Page "Pope Pius XII" Paragraph 88

Cornwell's work was the first to have access to testimonies from Pius XII's beatification process as well as to many documents from Pacelli's nunciature which had just been opened under the 75-year rule by the Vatican State Secretary archives.

Cornwell's work received both praise and criticism.

While works such as Susan Zuccotti's Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy ( 2000 ) and Michael Phayer's The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930 – 1965 ( 2000 ) are critical of both Cornwell and Pius XII ; Ronald J. Rychlak's Hitler, the War and the Pope is critical as well but defends Pius XII in light of his access to most recent documents.