-
Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, as a nuncio in Bavaria Pacelli visits a group of bishops circa 1922 (Carl Baer/ONE News) - Source: Carl Baer/ONE News
Pope Benedict must be left alone to decide on whether to promote
a controversial Nazi-era pontiff toward sainthood, the Vatican
said, rejecting apparent pressure from within the Church to move
ahead.
Pope Pius XII has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye
to the Holocaust during World War Two, a charge his supporters and
the Vatican deny.
The Vatican issued an unusually strong statement hours after
Italian media quoted Rev Peter Gumpel, the chief Vatican judge
investigating Pius' sainthood cause, as suggesting Benedict had not
yet acted out of fear it would harm relations with Jews.
The Vatican, citing news reports, said the Pope's decision on
whether to sign beatification decrees is the exclusive competence
of the Pope, who should be left completely free in his evaluations
and decisions.
"If the Pope thinks that study and reflection on Pius XII's cause
should be further extended, his position must be respected without
interference or unjustified and inopportune declarations," the
Vatican's press office said.
Some say Pius did not do enough to save Jews.
The Vatican and his Jewish defenders say he worked behind the scenes to help because direct intervention would have worsened the situation.
Heroic virtues
The Vatican's saint-making department in 2007 voted in favour of a
decree recognising Pius' "heroic virtues", a step in a long process
toward possible sainthood that began in 1967.
Benedict has so far not approved the decree - which is needed for
beatification, the last step before sainthood - opting for what the
Vatican has called a period of reflection.
Gumpel, a major proponent of sainthood for Pius, said Benedict had
been "struck" by some recent meetings with Jewish
organisations.
"(Jewish groups) told him loudly and clearly that if he did
anything in favour of Pope (Pius), relations between the Catholic
Church and Jews would be definitively and permanently compromised,"
Gumpel was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency.
Jewish groups have asked the Vatican to freeze the procedure that
can lead to his sainthood pending more study of wartime
records.
Pius is one of several issues that have strained Catholic-Jewish
relations. Benedict's decision to readmit to the Church a bishop
who denied the extent of the Holocaust in January also strained
ties.
Richard Williamson had said in an interview he believed there were no gas chambers and that no more than 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, rather than the six million accepted by most historians.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
