A Controversial Pope: Reflections on the Vatican Policy During World War II.

The thesis is focused on describing changes and processes, which have been significant for the perception of Pope Pius XII. and his role in World War II. The thesis covers a time period since the end of World War II to the present. In three different time sections, there are shown and characterized the main trends, tendecies and problems connected with the interpretation of the role of the Pope in the war. The first part is focused on a communist propaganda in the Eastern Bloc at the end of the forties and then during the fifties, the second unit is devoted to the debate that took place in the sixties - in the time when historians entered into the discussion as well. In the third section, the subject of analysis is the discussion, which took place in the last fifteen years, and which persists in some way till today. The thesis also covers and characterizes the contentious issues of the Pope's policy, including their possible interpretations of the individual authors