06-25-2013, 12:52 AM
Pius XII saved a great number of people in WWII, even the leader of the group ADL and tried to keep quiet about it so as not to become between the axis conflict. The movies and stories of Pius XII being anything but a savior to hundreds of thousands are just outright lies to condemn the church.
Could jews and other groups mixed up in fictional stories of the pope really put an end to a canonization?
(Reuters) - A Jewish leader expressed concern to Pope Francis on Monday over attempts to make a saint of World War Two-era Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.
Francis made no mention of his wartime predecessor during his talks with members of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), but the pontiff repeated the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism.
"The Jewish community continues to be concerned about efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII while innumerable documents pertaining to the history of the Church and the Jewish people during the dark years of the Holocaust still remain closed to outside scholarly investigation," IJCIC chairman Lawrence Schiffman told the pope.
The issue of whether the Vatican and the Church under Pius did all they could to help Jews has dogged Catholic-Jewish relations for decades. Pius became pontiff in 1939, the year World War Two broke out, and reigned until 1958.
Critics accuse Pius of failing to take action to stop the Holocaust but his supporters say he worked actively behind the scenes to encourage the Church to save Jews. They say speaking out more forcefully would have worsened the situation for all.
Jews have asked that the process, still in its early stages, that could eventually make Pius a saint be frozen until after all the Vatican's wartime archives have been opened and studied by scholars. The bulk is expected to be released next year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/2...ZA20130624
Could jews and other groups mixed up in fictional stories of the pope really put an end to a canonization?
(Reuters) - A Jewish leader expressed concern to Pope Francis on Monday over attempts to make a saint of World War Two-era Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.
Francis made no mention of his wartime predecessor during his talks with members of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), but the pontiff repeated the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism.
"The Jewish community continues to be concerned about efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII while innumerable documents pertaining to the history of the Church and the Jewish people during the dark years of the Holocaust still remain closed to outside scholarly investigation," IJCIC chairman Lawrence Schiffman told the pope.
The issue of whether the Vatican and the Church under Pius did all they could to help Jews has dogged Catholic-Jewish relations for decades. Pius became pontiff in 1939, the year World War Two broke out, and reigned until 1958.
Critics accuse Pius of failing to take action to stop the Holocaust but his supporters say he worked actively behind the scenes to encourage the Church to save Jews. They say speaking out more forcefully would have worsened the situation for all.
Jews have asked that the process, still in its early stages, that could eventually make Pius a saint be frozen until after all the Vatican's wartime archives have been opened and studied by scholars. The bulk is expected to be released next year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/2...ZA20130624