Pope Francis made a series of surprising statements in an interview with the Spanish La Vanguardia magazine published June 9, just after he held his much-publicized prayer meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Little of this interview has made its way into Western media.

The pope’s answers reveal a disturbing truth about the modern Vatican. Several times in the interview the pope was confronted with areas where his church had made mistakes in the past. But he never acknowledged them. He never apologized. In each instance, he focused the blame on someone else.

The most dramatic example was Francis’s statements about Pope Pius xii. Before he became pope, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli formed a political alliance with Adolf Hitler, bringing him to power in exchange for special favors for the Roman Catholic Church. He then went on to become pope during World War ii.

“They have said all sorts of things about poor Pius xii,” Francis said. “But we need to remember that before he was seen as the great defender of the Jews. He hid many in convents in Rome and in other Italian cities, and also in the residence of Castel Gandolfo.”

“I don’t want to say that Pius xii did not make any mistakes—I myself make many—but one needs to see his role in the context of the time,” he continued. “For example, was it better for him not to speak so that more Jews would not be killed, or for him to speak?” Francis’s argument is that by staying silent, Pius xii was able to quietly influence things behind the scenes to save some Jews. Had he spoken out, Francis argues, Pius would have lost that influence and therefore been unable to save even a few Jews.

But then came perhaps the most shocking statement of the whole interview:

I also want to say that sometimes I get “existential hives” when I see that everyone takes it out against the church and Pius xii, and they forget the great powers. Did you know that they [the Allies] knew the rail network of the Nazis perfectly well to take the Jews to concentration camps? They had the pictures. But they did not bomb those railroad tracks. Why? It would be best if we spoke a bit about everything.

In October 1943, hundreds of Jews were rounded up just a half mile from the Vatican. Pope Pius xii knew they were there, but did nothing. When asked why, Catholic priest Peter Gumpel, one of Pius’s biggest defenders, said that had he got involved, he may have been arrested. Pius was not willing to risk being arrested to try to save some Jews.

Meanwhile, Allied soldiers died in the millions. Half of all airman who joined Britain’s bomber command died or were seriously wounded. Out of the 120,000 who served in the bomber command, 56,000 were killed. Yet Francis is saying, Don’t say that Pius could have done more; instead blame the British for not bombing the railways.

If anyone but the pope had said something so obviously absurd, it would have been quickly shouted down. But no one wants to offend the world’s most prominent religious leader, so instead, there is silence.

Of course the Allies did not fight the war perfectly. There are long debates to be had on exactly how much the Allies knew about the Holocaust and whether bombing railways lines was even feasible (it probably wasn’t—they are hard to hit from the air). It’s easy to sit back in the safety of hindsight and criticize military decisions made in the heat of the moment and under the threat of imminent destruction. But the basic fact is this: The Allies fought Hitler, at the loss of millions of lives. Pius did not. He didn’t even risk being arrested.

After the war, Pius’s Vatican oversaw a massive operation to help top Nazis escape from justice through the “ratlines.” This is easily proved and commonly accepted history. The Red Cross has apologized for its much smaller and less deliberate role in helping leading Nazis escape. Yet the Vatican ignores its history and refuses to apologize. And it is working to make Pius xii a saint.

This same spirit was evident when the interviewer brought up the subject of anti-Semitism. “I think it is very linked, in general, and without it being a fixed rule, to the right wing,” said Francis. “Anti-Semitism usually nests better in right-wing political tendencies than in the left, right? And it still continues (like this).”

No mention or apology of the Roman Catholic Church’s long history of encouraging anti-Semitism. It’s a statement also completely out of step with events in Europe. France’s National Front is probably Europe’s most prominent party associated with anti-Semitism—yet its economic policies are far more similar to Pope Francis’s than to the free market capitalism of the right. Hitler, the ultimate anti-Semite, led the National Socialist party. In reality, anti-Semitism is a problem with individuals both on the left and the right of the political spectrum.

Another shocking look over there statement came when Francis spoke about “fundamentalist groups” of all religions.

“A fundamentalist group, although it may not kill anyone, although it may not strike anyone, is violent,” he said. “The mental structure of fundamentalists is violence in the name of God.”

Never mind the fact that the Vatican has an actual history of violence. Instead, focus on fundamentalist groups. They may not preach violence. They may have never hurt anyone. But their “mental structure” is fundamentally violent.

Fundamentalism is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a form of a religion, especially Islam or Protestant Christianity, that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of Scripture.”

What part of upholding a “literal interpretation” of the Bible involves violence? How many people have fundamentalist Christians killed? The Old Testament contains some violent punishments, but these were to be carried out by civil authorities, not individuals. No fundamentalist Christians teach that believers should go around stoning adulterers; instead, they believe the words of Jesus Christ: “He that is without sin among you [i.e. no one], let him first cast a stone.” The clear message of the Bible, to anyone who looks to it as the literal Word of God, is one of peace.

But the pope says fundamentalists are the violent ones. Meanwhile, he leads the church that started the Crusades. For hundreds of years, the Roman Catholic Church had any person who dissented from its doctrine slaughtered. In more recent years, it gave its blessing and encouragement to the Croatian Ustashi—which brutally killed Jews and Orthodox Christians during World War ii—and supported Gen. Francisco Franco’s brutal dictatorship in Spain.

The Vatican expresses no remorse for these acts of violence. Yet anyone who believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible has a “mental structure” of violence, according to the pope.

No one can dispute the history of the Roman Catholic Church described above—it’s found throughout textbooks around the world and is supported by numerous internal Vatican documents. But the church’s supporters argue that to bring it up is anti-Catholic. The church has moved on and changed.

But has it? It has apologized for very few of its actions. On most, it remains silent. And now the pope is trying to shift the attention and blame onto others. Are these the actions of a repentant organization?

Pope Francis’s humble persona helps him conceal these actions. Had Benedict xvi given the same interview, some on the left at least may have given these statements the critical thought they deserve. But Pope Francis looks so good. Too many today are ignorant of the skeletons in the Vatican’s closet—you could say they’re unaware the church even has a closet. It doesn’t even occur to them to question his words.

History gives a clear warning to be distrustful of the Vatican’s words and deeds, which is why the pope is trying to divert attention away from its past. For some of this more recent history, read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “The Real Vatican Scandal.”