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Pope's Visit To Rome Synagogue Focuses Debate On Pius XII's Actions In WW II

By Howard M. Friedman

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday visited Rome's Great Synagogue amidst continuing controversy over whether Pope Pius XII did enough during World War II to save Italian Jews. (London Times.) Reuters reports that Riccardo Pacifici, president of Rome?s Jewish community and grandson of Genoa's Chief Rabbi who died in Auschwitz, directly confronted the Pope on the issue. After expressing gratitude to the convent that sheltered his father and uncle, Pacifici said:

In Italy and other parts of Europe, many religious people risked their lives to save thousands of Jews from certain death, without asking anything in return. This is why the silence of Pius XII before the Shoah still hurts because something should have been done. Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity towards those brothers of ours transported to the ovens of Auschwitz.

In his address at the Rome Synagogue yesterday (full text) the Pope set out the Vatican's view of its record:

The extermination of the people of the Covenant of Moses, at first announced, then systematically programmed and put into practice in Europe under the Nazi regime, on that day tragically reached as far as Rome. Unfortunately, many remained indifferent, but many, including Italian Catholics, sustained by their faith and by Christian teaching, reacted with courage, often at risk of their lives, opening their arms to assist the Jewish fugitives who were being hunted down, and earning perennial gratitude. The Apostolic See itself provided assistance, often in a hidden and discreet way.

Last December, Pope Benedict issued a decree moving Pius XII closer to beatification, a move that sparked anger among some Jewish groups. (AP, 12/23/2009). Israel on Sunday asked Pope Benedict to open the Vatican archives to researchers to clarify Pope Pius XII's actions. (Reuters).

Full post as published by Religion Clause on January 18, 2010 (boomark / email).