Well, God be thanked! It seems the fairly moderate initial reactions from the Italian Jews to the advent of Venerable Pius XII were probably ritual noises of protest more than anything. They will go on making these noises from time to time, but they know in their hearts Eugenio Pacelli was a good man, a holy man, and one they should not hesitate to call 'righteous among men' - and that Benedict XVI has a pure heart incapable of anything but honesty... Anyway, Shalom, Rabbi di Segni!
Rome's chief rabbi satisfied
after Vatican note
Translated from
online
Dec. 23, 2009
The Vatican's note on Benedict XVI's promulgation of Venerable Pius XII's heroic virtues was "a timely and conciliatory signal", the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo di Segni said today.
"I appreciate the prompt attention of the Vatican, which, through its press director, Fr. Federico Lombardi, responded today with a note to some essential questions on the part of the Jews regarding the decree on the heroic virtues of Pius XII," Di Segni said.
"Equally important in the statement was distinguishing the religious aspect from the historical, as well as the assurance that (Pius XII's) cause for beatification will have an independent course [from that of John Paul II].
"Of course, the historical verdict [on Pius XII] will remain open and controversial, but it is important that the Vatican expressed understanding of 'the request to keep open all the possibilities for research'."
As Bruno Mastroianni said, the more new information about Pius XII comes to light, the better the world will learn about a holy man who has been relentlessly calumniated for more than half a century.
I have purposely refrained from posting the hateful and hate-filled Pavlov-dog reactions from various Jewish representatives such as some American Jews and the leader of the German Jews because they are rabid ideologues of the Shoah, which is a human tragedy but not a cult, and are incapable of seeing reason, much less of being fair, with respect to both Pius XII and Benedict XVI.
They do not see that in their malicious sanctimony, they are harboring a hatred akin to that which caused the Nazi contempt for the Jews and people who believe in God.
Thanks to Beatrice, on her site
benoit-et-moi.fr
for finding this blog entry from a Rome correspondent of
for a refreshingly congenial and unexpected opinion...
ECCE HOMO!
Translated from
by Frederic Mounier
Dec. 23, 2009
The reaction to the news that the way is open for the beatification process of Pius XII to proceed perplexes and afflicts me.
This Pope, whose death had inspired mourning comparable to that of John Paul II, and who until the 1960s was considreed by everyone as a remarkable figure, whom the Israelis had thought at one time worthy to be a hero to be honored by them, whose beatification was envisioned by both John XXIII then Paul VI, had suddenly become, because of a hateful and
ahistorical book (
The Deputy) and film (
Amen), veritable dung, a figure of derision ['Papon'].
[On a personal note, since Pius XII was the Pope of my early childhood, the veneration with which he was held in the Catholic world at the time is very vivid to me, especially for someone who grew up in a Catholic school run by very orthodox Sisters of St. Paul and under the close tutelage of the college's spiritual director, a Belgian missionary.
It was shocking for me that at the time the Black Legend was taking hold, many Catholics either had forgotten or never knew the extraordinary stature Pius XII had in the world pre-Deputy - and I thank Mounier for re-creating it so well in just a few lines.]
I am flabbergasted, old professor that I am, by the peremptory statements, completely lacking critical discrimination, by people whose knowledge of history is most tenuous but who think they possess 'the truth' - without bothering to verify all the muck dragged up by the media.
And I am most flabbergasted by the 'trial' to which Benedict XVI is subjected without ever hearing any arguments 'for' him alongside the 'against' - this Pope whom his detractors seem to think acts only out of masochism (he delights in criticism?}, stupidity [he never checks out things!), and hastiness.
In short, they see him as the perfect whipping boy for media manipulation - someone who has somehow reawakened an anti-German sentiment one had thought defunct - all in the name of the sensational, and even of religious hatred that is so characteristic of our dear France.
I am no less saddened by hearing an important rabbi saying to a Pope to open his archives 'and justify himself' [on Pius XII] or risk the blackmail, "If you don't, we have nothing more to say to each other!"
But what is most painful in hearing this particular knell which is unique for being suspect, is the hue and cry from 'Catholics' (if there are still any left) who were never 'papists', and certainly not for this 'non-performing Pope' [the Vatican seen from a stadium seat!].
They 'know', from reading
La Croix, that Benedict XVI is not 'charismatic' (meaning, not 'mediatic'), that he is afflicted by 'timidity', and above all, the unforgivable sin, that he is 'an intellectual'.
So there you have an intellectual
[arguably the leading intellect in the world today, pilloried by those who love cockiness and glitter - as bumbling, limited, unable to 'understand' the modern world, well-deserving of anathema, curses and contemptuous spit.
One can only expect from his critics more variations on his 'autism', as though he were an imbecile gardener who would do better to just gaze at his flowerbeds.
And what if the Pope was really an honest man? That he acts as the Holy Spirit moves him? That he wishes, despite probable opprobrium, to follow his conscience and stand up for another scapegoat?
As for me, I swear - by all my Jewish ancestors, once and not long ago thrown to the dogs of unanimous hatred - that I feel compassion for this aged man, vilified so happily by his own.
ECCE HOMO!
Beatrice comments that she objects to the last sentence: in the first place because she - nor any Benaddict, one might add - would never think of the Holy Father as 'aged'; and because 'solidarity' rather than 'compassion' is the more appropriate word.
Of course, the most appropriate word of all, for us Benaddicts, is 'love' - a great and overwhelming and tender love for this holy man in whom we cannot find fault.
P.S. Mounier had an earlier blog entry dated Dec. 21 entitled 'Pius XII - the Incomprehension', which deserves translation as well.
Ironically, Mounier has the same last name as the French intellectual who first accused Pius XII of 'keeping silent against aggression' as early as 1939, in connection with the Italian attack on Albania. (See Sandro Magister's flashback to this, posted in the CHURCH&VATICAN thread two days ago.)
The brief biodata on Mounier's blog says he was Religion editor for La Croix before he was assigned to Rome to cover the Vatican and the Church from that vantage .
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/12/2009 21:52]