Daninger very weak, unfortunately

Btexxamar I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

mallorymay For 7 years I have researched Pope Pius XII's record during WWII, concentrating on the 1943-1944 period of German occupation of Rome. I have translated little-known documents in six foreign languages as well as English. I used that background to write a novella, "Silent Rescue," about what the Pope really did to help rescue the Jews during the Nazi occupation of Rome ("Silent Rescue," volume 1, on Kindle). Then I wrote a long book to show the research behind the novella ("Silent Rescue," volume 2, also on Kindle). The TV movie, "Sotto il Cielo di Roma," is well-intended and shows that the Pope would have made a public protest against the roundup of the Jews, as he threatened to do in the letter that he had Bishop Hudal send to General Stahel. But it is more complicated than that.The Pope and General Stahel had learned from the tragic example of the Dutch bishops in 1942, that such a protest would only provoke Hitler to kill even more Jews. The movie accurately shows the Pope burning his fiery protest against the Nazi extermination of the Jews as a result in 1942. There were three witnesses in the room to that action.What the TV movie leaves out is the fact that General Harster (absent from the TV movie) had been in charge of annihilating all the Dutch Jews in that reprisal in 1942. When the Nazis occupied Rome, Harster was also in charge of carrying out the Final Solution in Italy, to round up the Jews in Rome. It would have been entirely in character for Harster to carry out a savage reprisal if the Pope had made a public denouncement of the Nazi roundup of the Jews, like the Dutch bishops.The Pope had Bishop Hudal send a letter to General Stahel, threatening to make a public outcry anyway unless the roundup in Rome was ended. This alarmed General Stahel, who was aware of General Harster's role in the situation. He told Fr. Pfeiffer that it would be counter productive for the Pope to make any public protest. Instead General Stahel went over Harster's head and got Himmler to call off the roundup. But General Harster wanted revenge, so he met with General Wolff a few days later in Rome, and within a week General Stahel was fired. It cost Stahel his job and he ended up on the front lines in Russia. The Pope had learned his lesson – don't do as the Dutch bishops! 84% of Dutch Jews were killed. 84% of Italian Jews were rescued.

joenolan501 Its very good its Based on Vatican documents and personal testimonies used for the beatification of Pope Pius XII, this epic film stars acclaimed actor James Cromwell in a powerful movie about the great, often hidden struggle waged by the Pope and many others with him to save the Jews from the Nazis during WWII. After the Nazi's take over Rome in 1943, Hitler's plan to kidnap the Pope is revealed as the Nazis make an all-out attempt to silence the one authority figure in Italy standing strong against them. Everything comes together with great intensity in this dramatic story that retraces history from the documents and the testimonies of witnesses that was not fully known til now. Pope Pius XII told senior bishops that should he be arrested by the Nazis, his resignation would become effective immediately, paving the way for a successor, according to documents in the Vatican's Secret Archives.A lot of people believe the lies of Hitler's pope. Pope Pius XII saved more Jews than anyone else in ww2 860,000 Jews he saved. According to Israeli archives, papal relief programs saved at least 860,000 Jews, more than any other agency or organization. His Holiness Pope Pius XII also allowed the Vatican diplomatic corps, which were protected by diplomatic immunity, to carry messages between the allied powers. Vatican Information Services also sent over 5 million messages for soldiers. Thousands of nun's priest were killed in ww2 helping the Jews. 3 000 000 Polish Catholics were holocaust victims. the catholic church did its best to help Jews and anyone else in ww2 . When Pope Pius XII died on October 9, 1958, Golda Meir, then Israeli delegate to the United Nations, sent official condolences: "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the pope was raised for the victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace." After the war the Chief Rabbi of Israel thanked Pius XII for what he had done. The Chief Rabbi of Rome went one step further. He became a Catholic. He took the name Eugenio. Pope Pius XII name before he was pope. The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion, which form the very foundation of true civilization, are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history, which is living proof of Divine Providence in this world. (Rabbi Isaac Herzog, chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine, March 1945) During the Nazi occupation of Rome, 3,000 Jews found refuge at one time at the pope's summer residence at Castle Gandolfo. Amazingly, Castle Gandolfo is never mentioned or discussed in the anti-papal writings of many of the pope's critics. Yet at no other site in Nazi-occupied Europe were as many Jews saved and sheltered for as long a period as at Castle Gandolfo during the Nazi occupation of Rome. Kosher food was provided for the Jews hidden there, where, as George Weigel has noted, Jewish children were born in the private apartments of Pius XII, which became a temporary obstetrical ward. (Rabbi David Dalin, Ph.D., July 29, 2005 interview with Dr. Thomas E. Woods) dpexecute in his review he said Hitler was a life-long practicing member of the Catholic church till the day he died. That is a lie he left the catholic church in his teens.The Nazis frequently met with the Catholic church and had agreements with them. that is a lie.The Nazis killed Several thousand of nuns and priests.

ThomasJeff The film portrays a colorful imaginary world where the Pope was AFRAID of Hitler and didn't know what to do (really the one representative of God on earth, doesn't know what to do? Really the man chosen as representative of God on earth---AFRAID OF Hitler? AFRAID OF DEATH?) This is ridiculous. What we know from history is that Pope Pius kept quiet. He kept quiet not because he feared the Nazis, because there is nothing to fear for a true believer.He kept quiet because he approved of what the Nazis were doing.The very ambiguity and lack of clarity of the Church's actions, shows clearly that the Pope and the Nazis were in collaboration. If the Pope believed that the Jews should be defended, he would have shouted it from all the rooftops and let the Nazis crucify him just like Jesus and die a heroes death. What better way for a Pope to die as a martyr than to sacrifice himself for the good cause? It's because the Pope did NOT believe the Jews should be defended that he stayed quiet.Unfortunately, a lot of Catholic reviewers and apologists for the Pope scour the earth to repaint history in a way that made the Pope seem like a hero who just couldn't do much about the situation. These same apologists try to paint Hitler as an atheist when that is absolutely not true.Hitler was a life-long practicing member of the Catholic church till the day he died. The Nazis frequently met with the Catholic church and had agreements with them.You think if the Catholic church was afraid of dying to Nazis, that is insane. The Catholics, if they truly believed they were being persecuted would gladly sacrifice themselves and stand up to those that commit evil (like the Nazis) if they truly believed the Nazis were evil.

dixie-35 OK, where to begin! Talk about milking it and over dramatizing, this film is trying really really hard. The lead actress is so hard to watch and listen to, she's pretty and I guess that's why she was cast, her acting is shallow, wooden, nothing draws me into her character, it feels like she's just saying her lines, but does not embody her character. Maybe with time she'll grow as an actress, that's always the hope. Of course the director must take responsibility in the casting as he has final say and seems intent on casting cute peeps rather then real actors, though many of the actors were fine. Cromwell is always excellent. I can see why they only produced two episodes. The subject matter is always interesting, well mostly,