Declaring that the church 'isn't afraid of history,' Pope Francis said he has decided to open up the Vatican archives on World War II-era Pope Pius XII, who has been criticized by Jews of staying silent on the Holocaust.
Pope Francis said he has decided to open up the Vatican archives on World War II-era Pope Pius XII, shown above.
The Vatican usually waits 70 years after the end of a pontificate to open up the relevant archives. But the Holy See has been under pressure to make the Pius XII documentation available sooner and while Holocaust survivors are still alive. The Catholic Church has been widely criticized for not doing enough to stand up to the Nazi regime.
Pius' actions will be scrutinized as part of efforts underway to decide if he should be declared a saint. Francis indicated that the church was confident that the papacy would withstand the findings by historians' studying the archives, saying Pius was"criticized, one can say, with some prejudice and exaggeration."
Israel's Foreign Ministry also expressed hopes that there would be"free access to all relevant archives.""The church isn't afraid of history, on the contrary, it loves it, and would like to love it even more, like it loves God," Francis told staff at the archives. He said the Pius papacy included"moments of grave difficulties, tormented decisions of human and Christian prudence, that to some could appear as reticence." Instead, he said they could be seen as attempts"to keep lit, in the darkest and cruelest periods, the flame of humanitarian initiatives, of hidden but active diplomacy" aimed at possibly"opening hearts."
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