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Last update - 00:00 18/10/2008
French Jewish group: Pius XII sainthood would be blow to Catholic-Jewish relations
By Reuters
Tags: Pope Pius XII, Israel news 

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.
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"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.

Related articles:
  • Vatican defends wartime pope against charge he turned blind eye to Holocaust
  • Haifa Chief Rabbi at Vatican: Wartime Pope let Jews down
  • Pope Benedict: Pius XII 'spared no effort' to help Jews during WWII
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      1.   Pius XII was a weak man. Sainthood sounds like a strong statement 10:39  |  Michael J 18/10/08
      2.   Canonization 10:40  |  Antigonos 18/10/08
      3.   Jews give advice to Catholics on how to run their church 11:03  |  Natallie Durson 18/10/08
      4.   Pope 11:36  |  Catholic 18/10/08
      5.   # 2 antigonos 12:22  |  Axel 18/10/08
      6.   TIT FOR TAT natallie 12:59  |  Tat 18/10/08
      7.   THE JEWS NEED FRIEND MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD 13:24  |  indrajaya 18/10/08
      8.   #4- agree in part.... 13:24  |  Teresa-Maria 18/10/08
      9.   Pius XII hid apostate Israel Zolli. 13:56  |  HS 18/10/08
      10.   Indy 14:01  |  the truth 18/10/08
      11.   Pius XII Sainthood 14:07  |  Martin Gray 18/10/08
      12.   # 10, THE TRUTH 14:30  |  indrajaya 18/10/08
      13.   unpius XII should be stigmatised as a nazim supporter 14:53  |  norbert 18/10/08
      14.   Indy 15:30  |  the truth 18/10/08
      15.   Pius complicit in genocide 15:35  |  Dr Jonathan Levy 18/10/08
      16.   Pius XII needs full documentation 15:49  |  H.H.M. 18/10/08
      17.   Harm the Relations 15:54  |  Dani 18/10/08
      18.   Jews and Christians have little in common. 16:01  |  Lou Medel 18/10/08
      19.   To Number 4 16:03  |  Dani 18/10/08
      20.   Indrajaya #12 16:05  |  Jasper 18/10/08
      21.   #13 Norbert 16:06  |  Lou Medel 18/10/08
      22.   response to No. 11 16:09  |  Dr Jonathan Levy 18/10/08
      23.   Saving Jewish lives. 16:12  |  Lou Medel 18/10/08
      24.   Saint Pius XII affirmed into beatific vision 16:19  |  Cal 18/10/08
      25.   Jews Love Catholic Saints!!! 16:41  |  Cal 18/10/08
      26.   Very strong links between fascism and Catholicism 16:57  |  Michael 18/10/08
      27.   The Rat Line 18:03  |  Crux Ansata 18/10/08
      28.   The Rat Line 18:05  |  Crux Ansata 18/10/08
      29.   PIUS XII 18:10  |  Martin Gray 18/10/08
      30.   Pius XII was already absorbed defending christianity 18:15  |  Roman 18/10/08
      31.   Like Catholics Care 18:33  |  Baruch Gold 18/10/08
      32.   BECAUSE THEY DONT CORRELATE JESUS AND ISRAEL 19:06  |  ANDREW 18/10/08
      33.   #1 weak ? 19:13  |  anonym catholic 18/10/08
      34.   cheapens sainthood 19:22  |  Dave 18/10/08
      35.   Well then, by all means 19:32  |  hollingsworth 18/10/08
      36.   I`m Changing My Position 19:50  |  Yosemite 18/10/08
      37.   BENEDICTUS NOT DENOUNCING 20:51  |  COUCOUCOUCOU 18/10/08
      38.   JEWS and RC CHURCH 22:03  |  joe 18/10/08
      39.   Pope Pius XII 22:05  |  Ralph 18/10/08
      40.   PiusXII:"Nazis ,stop killing jews!" Hitler: "Oh , Sorry we stop" 22:57  |  Arthur 18/10/08
      41.   Catholics were in Holocost too!!!! 19:45  |  Walter Horezga 27/03/09
      42.   IRRELEVANT! Africa IN a holocost now 19:54  |  Walter Horezga 27/03/09
      43.   Let`s Be REALLY fair 20:14  |  Walter Horezga 27/03/09
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