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Last update - 20:15 08/10/2008
Vatican defends wartime pope against charge he turned blind eye to Holocaust
By Reuters
Tags: Holocaust, Vatican 

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.
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"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200-page compilation of documents, diplomatic cables and newspaper clippings from the period - some of them previously unpublished - showing Pius did much to help Jews during the war.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.

Related articles:
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      1.   Release Vatican papers 21:09  |  Mike 08/10/08
      2.   "A moral reckoning" by the Vatican is urgently required 21:38  |  Albert Edelson 08/10/08
      3.   Leave the church alone 22:09  |  judith 08/10/08
      4.   It`s A No Win Situation 23:10  |  Yosemite 08/10/08
      5.   pope Pius XII 00:24  |  Elias 09/10/08
      6.   Responding to Judith 01:25  |  Al 09/10/08
      7.   TO: Judith (#3 Comment) 01:26  |  FulghumINK 09/10/08
      8.   Papism and AntiSemitism 01:43  |  Brod 09/10/08
      9.   Not that I am inclined to support Pious 01:54  |  Mark Lincoln 09/10/08
      10.   in a suffered silence? 02:38  |  Rav Harley 09/10/08
      11.   Vatican defends 05:21  |  geoff 09/10/08
      12.   ok the guy was sitting in the middle of faciest italy 05:38  |  goustav 09/10/08
      13.   The world owes me a living 05:41  |  Natallie Durson 09/10/08
      14.   my great grandfather didnt go to germany to try to stop the holoc 05:42  |  tirny 09/10/08
      15.   Good news, bad news for Vatican 06:36  |  Shimon Cleopas 09/10/08
      16.   to Nattalie Durson 08:05  |  Avinash 09/10/08
      17.   Maybe that was the reason why H.H.Pope Benedict. 10:47  |  Sylvie 09/10/08
      18.   #14 Tiny - who said anything about payment? 10:48  |  Jim 09/10/08
      19.   To Natalie Durson - Holocaust in the Belgian Congo 10:54  |  Albert Edelson 09/10/08
      20.   WOULD YOU STOP, JEWS 11:17  |  indrajaya 09/10/08
      21.   Religion and racism always hand in hand 11:29  |  mehmet 09/10/08
      22.   Mike #1 11:42  |  Scott G 09/10/08
      23.   Jesus for the Jews ......is what was 11:55  |  HS 09/10/08
      24.   Something else for everyone to consider 12:02  |  Scott G 09/10/08
      25.   Scott G,the C.Church spoke forcefully against euthansia of retard 12:56  |  Absolute Sweden 09/10/08
      26.   jasenovac 13:33  |  syd 09/10/08
      27.   "a suffered silence" 14:20  |  jack 09/10/08
      28.   Absolute Sweden #25 14:41  |  Scott G 09/10/08
      29.   It is personal - I don`t forget and I don`t forgive 14:42  |  Boris 09/10/08
      30.   syd,also in Rwanda Catholic nuns cooperated with Hutus 15:25  |  Absolute Sweden 09/10/08
      31.   Scott G,your arguments are the best accusation of the Pope 15:40  |  Absolute Sweden 09/10/08
      32.   Pius XII 16:03  |  Douglas G. 09/10/08
      33.   Ashamed of the Vatican 17:52  |  hollingsworth 09/10/08
      34.   Saint Who? 17:59  |  Joan 09/10/08
      35.   scott g 18:32  |  potobac 09/10/08
      36.   Rabbi Cohan 18:49  |  Anthony 09/10/08
      37.   And the Holy Inquisition is another `black legend`, right? LOL! 19:17  |  Freethinker 09/10/08
      38.   Let`s move forward people 20:03  |  T A Sheppard 09/10/08
      39.   #21 Exactly how I believe! 20:04  |  T A Sheppard 09/10/08
      40.   sure 20:40  |  Don 09/10/08
      41.   #8 Brod I agree with you on Papism 20:42  |  Mark B. 09/10/08
      42.   Gosh, this comes as a shock... 21:10  |  hollingsworth 09/10/08
      43.   Don #40 21:56  |  RK 09/10/08
      44.   #20 Indajaya 01:20  |  MR 10/10/08
      45.   #38 Sheppard 01:22  |  MR 10/10/08
      46.   Vatican defends wartime pope against charge he turned blind eye t 17:45  |  Jas 10/10/08
      47.   The Vatican 20:00  |  The Teacher/Instruct 10/10/08
      48.   teacher/instruct 47 20:21  |  potobac 10/10/08
      49.   VATICAN SHAME 02:35  |  Dr. Michael Zidonov 11/10/08
      50.   VATICAN SHAME 13:57  |  The Teacher/Instruct 11/10/08
      51.   "Papism invented AntiSemitism." 22:11  |  hollingsworth 11/10/08
      52.   References to Facts 23:55  |  Brod 12/10/08
      53.   "References to facts" 01:49  |  hollingsworth 13/10/08
      54.   Hollingsworth #53 03:04  |  Brod 13/10/08
      55.   brod 54 09:31  |  potobac 13/10/08
      56.   This article 06:47  |  Mark Austen 14/10/08
      57.   Pius complicit in murder of Serbs 03:30  |  Dr. Jonathan Levy 15/10/08
      58.   Dr.(?) Jonathan Levy 00:08  |  hollingsworth 16/10/08
      59.   To #57 03:56  |  Dr. Jonathan Levy 20/10/08
      60.   Vatican Shame 02:27  |  Bob Johnson 23/10/08
      61.   the line between 14:52  |  Rodrigo 24/10/08
      62.   are blakcs legends uncertains... or not? 15:06  |  Rodrigo 24/10/08
      63.   #45 Is talking hard for you? 19:09  |  T A Sheppard 07/11/08
      64.   ALL religions are guilty 19:12  |  Jen Tiles 07/11/08
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