Just a week before Christmas Pope Benedict XVI moved two of his recent predecessors closer to sainthood by declaring Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II “Venerable,” an essential step before advancing them towards beatification and then canonization. The announcement was followed by a number of negative reactions from a wide range of Jewish leaders and organizations. Some Jews and other critics have accused Pope Pius XII of turning a blind eye to Jewish suffering in World War II. Pope Benedict formally announced that Pope Pius XII had showed “heroic virtues” throughout his life and called him a “Christian worthy of imitation.” Pope Benedict has indicated his great respect and admiration for Pope Pius XII, the pope who reigned during the present pope’s teenage years and early years as a priest.
The president of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor, called the move a “major slap in the face of the memory of the Holocaust.” He warned that the issue would raise the ire of the Jewish communities around the world on many levels. “This is not just about Catholic-Jewish relations but about the abuse of Holocaust memory and history,” he said. He added that “many major scholars contend that Pius did little to save the Jews and ignored their plight during one of the darkest chapters in human history.” The head of Germany’s Central Jewish Council, Stephan Kramer called Pope Benedict’s views on Pope Pius XII as a “hijacking of historical facts concerning the Nazi era, he rewrites history without having allowed a serious scientific discussion. That’s what makes me furious.”
Part of what Mr. Kramer refers to is the ongoing controversy surrounding the release of the Vatican archival materials on Pope Pius XII. The Italian Jewish leaders have been calling for access to the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. “We do not forget the deportations of Jews from Italy and in particular the train that deported 1,021 people on Oct. 16, 1943, which left Rome’s Tiburtina station for Auschwitz to the silence of Pius XII,” read their statement. The Vatican has announced that the remaining archival material not already disclosed should be made available by 2014.
American Jewish responses were not much better than Europe’s. Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called the decision on Pope Pius XII “profoundly insensitive and thoughtless,” particularly as it came a day after the Auschwitz death camp was vandalized. The metal sign that hung above the entrance to Auschwitz that read “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes You Free) was stolen recently. “We are left bereft in our feelings,” Mr. Steinberg said, adding that it went against private assurances the Vatican had given the Jewish community. “No documents have been released altering the view of Pius as ‘the silent pope.’” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it was “deeply troubled” by the announcement. The ADL called on Pope Benedict to suspend the sainthood process for Pope Pius XII until the relevant Vatican archival documents are made accessible to historians and scholars.
Father Peter Gumpel, one of the main promoters of Pope Pius XII’s cause for canonization, told the Catholic News Agency earlier this year that he had proof Pope Pius XII had tried to protect Jews from the Nazis. Father Gumpel had found a note in the archives of the Augustinian Nuns of the Roman Monastery that mentioned an order from Pope Pius to give shelter to persecuted Jews. The note, dated November 1943, included a list of 24 people taken in by the monastery in response to the pope’s request and reads: “The Holy Father wishes to save his children, the Jews as well and orders that the Monasteries provide hospitality to these persecuted people.” Sister Margherita Marchione, a local historian and scholar, as well as a friend of mine and one of the leading experts on Pope Pius XII wrote several books on the subject. But in her book, “Did Pope Pius XII Help the Jews?” she wrote in an attempt to, as she says, “counteract the inaccuracies of some historians, I have gathered documentation that proves how outrageously incorrect are the misrepresentations about Pope Pius XII’s so-called ‘silence’ and ‘anti-Semitism.’”
Father Frederico Lombardi, the pope’s spokesman in the conclusion of his remarks on the Jewish consternation over the elevation said, “It is, then, clear that the recent signing of the decree is in no way to be read as a hostile act towards the Jewish people, and it is hoped that it will not be considered as an obstacle on the path of dialogue between Judaism and the Catholic Church. Rather we trust that the pope’s forthcoming visit to the Synagogue of Rome will be an opportunity for the cordial reiteration and reinforcement of ties of friendship and respect.”
Thankfully, Pope Benedict’s visit to the synagogue on Jan. 17 was a moment of healing and rapprochement.
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