Wartime pope’s secret archive
THE VATICAN has announced it will open its secret archives on Pope Pius XII, who led the Catholic Church during the Second World War and has been accused of failing to speak out about the Holocaust.
For decades, Jews have petitioned the Holy See to open the files on the pontiff, who died in 1958.
Pope Francis announced that the archive would be opened on March 2 next year, the 81st anniversary of Pius’ election to the papacy.
“The church is not afraid of history, on the contrary, she loves it & would like to love it more and better, just as she loves God,” Francis said in Vatican News, the official news website of the Vatican.
Serious and objective historical research will be able to evaluate, in its proper light, with appropriate criticism, moments of exaltation of that Pontiff.”
A process “of inventory and preparation of substantial documentation” had begun more than a decade ago in 2006, Francis added.
Arguments about Pius XII’s wartime activities have persisted for decades.
The Catholic Church and some historians have maintained that the wartime Pope was instrumental in working to help Jews. But others have accused the Church leader of silence in the face of atrocities being carried out by the Nazis, most notably the John Cornwell’s 1999 book, Hitler’s Pope.
“The inaccessibility of the archives has been a continued source of tension in Jewish-Catholic relations and a frustration for historians,” said Rabbi David Fox Sandmel, Director of Interreligious Engagement at the Anti-Defamation League.
“Assuming all of the documents will be made available to researchers, then this is precisely what historians and those of us concerned about an accurate account of the actions of the pope and the Vatican during the war have been asking for.
“What transpired during those years cannot be known and assessed until researchers have complete access to the archives.”
Pope Francis said archives at the Vatican City (right) will open