Yesterday was Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. History does not merely repeat itself. It warns us - loudly, urgently, and often too late.
Today, as the world once again faces a regime of fanaticism, brutality, and expansionist hatred, I find myself haunted by a chilling parallel: the moral failure of Pope Pius XII - and the troubling silence of Pope Leo XIV in the face of the Iranian regime.
This is not an abstract theological debate. It is about life and death. It is about whether the world’s most influential religious leader will name evil for what it is - or whether he will once again retreat into ambiguity while innocents suffer.
“When evil is not condemned, it is empowered."
The Silence That Still Stains History
The record of Pope Pius XII remains one of the most fiercely debated chapters in modern religious history. Defenders argue that he worked quietly behind the scenes to save Jewish lives. Critics - and I count myself among them - point to a glaring, undeniable truth: he never issued a clear, unequivocal public condemnation of Adolf Hitleror the Nazi extermination of the Jews.
Not once.
As six million Jews were marched into gas chambers, as Europe became a graveyard of civilization, the Vatican’s voice - the one voice that could have thundered moral clarity across continents - remained muted.
What would have happened had Pope Pius XII stood on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and declared: “This is evil. This must stop"?
We will never know. But we do know this: silence, in moments of moral catastrophe, is not neutrality. It is complicity.
“The greatest sin of leadership is not speaking falsely - it is failing to speak at all."
A New Evil, A Familiar Silence
Today, we are confronted not by Nazi Germany but by the regime of the Iranian ayatollahs - a government that has, for decades, brutalized its own people, funded global terrorism, and openly called for the destruction of Israel and America.
The record is clear. Since 1979, the Islamic Republic has imprisoned, tortured, and executed dissidents. Women are beaten and killed for showing their hair. Protesters are shot in the streets. Religious minorities are persecuted. And beyond its borders, Iran arms and finances terror proxies that destabilize entire regions.
This is not a gray area. This is not a complex diplomatic puzzle.
This is evil.
Where is the voice of Pope Leo XIV?
Instead of condemning the ayatollahs, we hear criticism of America. Instead of moral clarity, we hear equivocation. Instead of standing with the oppressed people of Iran, we hear rhetoric that seems more concerned with restraining Western power than confronting tyranny.
“You cannot claim to defend peace while refusing to name the aggressor."
The Tragic Irony of Power Without Courage
What makes this silence all the more baffling is that today’s papacy is not constrained in the way it may have been during World War II.
The modern Vatican commands global media attention. The Pope is protected by one of the most sophisticated security forces in the world. He is not a prisoner of Nazi occupation. He is not cut off from the world.
He is free.
And yet, he does not speak.
I say this with sadness, not malice. The Pope is not my enemy. But moral leadership is not measured by good intentions - it is measured by the courage to confront evil directly.
“Faith without courage is not faith at all - it is surrender dressed in piety."
Why Catholics Must Speak Now
This is not a call to attack the Catholic Church. It is a call to save its moral voice.
Catholicism has given the world giants of conscience - figures who stood against tyranny at great personal cost. Think of the priests, nuns, and laypeople who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Think of those killed in NIgeria and the Middle East. Think of the Church’s teachings on human dignity.
That legacy is too precious to be undermined by silence at a moment like this.
Catholics must ask themselves: What does our faith demand when confronted with evil?
Does it demand neutrality? Or does it demand moral clarity?
The answer, I believe, is obvious.
“A Church that will not confront evil cannot claim to represent a God of justice."
Standing With the Oppressed
Let us be clear: the greatest victims of the Iranian regime are not Westerners. They are the Iranian people themselves.
They are the young women risking their lives for basic freedom.
They are the dissidents rotting in prisons.
They are the families mourning loved ones executed by a regime that fears its own citizens.
To stand against the ayatollahs is not to advocate war. It is to advocate justice.
It is to say that no government has the right to crush its people in the name of religion.
It is to affirm that faith must be a force for liberation, not oppression.
“Silence in the face of tyranny is betrayal - not diplomacy."
Why I Stand With Trump on This
Like any American, I not agree with Donald Trump on everything, even as I see him as the greatest friend the Jewish people have been had in the White House. But on this issue, I believe he is absolutely right.
Iran is not merely a regional problem. It is a global threat. Its pursuit of nuclear weapons, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its hatred of the West make it one of the most dangerous regimes on earth.
To confront such a threat requires clarity, strength, and - above all - the willingness to call evil by its name.
That is what I expect not only from political leaders, but from religious ones as well.
The Choice Before Us
We stand at a crossroads.
On one path lies the comfort of silence - the temptation to avoid controversy, to speak in vague generalities, to pretend that all conflicts are morally equivalent.
On the other path lies the courage of truth - the willingness to say, unequivocally, that certain regimes and actions are evil and must be opposed.
History will judge which path we choose.
It has judged before.
And it was not kind to those who remained silent.
“The lesson of the Holocaust is not only that evil exists - it is that silence enables it."
A Final Plea
To Pope Leo XIV, I say this with respect but also with urgency: Use your voice.
Condemn the ayatollahs. Stand with the people of Iran. Show the world that the Church has learned from the past.
Because if it does not, the shadow of Pope Pius XII will grow longer - and darker - with each passing day.
And to Catholics everywhere, I say: Do not wait.
Demand moral clarity. Demand courage. Demand that your Church stand on the side of justice, as it has done at its best moments throughout history.
Because in times like these, silence is not an option. It never was.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, widely known as “America’s Rabbi", is one of the world’s most recognized and influential Jewish voices. A bestselling author, award-winning columnist, global human rights advocate, and dynamic public speaker, he has dedicated his life to spreading Jewish values, defending the Jewish people, and championing universal human dignity.