Talk of Sainthood for Wartime Pope Stirs Anger Among Jewish Groups

[Ian David]

Talk of Sainthood for Wartime Pope Stirs Anger Among Jewish Groups
By Marc Perelman
Thu. Oct 16, 2008

After years of quiet diplomacy, the controversy over the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pontiff, has once again burst into the open and renewed tensions between the Vatican and Jewish groups.

Jewish leaders are calling on the Vatican to ensure that all relevant archival materials related to Pius XII, also known as Eugenio Pacelli, be made available before deciding on his sainthood.

The Jewish umbrella group in charge of official relations with the Holy See is planning to raise the issue during a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI later this month. The issue also is likely to be broached at a high-level biennial Jewish-Vatican meeting in mid-November in Budapest.

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The latest spat began earlier this month when Rabbi Shear Yeshuv Cohen of Haifa, the first Jew invited to attend the Vatican’s annual meeting of bishops, known as a synod, spoke out against the move to canonize Pope Pius XII, stressing that Jews cannot “forgive and forget” that he did not speak out enough against the Holocaust. Later, he told reporters that Pius “should not be seen as a model and he should not be beatified.”

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The conference has been attacked by a variety of Jewish leaders, liberal Catholics and historians for its pro-Pius XII bent. “This was a one-sided campaign rally rather than a serious intellectual inquiry,” said Michael Marrus, a history professor at the University of Toronto who declined to attend.


PIUS XII: The World War II Pope is again stirring up controversy.

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http://www.forward.com/articles/14397/