According to Thomas , of the forty-four speeches Pacelli gave as Nuncio , forty denounced aspects of Nazi ideology . In an open letter to the Bishop of Cologne , Pacelli described Hitler as a " false prophet of Lucifer " , while Hitler ordered the Nazi press to refer to Pacelli as a " Jew lover in the Vatican " . Following the '' Kristallnacht '' pogrom of 1938 , the Vatican took steps to find refuge for Jews . L'Osservatore Romano ( the Holy See 's newspaper ) reported that Pacelli ( as Vatican Secretary of State ) condemned the pogrom . On 30 November , Pacelli issued an encoded message to archbishops around the world , instructing them to apply for visas for " non-Aryan Catholics " for departure from Germany . The Concordat of 1933 had expressly provided for protection of converts to Christianity , but Pacelli intended the visas to be extended to all Jews . According to Thomas , some 200,000 Jews escaped the Nazis under the scheme
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Catholic Church and Nazi Germany