Robert A. Graham

Robert Andrew Graham SJ (11 March 1912, Sacramento – 11 February 1997, Los Gatos, California) was an American Jesuit priest and World War II historian of the Catholic Church. He was a vigorous defender of Pope Pius XII over accusations that he had failed to do what he could to defend the Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis.

Born the son of Charlie Graham, a former professional baseball player for the Boston Red Sox and part owner of the San Francisco Seals (baseball), Graham joined the California province of the Jesuits as a young man. He was ordained priest in 1941 and was soon sent to New York to work on the Jesuit weekly "America", where he remained for two decades. In 1952, he gained a doctorate in political science and international law from the University of Geneva during a sabbatical.

In 1959, his book "Vatican Diplomacy: A Study of Church and State on the International Plane" was published. He then travelled the world interviewing witnesses on the Vatican's diplomatic response to Nazism during the Second World War at a time when the Vatican archives remained closed.

To counter growing attacks, in 1965 the Vatican began publication of some of its wartime documents in a series of books edited by a Jesuit team, "Actes et Documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre mondiale". Graham joined them in Rome in 1966 from the third volume (eleven would eventually be published by the project's completion in 1981. With Vatican permission, Graham also supplied researchers on request with other documents not included in the published collection.

Graham's research was not limited to the Vatican archives. When a family friend had mentioned that one of their neighbors in New York spent part of the Second World War as an escaped British prisoner-of-war living in the Vatican, he dropped what he was doing to fly to the US to meet with William C. Simpon. Simpson who had become part of Msgr O'Flaherty network, later wrote a book on the subject titled "A Vatican Life Line" in 1996.

Graham criticised what he called "irresponsible muddying of the well-springs of history" by some writers on the Vatican during the Second World War. He felt that had Pius XII spoken out more forcefully against Nazi persecution, "Hitler would have gone on a rampage of revenge - not only against Jews but against German bishops as well." Graham regarded the refutation of accusations against Pius XII as vital. "While his detractors can no longer injure him, their slanders and insinuations continue to plague the Church, for when a Pope is defamed, the Church suffers."

At the same time, in light of his intimate knowledge of Vatican sources he was certain and confident, that the historical Pius XII has absolutely nothing to fear, and that, once all documents are on the table, scholars would eventually discuss the subject of Pius XII in a less emotional fashion and thus come to a balanced view. He was not supportive of attempts to beatify Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII, not because he considered them guilty of any shortcoming. He argued, that any Pope has to make difficult decisions and compromises which are not directly related to holiness.

I matters Pius XII, he worked with Raimondo Spiazzi. Graham had a wicked sense of humor and enjoyed every good meal he was invited to. He revanched himself with ever new details, documents, or letters, which he continued to discover long after his 80th birthday. The "New York Times" quoted him "I am 79, I thought I ought to unload this stuff, before I pop off" ["New York Times", February 17, 1997, p.31] Graham remained in Rome until illness struck in 1996, when he returned to his native California. He left behind a body of published and unpublished articles and several books.

Publications

Robert Graham, "The Vatican and Communism during World War II, What Really Happened", Ignatius Press, 1996.

References

External links

*http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9706/opinion/doyle.html
*http://www.catholicleague.org/piusxii_and_the_holocaust/defense.htm
*http://www.catholic.com/library/HOW_Pius_XII_PROTECTED_JEWS.asp