Did Pius XII do enough?
international |
politics / elections |
other press 
Sunday January 16, 2005 13:52
by iosaf mac d.
or will he become another lame saint?
Pius XII was pontiff, bishop of rome, secular head of the Roman Catholic Church, pope, head of the Holy See, and as such signed the diplomatic agreement with Mussolini ending a very long conflict over the territorial integrity of the Vatican and establishing it as a state, and as Pope did not call attention to the Shoah.
Pius XII is currently being discussed for canonization by which he would be declared a Saint.
It's a complex process, and normally takes a long time, and involves arguments both for and against the candidate.
Pius XII was informed by diplomats to the Holy See from both the Kingdom of Sweden and the court of St James (U.K.) on several occassions of the death camps, extermination camps and the Holocaust as it was happening in the mid-1940s. He had previously been informed of all developments leading to the constructions of the camps.
Pius XII enjoyed a special relationship with both Ireland's De Valera and Spain's Franco.
Here is an article from this weeks Swiss info which looks at the "number one catholic" of the period in which the Nazis committed their worst crimes against humanity in Europe-
"Hitler wanted Pope Pius kidnapped"
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5469624
The move to canonise Pius XII is resented by many jewish organisations who still believe he did not do enough to stop the Holocaust.
And he is referred to, by them as "Hitler's pope".
Certainly he might have been "useful" to Hitler.
And certainly Hitler might have been "useful" to someone else...