Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square, after the closing of a four-day meeting on the global sexual abuse crisis, at the Vatican, February 24, 2019. (photo credit: REMO CASILLI/ REUTERS)
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VATICAN CITY, March 4 – Pope Francis announced on Monday that he has decided to fully open the Vatican‘s secret archives on the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII, something which Jews have been seeking for decades.
Some Jews have accused Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War Two by not speaking out forcefully. The Vatican has said Pius worked quietly behind the scenes to save Jews and so as to not worsen the situation for many, including for Catholics in parts of Nazi-occupied Europe.
The archives will open on March 2, 2020, Francis announced in a speech to members of the Vatican‘s Secret Archives. He said “the Church is not afraid of history,” adding that Pius’ legacy had been treated with “some prejudice and exaggeration”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC), one of the world’s leading Jewish groups, welcomed the moveRabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Inter-religious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said that it is hoped the Vatican’s archival documents from the Holocaust era will provide a clearer picture of Pope Pius XII actions as the Nazi genocide was underway.
The documents are expected to include various letters, messages and communications between the pope and other Vatican officials at the time, with Catholic clergy around Europe.
Communications between the Vatican with pious Catholics serving as senior military or government officials, and with Catholics of lesser rank who may have provided reports of various kinds to church officials, may also be included.
Rosen said that the new documentation could be crucial in providing greater clarity regarding Pius XII’s activities during the Holocaust.
“The hope is that making all the materials accessible for objective scholarly review will give us a clearer picture,” said the rabbi, who said that it was the right thing to do to make the documents available now.
The previous pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI had indicated shortly before he retired that he wished to open the Holocaust-era archives, while Pope Francis’ personal understanding of the Jewish community was likely also a factor, said Rosen.
Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives Bishop Sergio Pagano had also reportedly requested time to catalogue the large amount of documents before their release. Rosen also noted that the AJC itself had been raising the issue with the Vatican for the past 30 years.
Rosen cautioned however that the strongly divergent perspective and narrative of Jews and the Catholic church regarding Pius XII’s activities during the Holocaust would likely mean that consensus will never be reached as to whether he could have done more to help Jews, or did enough.
“The Catholic argument that there were real dangers, which there were, in speaking out and that Pope Pius XII made a calculated decision that was best for all, is something that Catholics take very seriously,” said the rabbi.
“But from the Jewish perspective, the idea that someone could have been fully virtuous and did everything they could in face of such evil and violence is anathema, and is outrageous, unless they gave their lives,” he continued, given the magnitude of the genocide against the Jewish people committed by the Nazis.
“If Jews believe relations with the Catholic church are important, which I do believe, and if the Catholic church believes its relations with the Jews to be important, then we have to respect the fact that we have different historical memories and perspectives.”
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