminals (1948-1952).
-b. 687, fasc. 733, Nonciature Apostolique de France, Archives de Monsignor Roncalli, Prisonniers de Guerre, Périodiques (Apostolic Nunciature of France, Monsignor Roncalli Archives, Prisoners of war, Periodicals); features press, French periodicals for and about POWs and war crimes trials.
(See Indice 1086 - Archivio Nunziatura Parigi, 1921-December 23, 1944, compiled by Gianfranco Armando, 2008; Indice 1086A - Archivio Nunziatura Parigi, January 1, 1945- June 1960, compiled by Gianfranco Armando, 2010)
- Date
-
inclusive:
1939-1953
inclusive:
1939-1953
- Collection Creator
- Valerio Valeri
John XXIII, Pope, 1881-1963
- Biography
-
Mons. Valerio Valeri (1883-1963) was born in Santa Fiora, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1907. He served as a military chaplain during World War I and entered the Roman Curia in 1920 as a staff member of the Secretariat of State. He was auditor of the French nunciature from 1921 to 1927, became Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness in July 1921, and Domestic Prelate of His Holiness in July 1923. He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Ephesus and Apostolic Delegate to Egypt and Arabia in 1927, Nuncio to Romania in 1933, and Apostolic Nuncio to France in 1936. He returned to the Secretariat of State in 1944, serving in the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. He was made assessor of the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches in 1948. In 1953, he was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite and Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious. He participated in the 1958 and 1963 papal conclaves and attended the first session of the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963) was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Sotto il Monte, Italy, to sharecroppers descended from an impoverished branch of an Italian noble family. He made his vows in the Secular Franciscan Order in 1897 and was ordained a priest in 1904. During World War I, he served in the medical corps as a chaplains and stretcher-bearer. He served as the Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria (1925–1935) and titular archbishop of Areopolis, Jordan. In 1934, he was appointed Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece and titular archbishop of Mesembria, Bulgaria. In December 1944, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to France. In 1953, he was appointed Patriarch of Venice and named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca. He was elected pope in 1958 and took the name John XXIII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII called for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). He was declared a saint in 2014.
