Israel recasts view of Holocaust-era Vatican
The Lord finds the Israelites to be “hard of face and obstinate of heart” in this Sunday’s first reading. Contemporary Israel recently softened its hard-line condemnation of Pope Pius XII’s conduct toward the massacre of Jews during World War II. Following a long diplomatic dispute with the Vatican . . .
The Lord finds the Israelites to be “hard of face and obstinate of heart” in this Sunday’s first reading. Contemporary Israel recently softened its hard-line condemnation of Pope Pius XII’s conduct toward the massacre of Jews during World War II. Following a long diplomatic dispute with the Vatican, the Yad Vashem national Holocaust memorial unveiled a new wall panel last Sunday that nuances criticism of the former pontiff.
Critics have long contended that Pius, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, could have done more to stop the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered. Before his election as pope, he also served as the Vatican's secretary of state and before that as the papal envoy to Germany. Given his deep involvement in the Vatican's diplomatic affairs with the Nazis, what Pius did or didn't do during the war has become the single most divisive issue in Vatican-Jewish relations.
A wall panel at the Yad Vashem memorial installed on Sunday still lists occasions when the wartime pontiff did not protest the slaughter of Europe's Jews. But it also offers the views of defenders who say the church's "neutrality" helped save lives. "This is an update to reflect research that has been done in the recent years and presents a more complex picture than previously presented," Yad Vashem said in a statement.
The new text also points to Pius' prominent role in the church's negotiations with Nazi officials and includes criticism of the Vatican for not opening its archives to allow historians to research the actions of the Holy See at the time, noting that until researchers have access to "all relevant" materials the topic will "remain open to further inquiry."
The papal envoy in Israel, Antonio Franco, welcomed what he called "the positive evolution. . . . For the Holy See, for the church, it's a step forward in the sense that it evolves from the straight condemnation to the evaluation," including the position of the pontiff's backers. Franco said that the Vatican's archives from the era continue to be catalogued and will be opened to the public once the work in finished. He offered no timeline for completion of this task.
Critics have long contended that Pius, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, could have done more to stop the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered. Before his election as pope, he also served as the Vatican's secretary of state and before that as the papal envoy to Germany. Given his deep involvement in the Vatican's diplomatic affairs with the Nazis, what Pius did or didn't do during the war has become the single most divisive issue in Vatican-Jewish relations.
A wall panel at the Yad Vashem memorial installed on Sunday still lists occasions when the wartime pontiff did not protest the slaughter of Europe's Jews. But it also offers the views of defenders who say the church's "neutrality" helped save lives. "This is an update to reflect research that has been done in the recent years and presents a more complex picture than previously presented," Yad Vashem said in a statement.
The new text also points to Pius' prominent role in the church's negotiations with Nazi officials and includes criticism of the Vatican for not opening its archives to allow historians to research the actions of the Holy See at the time, noting that until researchers have access to "all relevant" materials the topic will "remain open to further inquiry."
The papal envoy in Israel, Antonio Franco, welcomed what he called "the positive evolution. . . . For the Holy See, for the church, it's a step forward in the sense that it evolves from the straight condemnation to the evaluation," including the position of the pontiff's backers. Franco said that the Vatican's archives from the era continue to be catalogued and will be opened to the public once the work in finished. He offered no timeline for completion of this task.
Sources: Articles by Judith Sudilovsky for Catholic News Service and Amy Teibel for the Associated Press