Anti-Semitism

Row over sainthood of Nazi-era pope intensifies

By News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029919.html
Wed., October 22, 2008 Tishrei 23, 5769

Making Nazi-era Pope Pius XII a saint could open a "wound difficult to heal" between Jews and Catholics, a top Italian Jewish leader said yesterday. Pius, who reigned from 1939 until his death in 1958, has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War II, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny. The Vatican has called on both Catholics and Jews to stop putting pressure on Pope Benedict over the issue.

Italian newspapers yesterday ran front-page stories about what some called a new chill in relations between Israel and the Vatican over Pius, sparked by comments from a priest who is a key promoter of sainthood for Pius.

"At issue is whether Benedict should let Pius proceed on the road to sainthood - which Catholic supporters want - by signing a decree recognizing his "heroic virtues." This would clear the way for beatification, the last step before sainthood.

Benedict has so far not signed the decree - approved last year by the Vatican's saint-making department, opting instead for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

Some Jews want the procedure frozen until more historical research can be done about the period, with many saying Pius should have spoken out more directly.

Amos Luzzatto, president emeritus of Italy's Jewish communities, told La Repubblica newspaper that Hungarian, Danish and Bulgarian leaders spoke out openly against the deportation of Jews during the war and Pius should have done the same.

"I ask myself why Pius didn't do the same thing to call European Catholics to action. These are questions that haunt us Jews," he said.

"So if they want to beatify (Pius) before clearing up all doubts about his silence, they are free to do it. But the Vatican should know that for the Jewish world, this would open up a wound that will be difficult to heal," he said.

The Vatican says while Pius did not speak out, he worked behind the scenes to help because direct intervention would have worsened the situation by prompting retaliations by Hitler.

Benedict has repeatedly defended Pius, saying he worked "secretly and silently" during World War Two to "avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews possible."

Peres urges papal visit

Meanwhile President Shimon Peres yesterday urged the Vaticano not to let a contentious reference to Pope Pius XII stand in the way of a visit to the Holy Land by the present pontiff.

A caption accompanying a photograph on display at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial alleges Pius did not act to save Jews from the Nazi genocide.

A Catholic official promoting the sainthood cause for Pius says the caption is an obstacle to a visit by Pope Benedict XVI. But a spokesman for Benedict said Saturday that although no visit was currently planned, the spat with Yad Vashem would not be the deciding factor.

Peres yesterday stood by Israeli criticism of Pius but told reporters the issue should not be a barrier to a trip by Benedict.

"We have reason to believe that Pius XII didn't do enough to save Jewish life, I don't want to pass judgment. If there is evidence then it should be checked carefully," Peres said in English. "The visit to the holy country is nothing to do with anger or disputes. It's holy all the time, it is holy for all of us."

Benedict has a long-standing invitation from Israel for a visit.

The Holy See and Israel established diplomatic relations in the early 1990s, but they must still resolve the status of expropriated church property, tax exemptions for the Church and permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank. The late John Paul II visited Israel in 2000.

The Vatican has asked authorities at the Holocaust memorial to make a new, objective and in-depth review of the caption, which says Pius did not use the weight of his office to try and halt the activities of the Nazi death camps.

"While the (gas) ovens were fed by day and by night, the most Holy Father who dwells in Rome did not leave his palace," the caption states.

About six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their accomplices during the war.

Yad Vashem said in a statement that a papal visit is strictly a political matter and the museum display has no bearing. "Pope Pius XII's activity during the Holocaust is an issue debated among historians throughout the world," the museum said. "The presentation of the subject in the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem is based on the best research regarding this topic."

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Pope pious?

By Eliahu Salpeter
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=872888&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&title=
Last update 20/06/2007

Efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII as a saint of the Catholic Church are in high gear. The pope who reigned during the Holocaust, whose detractors have called him "Hitler's Pope" and defenders say used his moral and political influence to save thousands of Jews, is once again dominating conversations in the Vatican.

In recent weeks, both supporters and critics have increased their activities relating to the plan to declare the former pope a saint. While Jewish organizations and figures have called on Pope Benedictus XVI to stop the move, conservative circles in the Vatican have been spreading information intended to revive the canonization process. It is possible that this renewed activity is connected to Benedictus XVI's election to the Holy See. The pope had once been viewed as a representative of conservative streams in the church and the assumption is that he would be open to Pius XII's sanctification. At the same time, Jewish circles hope that Benedictus XVI, as a person of German origin, will be sensitive to a Holocaust-related issue and be careful not to offend the Jewish community.

Many Jewish leaders see this as an internal Christian affair in which Jews have neither the authority nor the duty of intervening. All the same, since the debate over Pius XII primarily revolves around his attitude toward the Holocaust, the Jews have the right, and perhaps even the duty, to voice their opinion, particularly given the Catholic Church's historical role in persecuting the Jews.

The Pius XII and Holocaust affair first made headlines in 1963 when Rolf Hochhuth's play, "The Deputy," was performed in Europe. In the play, a young clergyman implores the pope to intervene on behalf of the Jews during the Holocaust, but he is dismissed coldly. Dozens of research projects, articles and books, written by Jews and non-Jews, were published on the heels of the play. All the works - from Saul Friedlander's book, "Pius XII and the Third Reich" to John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope" - ostensibly prove that the pope had supported the Nazis. Pius XII's decision to shelve an edict issued by his predecessor, Pius XI, which supposedly condemns Fascism and Nazism, is likewise proof of his attitude. But books and articles have also been published in defense of Pius XII, most of them written by Catholic clergymen, but some by rabbis and Jewish authors.

Under his very windows

One of the most lethal attacks on the silence of the pontiff during the Holocaust came from Susan Zuccotti, whose book "Under His Very Windows" was published in 2002. In her book, Zuccotti examines the pope's silence even as the Italians began arresting the Jews of Rome. The Vatican intervened only in cases where a Jewish man was married to a Christian woman and had himself converted to Christianity. Additional studies reveal that Pius XII also did not protest when the Nazis banished 1,000 Italian Jews to the extermination camps. However, he did take real steps before the start of World War II to help some 3,000 Jews who converted to Christianity from different parts of Europe obtain immigration visas to Brazil.

Pius XII was born Eugenio Pacelli. He was suspected of being pro-German even before the outbreak of World War II. Before his election to the papacy, he served as cardinal secretary of state in the Vatican and in this capacity, signed an agreement with Hitler in 1933 according to which the Nazis would not intervene in the church's internal affairs in Germany. In return, the church would refrain from intervening in the Nazi regime.

The defense of Pius XII comes from members of the Catholic Church, but a few Jews have also chimed in, most notably Rabbi David Dalin, whose book "The Myth of Hitler's Pope" refutes the attacks on the pontiff.

The defenders' main contention is that the pope carried out all his actions secretly because he feared that openly criticizing the Nazis would only worsen the situation of the Jews and Catholics in occupied Europe. Other historians confirm that the pontiff did act secretly, but that he did so only after 1942, when the Americans warned that those who had participated in the persecution of the Jews would face punishment, and when it became clear to the Vatican that the Allies would win the war.

A virulent attack on Pius' detractors was published a few weeks ago by Peter Gumpel, a Jesuit priest who is in charge of the canonization process. In an interview with the Polish Catholic weekly, Niedziela, the priest explains that at the special committee meetings that ended in Rome in May 2007, all those in attendance "expressed a favorable opinion" about the 6,000-page report on the "saintly acts" of Pius XII. If incumbent pope Benedictus XVI gives his approval, they will begin to analyze the miracles attributed to Pius XII. At least three miracles are required for the pontiff to be canonized. Until now, none has been made public.

The reporter who interviewed Gumpel asked: "What interest do Jewish groups with influence and authorities in the State of Israel have in disseminating slander about Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church?" Gumpel's response: "Certain Jewish circles feel hostility toward the Catholic Church and toward Christianity in general. Ultra-Orthodox Jews share our fears. I recently met an ultra-Orthodox leader who represents some 8,000 rabbis in the United states and Canada, and he gave me an extremely important declaration in writing. It states that ultra-Orthodox Jews are not of the same opinion as their brethren of the same religion who interfere in the internal affairs of the church. We have done out utmost to improve relations with the Jews, but the other side also must make such efforts."

Later in the interview, thick with anti-Semitic overtones, Gumpel was asked how it was possible to explain that the world media shows such a critical attitude toward Pius XII. He responded: "A large part of the world media is in the hands of people who are hostile to the church. Let us not distract ourselves with illusions. Everyone is afraid of being described as being anti-Semitic."

He knew about the extermination

From what is known today about Pius XII, it is difficult to describe him as a supporter of the Jews. Despite repeated demands by historians and Jewish organizations, the Vatican has published only a small portion of its archival materials from the World War II period. Therefore, on both sides of the scale, there are only partial testimonies to the acts and the omissions of the pontiff.

There is no doubt that from the reports of church representatives in occupied Europe, the pope knew full well what was happening to the Jews at the hands of the Germans and their various puppet governments. Some of these governments defined themselves as Catholic, such as those in Croatia and Slovakia, which were headed by Catholic priests. It is also clear that most of the acts of intervention mentioned in the pontiff's defense were made on behalf of Jews who had converted to Christianity.

The pope's problematic attitude continued even after the victory of the Allies. A monastery where two Jewish brothers had been hidden and baptized during the war refused to return the boys to their family on the grounds that they were now Christians. A letter sent by the Vatican in the name of the pope to the heads of Catholic churches in Europe was published in the wake of this story. The letter instructed the churches not to return children who had been hidden and baptized to their Jewish parents. It is also known that the Vatican assisted many Nazi war criminals in escaping from Europe to South America after the war.

On the other hand, it is also well-documented that Catholic monasteries all over occupied Europe hid thousands of Jews, mainly children, and it is difficult to assume that many would have done so had the pope expressed his opposition. There also has been discussion that Pius XII tried to conscript several dozen Jewish youths to the Vatican guards ("the Swiss Guard") to save their lives but that the Germans prevented this.

In the last year of the war, when the Russians were already advancing in the direction of Hungary, Pius XII was among the world leaders who tried to pressure Admiral Miklos Horthy to stop the expulsion of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz. (The expulsions stopped on July 9, 1944 after more than 400,000 Jews had already been expelled). It is also known that as early as 1942, Pius XII had advised the German and Hungarian cardinals to condemn the murder of the Jews. In the long run, it will be to their political advantage if this is recorded in their favor, the messages stated.

It is doubtful whether it is possible to decide one way or the other on this matter as long as the Vatican denies access to all the documents in its archives from the period of the war.

The fate of these archives will also serve as a sign of how Benedictus XVI will act during his tenure as pope, and not merely on the issue of the Jews and Pius XII.

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Vatican: Jewish charges against Nazi-era pope are 'outrageous'

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035057.html
Sun., November 09, 2008 Cheshvan 11, 5769

Jewish accusations that Nazi-era Pope Pius XII turned a blind eye to the Holocaust are "outrageous" and no one can tell the Vatican whether he should be made a saint, Pope Benedict's deputy said on Thursday.

Some Jews have accused Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of being indifferent to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked silently behind the scenes and helped save many Jews from certain death during World War Two.

"The depictions of Pius XII as indifferent to the fate of the victims of Nazism - Poles and above all Jews and even going as far as saying he was 'Hitler's pope' are first of all outrageous," said Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Bertone, who is known as the 'deputy pope' because he ranks only second to Pope Benedict in the Vatican hierarchy, told a conference that such accusations "could not be supported from a historic point of view".

Differences over what Pius did or did not do during the war have haunted Catholic-Jewish relations for decades and conflict has resurfaced over whether Pius should be made a saint.

The Vatican has shown signs of chafing and irritability recently as some Catholics have pushed for the Pope to expedite his sainthood process and some Jews wanted it frozen pending the opening of Holy See archives in about seven years.

Last week a Jewish leader urged the Pope to put the sainthood process on hold and Benedict reportedly said he was "seriously considering" the possibility.

Jewish leaders have called on the Vatican not to make Pius a saint until all doubts about his so-called silence are cleared up, with one saying it would open a "wound difficult to heal."

But Bertone was short with such requests. He said the sainthood process was "a religious matter that must be respected by all (and) the exclusive jurisdiction of the Holy See."

At issue is whether Benedict should let Pius proceed on the road to sainthood - which Catholic supporters want - by signing a decree recognising his "heroic virtues". This would clear the way for beatification, the last step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

Benedict has so far not signed the decree - approved last year by the Vatican's saint-making department, opting instead for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

The Vatican says while Pius did not speak out against the Holocaust, he worked behind the scenes to help Jews because direct intervention would have worsened the situation by prompting retaliation by Hitler.

In his speech at Rome's Gregorian University, Bertone offered a long defence of Pius, saying that in 1939-1940 he secretly supported a British-German plot to overthrow Hitler.

The Vatican says he saved several hundred thousand Jewish lives by ordering churches and convents throughout Italy to hide Jews and instructing Vatican diplomats in Europe to give Jews false passports.

Bertone defended Pius's lack of public outcry after Nazis occupying Rome massacred 335 men and boys in retaliation for a partisan attack that killed 33 German soldiers.

He said Rome convents were full of refugees, including Jews, and a public denunciation by Pius of the Nazi massacre would have led to "catastrophic" raids on the convents.

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Jewish delegate to Vatican: Pope ignored request to freeze Pius XII sainthood

By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1032935.html
Last update - 30/10/2008

A member of the Jewish delegation to the Vatican told Haaretz on that Thursday's meeting with Pope Benedict dedicated to freezing the sainthood process of Nazi-era pope Pius XII was "very disappointing."

Seymour Reich, a New York attorney and a Jewish leader, said that the pope "completely ignored" the issue and did not even speak about declassifying archives that might shed light on Pius XII's conduct during the Holocaust.

Some Jews have accused Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked behind the scenes and helped save many Jews from certain death during World War Two.

Reich said that when he shook the pope's hand, he told him that he hoped he would not declare Pius XII a saint. The pope allegedly said that he would take that into account.

Rabbi David Rosen, the leader of the delegation, said that Pope Benedict is "seriously considering" freezing the sainthood process until historical archives can be opened.

Rosen said the subject came up in conversations after formal speeches were delivered.

"One member of our delegation told the pope 'please do not move ahead with beatification of Pius XII before the Vatican archives can be made accessible for objective historical analysis' and the pope said 'I am looking into it, I am considering it seriously'," Rosen told reporters.

The Vatican, however, has so far rejected Jewish groups' requests for the immediate opening of its secret archives on Pius XII's papacy.

It says it will take at least six more years before scholars can consult the archives, which historians and Jewish groups have been clamoring to study.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the requests to see the wartime archives were understandable.

But he said Thursday that cataloguing some 16 million documents is expected to take another six or seven years.

Beatification is the last step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Some Jews have asked the pope to hold off on beatifying Pius until more information on his papacy can be studied.
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Israeli official weighs into row with Vatican over Nazi-era pope

By Adi Schwartz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1030557.html
Sat., October 25, 2008 Tishrei 26, 5769
Last update 23/10/2008

Cabinet minister Isaac Herzog declared his opposition on Wednesday to the proposed beatification of Pope Pius XII - a highly unusual move in the often delicate relationship between the Israeli government and the Vatican.

Pius served as pope during World War II, and many Jews believe that he could have saved thousands of lives had he publicly condemned the Holocaust instead of keeping silent.

"The intent to turn Pius XII into a saint is unacceptable," said Herzog, who in addition to his main job as social affairs minister is also in charge of Diaspora affairs, the fight against anti-Semitism and ties with Christian communities.

"Throughout the period of the Holocaust, the Vatican knew very well what was happening in Europe," said Herzog in an exclusive interview with Haaretz. "Yet there is no evidence of any step being taken by the pope, as the stature of the Holy See should have mandated. The attempt to turn him into a saint is an exploitation of forgetfulness and lack of awareness. Instead of acting according to the biblical verse 'thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbor,' the pope kept silent - and perhaps even worse."

Herzog was responding to reports that the Vatican plans to accelerate Pius' beautification process. Earlier this month, the current pope, Benedict XVI, said he hoped the process of declaring Pius "blessed" - the final stage before sainthood - would be successful.

Pius served as pope from 1939-58. His beatification process began in the 1960s, but has been repeatedly delayed by objections from Jewish groups. The Vatican claims that while Pius was afraid to speak out publicly, lest this lead to Nazi reprisals against Christians, he secretly saved thousands of Jews. However, it has consistently refused to open its archives for the years of Pius' papacy, making it impossible for scholars to verify this claim.

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Vatican fumes at Israeli minister's remarks on Nazi-era pope

By Adi Schwartz, Haaretz Correspondent and Staff
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1030971.html
Fri., November 07, 2008 Cheshvan 9, 5769

Vatican officials are furious over Minister Isaac Herzog's statement in Thursday's Haaretz that the planned beatification of Pope Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, is "unacceptable."

Cardinal Andrea Lanza di Montezemolo told the Italian paper Corriere della Serra yesterday that "Israel's interference in the matter of Pius XII must stop. We've had it with this interference. Outside opinions are liable to disrupt [the process], and they look like an attempt to force Pope Benedict XVI to make a decision. The decision to declare someone a saint is an internal decision of the church."

Father Paolo Molinari, a priest involved in the the beatification process, told the paper Il Messaggero that "Minister Herzog's statements constitute intervention in the process of declaring Pius XII 'blessed,' which is an internal affair of the Catholic Church." Beatification, or being declared blessed, is the final stage before achieving sainthood.

Moreover, Molinari claimed, "such statements contradict what others in the Jewish world have said, including [former Israeli prime ministers] Moshe Sharett and Golda Meir, who left no room for doubt about the positive part played by Pius XII during the Nazi era."

Another paper, Il Foglio, quoted anonymous Vatican sources as saying that the beatification process is well advanced, and a final decision might be made before the end of this year.

Ever since the Holocaust, a battle has raged over Pius XII's efforts, or lack thereof, to save Jews. Many historians, as well as Jewish organizations, argue that had Pius publicly condemned the Holocaust or publicly urged Catholics to shelter Jews, many thousands could have been saved. The Vatican, for its part, says that while Pius was afraid to speak out publicly, lest this lead to Nazi reprisals against Catholics, he secretly saved thousands of Jews. However, the Vatican has consistently refused to open its archives for the years of Pius' papacy (1939-58), making it impossible for scholars to verify this claim.

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Kadima supporters' website brands Pope Benedict with Nazi swastika

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1030132.html
Mon., October 27, 2008 Tishrei 28, 5769
Last update 21/10/2008

A photograph of Pope Benedict XVI emblazoned with a superimposed Nazi swastika appeared on Monday on a website run by self-proclaimed supporters of the Kadima party.

It was later removed, and replaced with a picture of a smiling Benedict overlooking a crowd-filled St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, after what "the Yalla Kadima" site said was a request from Kadima's leader, prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni.

"Tzipi Livni strongly condemns this and we are working to remove this shameful picture. We strongly oppose this. It doesn't represent Kadima," spokesman Amir Goldstein said shortly before the photo was changed.

It was the latest twist in a controversy over whether the German-born Pope should promote the sainthood of his Nazi-era predecessor Pius XII.

Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War II, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny.

"Yalla Kadima", which describes itself as a portal for "activists and supporters" of the Kadima party, had carried the swastika-emblazoned photo of Benedict alongside an article on the sainthood controversy.

On Saturday, the Vatican urged both Catholics and Jews to stop creating "pressure" over the issue of sainthood for Pius.

Last year, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius' "heroic virtues", a step in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967.

Benedict has so far not approved the decree - which is needed for beatification, the last step before sainthood - opting for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

He has repeatedly defended Pius, saying he worked "secretly and silently" during World War Two to "avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews possible".

In remarks on Monday, President Shimon Peres said: "If the former Pope Pius helped the Jews, it can be proven, but if he didn't this should also be proven.

"I know the current Pope and I am convinced he will go into the subject in depth and that we can all live with the facts and whatever necessary conclusions are drawn," Peres told reporters.

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Vatican defends wartime pope against charge he turned blind eye to Holocaust

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027629.html
Last update - 08/10/2008

The Vatican on Wednesday rejected charges that wartime Pope Pius XII turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, saying it was a "black legend" not backed up by history.

An editorial in the Vatican newspaper defended Pius two days after the first Jew to address a Church synod, Haifa's Chief Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, told the gatheringthat Jews "cannot forgive and forget" Pius's silence.

The Osservatore Romano called him a "man of peace" who tried to do his best during one of the most violent periods in history. The editorial was published on the eve of commemorations to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

"He confronted the wartime tragedy like no leader of his time did. Even when faced with the monstrous persecution of the Jews [he worked] in a suffered silence which is understandable and whose aim was an efficient endeavor of charity and undeniable help," the newspaper said.

Some Jews maintain Pius did not do enough. The Vatican says he worked quietly behind the scenes to help Jews because more direct intervention would have worsened the situation.

The newspaper denounced what it called "black legend about a pope who was insensitive to the Shoah, or even pro-Nazi."

It rejected such accusations, saying they were "above all inconsistent from the historical point of view, apart from being denigrating".

The papacy of Pius, from 1939 to 1958, was one of the most difficult issues in Catholic-Jewish relations. Many books have been written about it, with most defenders saying the situation would have been worse for Jews if he had spoken out forcefully against Hitler.

Last month, Benedict said Pius "spared no effort" to help Jews.

He spoke to the U.S.-based Pave the Way Foundation, a mixed Jewish-Catholic group which prepared a 200-page compilation of documents, diplomatic cables and newspaper clippings from the period - some of them previously unpublished - showing Pius did much to help Jews during the war.

Urged by historians to open all its archives from World War II, the Vatican says some are closed for organizational reasons but most of the significant documentation regarding Pius is open to scholars.

Last year, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius's "heroic virtues", a major hurdle in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967. But Pope Benedict has so far not approved the decree.

Some Jewish groups say the Vatican should freeze the process of beatification. Others say it is an internal Church matter.

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Haifa Chief Rabbi at Vatican: Wartime Pope let Jews down

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1026980.html
Last update - 06/10/2008

The first Jew to address a Vatican synod on Monday told the gathering that Jews "cannot forgive and forget" that some major religious leaders during World War Two did not speak out against the Holocaust.

Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen's words, spoken in the presence of Pope Benedict, were a clear reference to wartime Pope Pius XII, who many Jews say did not do enough to help them.

Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen told Reuters earlier Monday that wartime Pope Pius XII should have done more to help Jews during the Holocaust.

Cohen he might have stayed away if he had known the major Church gathering coincided with ceremonies to honor Pius on the 50th anniversary of his death.

"We feel that the late pope [Pius] should have spoken up much more strongly than he did," said Cohen, 80, in an interview hours before he was due to address the gathering of Catholic bishops from around the world.

Cohen said that in his speech he planned to make an indirect reference to Jewish disappointment about Pius as well as an appeal to all religious leaders to denounce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Last month Pope Benedict forcefully defended Pius, saying he "spared no effort" on behalf of Jews during World War II.

Some Jews maintain Pius did not do enough to save Jews while the Vatican says he worked behind the scenes to help because more direct intervention would have worsened the situation.

"He may have helped in secrecy many of the victims and many of the refugees but the question is 'could he have raised his voice and would it have helped or not?'" Cohen said.

"We, as the victims, feel yes. I am not empowered by the families of the millions of deceased to say 'we forget, we forgive,'" said Cohen, who is chief rabbi of Haifa in Israel.

Pius is one of the most difficult issues in Catholic-Jewish relations. On Thursday the Vatican marks the 50th anniversary of his death, Benedict celebrates a Mass in his memory and there will be a conference and photo show on his papacy next month.

"I did not know [the anniversary commemorations] happened during the same meeting. If I had known ... I might have refrained from coming because we feel that the pain is still here," Cohen said.

"I have to make it very clear that we, the rabbis, the leadership of the Jewish people, cannot as long as the survivors still feel painful agree that this leader of the Church in a time of crisis should be honored now. It is not our decision. It pains us. We are sorry it is being done," he said.

Cohen said only God knows if Pius spoke out enough against the Holocaust: "God is the judge ... he knows the truth".

War archives

Urged by historians to open up all its archives from World War II, the Vatican says some are closed for organizational reasons but that most of the significant documentation regarding Pius is already open to scholars.

Last year, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius' "heroic virtues", a major hurdle in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967. But Pope Benedict has so far not approved the decree.

Some Jewish groups say the Vatican should freeze the process of beatification but others say it is an internal Church matter.

Cohen said he would also appeal to the synod to denounce Ahmadinejad, who made another virulent anti-Israel speech last month at the United Nations. He said he would "appeal to the leaders of religion not to keep quiet, not to stand aside".

"He says that he wants to annihilate Israel and destroy it. The problem in the days of the Second World War was that people didn't believe that what Adolf Hitler was saying, he really meant to fulfill".

"Unfortunately we had the Holocaust and I am sure that if we have a painful memory it is because we don't feel that enough was done by the leadership of the religions in the world and other powerful leaders to stop it at that time. We expect them to do it today," he said.

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Jerusalem and Babylon / Should Pope Pius XII be made a saint? Leave that to the Vatican to decide

By Anshel Pfeffer
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031158.html
Last update 24/10/2008

Should Pope Pius XII be made a saint?

The simple answer to that: It's none of your business.

The more theologically accurate answer is that it doesn't matter, what you, I, or anyone else thinks on the matter - not even the current pope. According to the rules of the Catholic Church, Pius XII either is a saint already or is not and can never be.

All that's left to the powers that be in the Vatican is to recognize him as the saint that he either is or is not.

Now that we've cleared that up, let's get back to the unseemly argument that seems to have broken out between the Jewish people and the Holy See. Only, once again, that too is not very inaccurate.

There are a number of arguments going on in that realm. One is between historians over facts and their interpretation. Not surprisingly, there are Jews on both sides of this argument.

Another debate is raging between Catholics and Catholics on matters of faith and religious politics.

There is also a third argument in the works between elements in the Vatican and some Jewish organizations, but this is just as much about style then about substance.

As for the historic debate, there is little an amateur can add. After reading two books, interviewing a number of experts and reading countless newspaper on the subject, I am no closer to reaching my personal conclusion on why Pius kept quiet during the Holocaust.

Was it because he wasn't very troubled by the extermination of the Jews and secretly prayed for a Nazi victory? Or was his silence rather a cover for valiant rescue efforts carried out with his encouragement?

Neither side has managed to produce enough evidence to convince me either way. And, I doubt they ever will since the only major remaining source of documents are the Vatican archives - and even when those open, you can almost be certain there will be nothing there to change anyone's mind.

If there was a document clearly showing Pius' involvement of behalf of the Jews, the Vatican would have displayed it prominently, and if there was a "smoking gun" proving him to be a collaborator, rest assured, it has long ago been removed.

The internal Catholic debate is especially interesting, both because it puts the entire Pius problem into context and because it neatly mirrors similar issues within the Jewish religious establishment.

Pius' WWII record is not the major consideration within the Vatican over his canonization. Those who revere him do so for his image as the last century's leading Catholic conservative. His adoration is a central tenet for those who believe in the most extreme version of papal infallibility.

If Pius XII has still not been recognized as a saint, it means for many Catholics that there is still a question mark looming over the historical role played by Rome during the entire era before, during and after the War.

It is a dispute that has been going on for centuries. The promulgation of papal infallibility by the First Vatican Council in 1870 caused Lord Acton to write his famous dictum: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Since then, subsequent popes have never retreated from the principle of infallibility, and, as a rule, were prudent in using it. The one striking exception to this rule was in 1950, when Pius XII ruled that the "assumption" of Mary is an article of faith of the Catholic Church.

Like Acton in 1870, infallibility still causes many Catholics discomfort, and for the conservative hardliners, his canonization is imperative to confirming their ascendancy within the church.

The current Pope Benedict XVI is quite rightly seen as a conservative but he is also a clever politician and is trying to tread a careful path between the factions in the church. He has infuriated the hardliners by not acting to bring Pius' beatification, the crucial step towards canonization, forward.

Judaism as a religion generally has a less developed sense of dogma than the Catholic Church, but many who rail against the paralysis of Orthodox rabbinical thinking, hidebound by relatively new concepts such as Da'at Torah (knowledge of the Bible), emunath hachamim (faith in the sages)and hadash asur min hatorah (anything new is forbidden by the torah), will sympathize with Catholics who struggle to preserve their faith in the face of papal infallibility.

As a response to haskalah (Jewish enlightenment), the rabbinical establishment tried to stifle debate by commanding allegiance to tradition and strictures that were to suddenly stop evolving.

All this leads to the latest acrimonious round of charges between elements in the Vatican and Jewish representatives over the caption in the Yad Vashem Museum on Pius, the supposed cancellation of Benedict's visit to Israel and the threats of what might happen to Jewish-Catholic dialog if Pius is indeed canonized.

Yad Vashem certainly should not allow itself to be bullied into changing what its experts believe to be the historical facts - and the future of Israel-Vatican relations cannot be hostage to that. The threats of Jewish leaders of the harm that will be caused by the canonization are equally out of order.

The diplomatic and inter-religious issues between Israel, Jewish organizations and the Vatican and the historical debate over what the pope did in the Holocaust should not be connected to the question of whether Eugenio Pacelli is to become St. Pius or not.

That is quite simply a matter of Vatican political power games and Jews really have no business getting involved in them.

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Peres urges Pope to ignore row over Pius XII and visit Israel

By News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029650.html
Last update 19/10/2008

President Shimon Peres on Sunday urged the Vatican not to let a contentious reference to World War II Pope Pius XII put off a visit to the Holy Land by the present pontiff.

A caption accompanying a photograph of Pius in Jerusalem's Yad Vashem museum of the Holocaust says that Pius "abstained from signing the Allied declaration condemning the extermination of the Jews" and "maintained his neutral position throughout the war".

A Catholic official promoting the cause which could lead to sainthood for Pius has said the caption is an obstacle to a visit by Pope Benedict XVI. But a spokesman for Benedict said that the spat is not standing in the way of a visit.

Peres on Sunday told reporters the issue should not be a barrier.

"The visit to the holy country is nothing to do with anger or disputes," Peres said. "It's holy all the time, it's holy for all of us."

Earlier Sunday, a top Italian Jewish leader said on Sunday that making Pius XII a saint could open a "wound difficult to heal" between Jews and Catholics.

Pius, who reigned from 1939 until his death in 1958, has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War II, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny.

The Vatican has called on both Catholics and Jews to stop putting pressure on Pope Benedict over the issue.

Italian newspapers on Sunday ran front-page stories about what some called a new chill in relations between Israel and the Vatican over Pius, sparked by comments from a priest who is a key promoter of sainthood for Pius.

At issue is whether Benedict should let Pius proceed on the road to sainthood - which Catholic supporters want - by signing a decree recognising his "heroic virtues". This would clear the way for beatification, the last step before sainthood.

Benedict has so far not signed the decree - approved last year by the Vatican's saint-making department, opting instead for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

Some Jews want the procedure frozen until more historical research can be done about the period, with many saying Pius should have spoken out more directly.

Amos Luzzatto, president emeritus of Italy's Jewish communities, told La Repubblica newspaper that Hungarian, Danish and Bulgarian leaders spoke out openly against the deportation of Jews during the war and Pius should have done the same.

"I ask myself why Pius didn't do the same thing to call European Catholics to action. These are questions that haunt us Jews," he said.

"So if they want to beatify [Pius] before clearing up all doubts about his silence there are free to do it. But the Vatican should know that for the Jewish world this would open up a wound that will be difficult to heal," he said.

The Vatican says while Pius did not speak out, he worked behind the scenes to help because direct intervention would have worsened the situation by prompting retaliations by Hitler.

Benedict has repeatedly defended Pius, saying he worked "secretly and silently" during World War Two to "avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews possible."

The Vatican says he saved several hundred thousand Jewish lives by ordering churches and convents throughout Italy to hide Jews and instructing Vatican diplomats in Europe to give many Jews false passports.

On Saturday chief Vatican spokesman Reverand Federico Lombardi issued an unusual statement after an Italian news agency ran an interview with the Reverand Peter Gumpel, a Jesuit who is a major proponent of bestowing sainthood for Pius.

Gumpel said Benedict had put the sainthood process on hold because he feared repercussions on relations with Jews.

"In this situation, it is not opportune to exercise pressure on him [the pope] from one side or the other," Lombardi said in a statement that appeared to be at pains to distance the Vatican from Gumpel's remarks.

Vatican: Stop pressuring pope over Pius XII sainthood

The Vatican on Saturday called on both Catholics and Jews to stop piling "pressure" on Pope Benedict over whether he should or should not promote the sainthood of his controversial Nazi-era predecessor Pius XII.

Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War II, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny.

Chief Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi issued an unusual statement after an Italian news agency ran an interview with the Rev. Peter Gumpel, the Vatican's chief judge investigating Pius' sainthood cause.

Gumpel, a major proponent of sainthood for Pius, was quoted as saying that Benedict had put the sainthood process for Pius on hold because it would harm relations with Jews.

Last year, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius' "heroic virtues", a step in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967.

Benedict has so far not approved the decree - which is needed for beatification, the last step before sainthood - opting for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

"In this situation, it is not opportune to exercise pressure on him (the pope) from one side or the other," Lombardi said.

The Vatican appeared to be at pains to distance itself from the remarks attributed to Gumpel, including one that Benedict would not visit Israel unless the caption of the photograph of Pius in Yad Vashem was changed.

Objectionable caption

The Vatican statement said that while the Catholic Church has made it clear to Israeli authorities that it found the caption objectionable, it was wrong to consider it "a determining factor" in the decision about a papal trip.

Some say Pius did not do enough to save Jews. The Vatican and his Jewish defenders say he worked behind the scenes to help because direct intervention would have worsened the situation.

Benedict has repeatedly defended Pius, saying he worked "secretly and silently" during World War Two to "avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews possible".

At an Oct. 9 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Pius' death, Benedict said he prayed the process which could lead to Pius' beatification "can proceed happily".

Four days before the anniversary, the chief rabbi of Haifa, Shear-Yashuv Cohen, told Benedict during a synod that Jews "cannot forgive and forget" that some major religious leaders at the time did not speak out against the Holocaust.

Cohen, who was the first Jew to address a Vatican synod, separately told reporters Pius "should not be seen as a model and he should not be beatified".

Pius' papacy is one of the most difficult issues in Catholic-Jewish relations.

Many books have been written about it, with most defenders saying the situation would have been worse for Jews if he had spoken out forcefully, prompting retaliations by Hitler.

They say he ordered churches and convents throughout Italy to hide Jews and that Vatican diplomats in Europe also helped give many Jews false passports.

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French Jewish group: Pius XII sainthood would be blow to Catholic-Jewish relations

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1029609.html
Sun., October 19, 2008 Tishrei 20, 5769

France's main Jewish organization warned on Friday a Vatican plan to put wartime Pope Pius XII on the road to sainthood would deal a severe blow to Catholic-Jewish relations if completed.

Holocaust survivors felt "profound hurt" because Pius never openly denounced the Nazi slaughter of Jews and his failure to do so after the war was "profoundly shocking," the CRIF umbrella group of Jewish organizations said.

Its statement came a week after Pope Benedict defended the diplomatic approach Pius took as the best way to save the greatest number of Jews and said he hoped his beatification - the first step to sainthood - could proceed without problem.

"The plan to beatify Pius XII, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, would deal a severe blow to relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish world if it is carried out," said CRIF, the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions.

"Concerned about burning his bridges with Germany, Pope Pius XII never delivered a clear speech denouncing the singular monstrosity of the extermination of millions of Jews," it said.

"Furthermore, he did not do it after the war either, which is profoundly shocking."

The long-simmering dispute between Catholics and Jews, whose relations have otherwise improved greatly in recent decades, flared last week when an Israeli rabbi told bishops meeting in Rome that Jews could not forgive and forget Pius's silence.

Founded as an underground aid network for Jews during the German occupation, CRIF is the public spokesman for the 600,000-strong French Jewish community, the largest in Europe.

Its statement was much stronger than a recent appeal by the United States-based Anti-Defamation League, whose National Director Abraham Foxman urged the Vatican to open its wartime archives fully before making any decision on Pius.

Not model behavior

CRIF said Pius did help to hide "a certain number of Jews" in Rome during the German occupation and that "the magnificent role played individually by some clergy, notably in France, to save Jews" should not be underestimated.

But it argued that Pius should have played the role of a prophet denouncing Nazi crimes rather than a prudent diplomat.

CRIF criticized the Vatican for not publishing all its Holocaust-era archives and said most independent historians did not agree with the official Catholic position that Pius worked ceaselessly to save Jews.

"As long as no new documents indisputably change the historical view of this era -- and none have yet been provided -- Jewish survivors of the Shoah will suffer a profound hurt if the silence of the magisterium in the face of the genocide of the Jews is presented as model behavior," it said.

Pius's defenders, including some Jews, say the oppression of Jews would have been worse if he had openly condemned it. They cite the rise in deportations of Dutch Jews to death camps after Catholic bishops there denounced Nazi policy in 1942.

"He often acted in a secret and silent way precisely because, given the real situations of that complex moment in history, he realized that only in this manner could the worst be avoided and greatest number of Jews be saved," Benedict said at an Oct 9 Mass marking the 50th anniversary of Pius's death.

The Vatican also says it has published most of the significant documents about Pius and keeps some closed to researchers only for organizational reasons.

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Pope Benedict: Pius XII 'spared no effort' to help Jews during WWII

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022494.html
Sat., September 20, 2008 Elul 20, 5768

Pope Benedict on Thursday forcefully defended his wartime predecessor Pius XII against accusations that he did not do enough to help the Jews, saying Pius "spared no effort" on their behalf during World War II.

The pope spoke to members of the U.S.-based Pave the Way Foundation, a mixed Jewish-Catholic group which held a symposium in Rome on the papacy of Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958.

The symposium prepared a 200-page compilation of documents, diplomatic cables and newspaper clippings from the period -- some of them previously unpublished -- showing Pius did much to help Jews during the war and was thanked by Jewish leaders.

"Thanks to the vast quantity of documented material which you have gathered, supported by many authoritative testimonies, your symposium offers to the public forum the possibility of knowing more fully what Pius XII achieved for the Jews persecuted by the Nazi and fascist regimes," Benedict said.

"One understands, then, that wherever possible he spared no effort in intervening in their favor either directly or through instructions given to other individuals or to institutions of the Catholic Church," Benedict told the group at his summer residence south of Rome.

Some Jews have maintained that Pius did not do enough to save Jews, while the Vatican and those Jews who support him say he worked behind the scenes to help because more direct intervention would have worsened the situation.

But Benedict praised the symposium for drawing attention "to his many interventions, made secretly and silently, precisely because, given the concrete situation of that difficult historical moment, only in this way was it possible to avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews."

Gary Krupp, an American Jew who is president and founder of
Pave the Way, told the pope the group's investigation "directly contradicts the negative perception of the pope's war time activities."

Camp survivors thanked the pope

Pope Benedict noted that in November 1945, some six months after the end of the war, 80 delegates of German concentration camps came to the Vatican to thank Pius.

The symposium's documents included numerous newspaper clippings of Jewish leaders thanking Pius during and after the conflict and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir saying: "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the pope was raised for the victims."

The issue of Pius' papacy is one of the most difficult in Catholic-Jewish relations and the pope said that nearly five decades after his death "not all of the genuine facets of his diverse pastoral activity have been examined in a just light."

The Vatican will on Oct. 9 mark the 50th anniversary of Pius' death with a conference and photo exhibition.

Historians have been calling on the Vatican to open up all its archives on the period.

The Vatican says while some of the archives of the period are still closed for organizational reasons, most of the significant documentation regarding Pius is already open to scholars.

Last year, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius's "heroic virtues," a major hurdle in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967. But Pope Benedict has so far not approved the decree.

Some Jewish groups have said the Vatican should freeze the beatification process but others say it is an internal Church matter.

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ADL urges Pope to suspend Pius sainthood over Holocaust inaction

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/858217.html
Sat., October 11, 2008 Tishrei 12, 5769
Last update - 11/05/2007

A U.S.-based group that fights anti-Semitism urged Pope Benedict on Thursday to suspend the sainthood process for Pope Pius XII, whom critics accuse of turning a blind eye to the death of Jews during World War Two.

The Anti-Defamation League said the process should stop until secret World War Two Vatican archives are declassified and fully examined "so that the full record of the Pope's actions during the Holocaust may finally be known."

The Vatican's saint-making Congregation has voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius' "heroic virtues," a major hurdle in a long process toward sainthood that began in 1967.

"We urge Pope Benedict XVI to suspend the sainthood process for Pope Pius XII for the sake of historical truth and the deepening friendship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people," said Abraham Foxman, the league's national director and a Holocaust survivor.

"While we understand that the process of sainthood is an internal matter for the Church, the issue of what Pius XII did or did not do to help save Jews during the Holocaust is a profound question that must be resolved first for the sake of the Jewish-Catholic relationship," he said in a statement.

According to the Vatican Web site, it is up to the Pope to decide the "liberalisation" of access to documents on the basis of an entire papacy. Documents have been "liberalised" up until -- and including -- the papacy of Pius XI, which ended in 1939.

If the documents are "liberalised," only scholars are granted access to the papers.

If German-born Pope Benedict approves the Congregation decree, as expected, Pius XII would be officially given the title "venerable." The Vatican would then move toward beatification by looking for miracles performed by the late Pope.

The pontificate of Pius has been one of the trickiest problems in postwar Roman Catholic-Jewish relations.

Jewish groups have accused Pius of being indifferent to the Holocaust and diplomatic ties between the Vatican and Israel were briefly tested last month over a depiction of him at a state Holocaust memorial in Israel.

Before being elected Pope in 1939, Pius XII was Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli. He served as the Vatican's ambassador to Germany in 1917-1929 and was Vatican secretary of state in 1930-1939. Pius died in 1958.

The Vatican maintains that Pius did not speak out against the Holocaust more forcefully because he was afraid of worsening the fate of Catholics and Jews and worked behind the scenes to save Jews.

Jewish groups have pressed the Vatican for years to either freeze the sainthood process of Pius XII or shelve it altogether for fears that it would harm Catholic-Jewish relations.

Pope Benedict is in Brazil for a five-day visit to reinforce the Roman Catholic message on traditional family values and try to halt a tide of defections to Protestant religious groups.

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Vatican: Pius XII sainthood process not stalled

By Reuters
https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/955533.html
Fri., March 07, 2008 Adar2 1, 5768
Last update 19/02/2008


The Vatican's top saint-maker said Monday he was moving ahead with the
beatification of wartime Pope Pius XII, despite criticism Pius did not speak out against the Holocaust.

Some critics accuse Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of being indifferent to the Hitler's plans to systematically destroy the Jewish people. However, his supporters consider him a holy man who worked behind the scenes to help Jews throughout Europe.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins denied that Pius' sainthood process has until now been halted over the controversy, as a newspaper report last year suggested.

"It has not been staggered, much less stopped," Martins, who heads the Vatican department that oversees the sainthood process, told reporters.

But he left the timing of any progress on the case unclear, and confirmed there would be renewed research into the late Pope on the 50th anniversary of his death.

Last May, the Vatican's saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius's "heroic virtues," a major hurdle in a long process toward sainthood that began in 1967.

But Pope Benedict has so far not approved the decree, meaning that the process is effectively stalled and that Pius cannot move on to beatification, the last step before sainthood.

Martins said people should not read too much into that. "Some people talk about problems that in reality don't exist, I believe. Many say: 'It's not going forward because he is famous for his silence in condemning Nazism, that he didn't condemn Nazism," he said.

"This is not historically accurate. Instead of silence, I would speak of 'prudence.' There was not silence."

The Vatican maintains Pius did not speak out more forcefully against the Holocaust because he was afraid of provoking Nazi reprisals and worsening the fate of Catholics and Jews.

Supporters say Pius ordered churches and convents in Rome to take in Jews after the Germans occupied the city in 1943.

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New biography of Pope Pius XII rejects charges of anti-Semitism

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/864308.html
Wed., May 30, 2007 Sivan 13, 5767
Last update 29/05/2007

Accusations that wartime Pope Pius XII was an anti-Semite who turned a blind eye to the Holocaust are part of a "black legend" not supported by historical documents, the author of a new biography says.

The book by Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, his fourth on Pius, is being published weeks after the Vatican put Pius a step closer to sainthood, a move that angered some Jews.

Some Jews have accused Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of being
indifferent to the Holocaust and not speaking out against Hitler. His
supporters consider him a holy man who worked behind the scenes to help Jews throughout Europe.

"This is a black legend that refuses to die. Pius XII has become a lightning rod for all the presumed responsibilities of the Catholic Church in that period," Tornielli said.

Tornielli, a journalist with the newspaper Il Giornale, has called his
650-page biography "Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, A Man on the Throne of St
Peter." Eugenio Pacelli was Pius' name before he became pope.

In the book, Tornielli cites new documents from the Pacelli family archives showing that as a high school student Eugenio had a close friendship with a Jewish classmate, Guido Mendes.

Pacelli, then a cardinal and Vatican secretary of state, helped the Mendes family slip into Switzerland, from where they moved to Israel, the book says.

The Anti-Defamation League has asked Pope Benedict to suspend the sainthood process until the Vatican declassifies its Second World War-era archives.

Tornielli's latest book, published by Mondadori, also includes excerpts from letters the future pope wrote to his family in the early 1930s when he was Vatican ambassador in Germany, expressing concern over the rise of Hitler.

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Pius XII told churches not to return Holocaust war babies

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=521178&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Last update 30/12/2004


The Vatican instructed the Catholic church in France not to return Jewish children to their families after the Holocaust, according to a letter dated November 20, 1946, that was published Tuesday in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

The children had been placed in the church's care to save them from Nazi murder, but after the war the church was instructed to return them to surviving parents only if they had not been baptized.

The letter containing these instructions was sent by the Holy Office to Angelo Roncalli - later Pope John XXIII - who was then the papal representative in Paris.

"Please note that this decision has been approved by the Holy Father," the letter emphasizes, referring to Pope Pius XII.

The letter reveals how the controversial wartime pope sought to restrict the number of children the church returned to their families by, among other things, instructing that baptized children "may not be entrusted to institutions that are not in a position to guarantee them a Christian upbringing."

As for orphans who had not been baptized, the church must not hand them over to any "persons who have no rights over them".

Roncalli had a reputation when previously serving as the Holy See's envoy to Istanbul for favoring Jews.

In Paris he helped many Jews escape to Israel, and disobeyed the Vatican instructions by helping to return Jewish minors to their families.

On July 19, 1946, he sent a letter to the chief rabbi in Israel, Isaac Herzog (father of Israeli president Haim Herzog), in which he gives him permission "to use his [Roncalli's] authority so these children can return to their original environment."

Amos Luzzato, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said in response Wednesday: "The documents indicate that the Vatican completely ignored the Holocaust and murder of Jews. There is a sticking to theological arguments as though this were an ordinary situation, when in practice these children were not entrusted to churches to convert to Christianity but to save them from murder."

The publication of the letter to Roncalli will only add to the controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII, making it difficult for the Vatican to ignore accusations that the Vatican under his tenure did not do enough to combat Nazi persecution of Jews, and even helped Nazi war criminals to evade justice.

The latest revelations are also likely to hamper efforts by Pope John Paul II to lay the groundwork for beatifying Pius XII.

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Pope praises Nazi-era pontiff who Jews say turned blind eye to Holocaust

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1042282.html
Last update - 30/11/2008

Pope Benedict paid tribute on Sunday to Nazi-era pontiff Pius XII, who is at the center of a controversy with Jewish groups accusing him of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.

The pope was giving mass at Rome's San Lorenzo basilica, which was partly destroyed by massive Allied bombing on July 19, 1943 that killed at least 3,000 people across the neighborhood. He said Pius had rushed to the scene to assist the victims.

"The generous gesture on that occasion by my venerable predecessor, who immediately ran to help and comfort the stricken population in the smoldering rubble, cannot be erased from historical memories," the Pope said in his homily.

The Nazi-era pontiff, who ruled from 1939 until his death in 1958, has been accused by some Jews of inaction over the Holocaust during World War Two, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny.

Several influential Jewish groups have called on Benedict to freeze the process that could one day make Pius a saint until more Vatican archives on the wartime period are opened, with one Italian Jewish leader saying that making Pius a saint before information is available would open a "wound difficult to heal."

At issue is whether Benedict should let Pius proceed on the road to sainthood - which Catholic supporters want - by signing a decree recognizing his "heroic virtues." This would clear the way for beatification, the last step before sainthood.

Benedict has so far not signed the decree - approved last year by the Vatican's department in charge of saints, opting instead for what the Vatican has called a period of reflection.

The Vatican says while Pius did not speak out against the Holocaust, he worked behind the scenes to help Jews because direct intervention would have worsened the situation by prompting retaliation by Hitler.

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Pope to make rare visit to Israel in May, following months of Jewish-Catholic tension

By Anshel Pfeffer
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1041322.html
Last update - 27/11/2008

Pope Benedict XVI is set to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in May 2009 after accepting an invitation by President Shimon Peres. The Vatican and Israel are said, thus, to hopefully end the high tension of recent months between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people over the initiative of canonizing Pope Pius XII.

This visit, which would be the third visit of a pope to Israel since the establishment of the state, has not yet been officially confirmed.

Peres met about two weeks ago with Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco, the pope's envoy to Israel. Franco told the president that Benedict would respond positively to an invitation from Israel. The president sent the invitation, and a positive response was indeed reportedly received.

Since the visit has not yet been publicly confirmed, no preparations are underway in the Foreign Ministry or the Vatican. However, the Pope's arrival is apparently planned for the second week of May.

The tension began after calls came by ultra-conservatives at the Vatican to expedite canonization on the 50th anniversary of Pius' death. The process began during the time of the previous pope, John Paul II, but both he and the present pope were aware of the harsh criticism such a move could engender in the Jewish world, which accuses Pius XII of remaining silent and not protesting the extermination of European Jewry during the Holocaust.

The debate was fanned by the Jesuit Father Peter Gumpel, who said a month ago that the pope would not visit Israel until a change was made in the caption to two pictures of Pius XII in the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, which state that Pius' response to the murder of Jews during the Holocaust is controversial. The captions also state that when Jews were deported from Rome to Auschwitz, Pius did not intervene.

The caption caused a diplomatic storm in the past when the papal nuncio threatened to boycott the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem in protest over the caption, although he did attend the ceremony.

The Vatican has since distanced itself from Gumpel's statements. Pope Benedict's spokesman said the caption is not a factor in his decision on whether to visit Israel or not. Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog also contributed to the dispute when he told Haaretz a month ago that Pius' canonization was "unacceptable." The Vatican demanded that Herzog apologize for the statement.

However, Benedict praised Pius' actions during the Holocaust and criticized historians who said he did not help to save Jews. In a meeting a few weeks ago with Jewish leaders, Benedict was asked to delay the canonization process until all the documents in the Vatican archives involving the period of the Holocaust were released, a process that is expected to take about another seven years. The pope told the delegation he was "seriously considering" the matter.

In other meetings at the Vatican, understandings were obtained that the canonization process would not be rushed.

Another source of tension between Jews and the Vatican was Benedict' decision to bring back the ancient Latin mass which calls for the Jews to recognize Jesus. Following Jewish protests and the announcement by Italy's Jewish community that they were severing ties with the Vatican, a representative of the pope said the verse in question was a wish, and not a call on Catholics to missionize among Jews.

The pope is also expected to visit the Palestinian Authority, apparently in Bethlehem. This could be one of the diplomatic obstacles of the visit because of the legal ambiguity of the PA's presidency in light of the struggle between Fatah and Hamas.

Another stumbling block could be a papal visit to Yad Vashem because of the controversial captions. This matter might be resolved by having Benedict visit only the monuments at Yad Vashem, not the museum.

Rabbi David Rosen, head of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations said of the expected visit: "If the information is correct, I am sure the pope will be warmly received by Israel's leaders and its people."

The President's Residence declined to comment on the report. The secretary of the Apostolic Nuncio's office in Israel said he could neither confirm nor deny the report.

Pope Paul VI visited Israel in 1964, even before the Vatican recognized the state. In 2000, Pope John Paul II visited the country.

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Italian MP says Vatican didn't do enough to help Jews in WWII

By Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1047228.html
Tue., December 16, 2008 Kislev 19, 5769

One of Italy's most prominent conservative leaders said on Tuesday the Roman Catholic Church did not do enough to oppose Fascist-era race laws under dictator Benito Mussolini.

"We must ask ourselves why Italian society wholly embraced the anti-Jewish legislation and why, beyond laudable exceptions, there were not demonstrations of real resistance. Not even, it hurts me to say, by the Catholic Church," said Gianfranco Fini.

Fini, himself a former Fascist, was speaking at an event marking the 70th anniversary of Mussolini's race laws.

Introduced in 1938, the laws expelled Jews from public schools and offices and eventually led to the deportation of thousands to Nazi concentration camps.

Fini's remarks were challenged by Catholic scholars and reignited debate about the Vatican's wartime record.

Church scholars say Pope Pius XI opposed the race laws at the time and they also defend his successor, Pius XII, from accusations he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

"I can't see any reason to accuse the Church, which instead openly and firmly condemned the anti-Jewish legislation," said professor Agostino Giovagnoli at Catholic University.

He added that Pius XI, who died in 1939, gave public speeches against the race laws that "led in July 1938 to an open conflict with Mussolini".

Often the debate has involved Pius XII, who Jewish groups accuse of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.

They are lobbying the Vatican to freeze his sainthood process even though Vatican officials say he worked silently behind the scenes and helped save many Jews.

Fini convinced his own party in the mid-1990s to dump neo-fascism and enter the mainstream of Italian politics. He has also visited Israel and the death camp at Auschwitz.
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Labels: Christianity, Christians and Jews, Fascism, Holocaust, Jewish Vatican relations, Mussolini, Papacy, Pope, Pope Pius XII, Popes, Roman Catholic Church, The Holocaust, Vatican, Vatican antisemitism