Jewish sources regarding Pius XII
confirm Benedict XVI's judgment
Translated from the Italian service of
30 NOV 2010 (RV) - The most recent historical evidence brought to light confirm the positions expressed by Benedict XV in
Light of the World about Pius XII and his support for persecuted Jews in World War II.
The Pope points out in the book that it is important to overcome ideological conjectures about what Pius XII could have done more.
"The decisive thing is what he did and what he tried to do, and on that score, we really must acknowledge, I believe, that he was one of the great righteous men, and that he saved more Jews than anyone else".
In his conversations with Peter Seewald, the Pope points out that he ordered 'an inspection of the unpublished archival records', and that "it was possible to reconfirm our original impression, to see that the records confirm the positive things we know but not the negative things that are alleged".
Last November 17, the Pope received from the founder of the Pave the Way Foundation, Gary Krupp, an American Jew, records showing new historical confirmation of the Church position about Papa Pacelli and the Jews.
Krupp said at the time that "The book [
Pius XII and the Second World War: the Documented Truth] and documents we presented to the Pope resulted from efforts by the Foundation to publicly post on the site
www.ptwf.org original documents and eyewitness accounts about Pius XII's wartime activities in aid of the Jews to encourage the international community of historians to study them."
www.ptwf.org/projects/education/PPXII%20Document%20Pag...
It is hoped, he said, "that by making these materials available on the Web, the controversy that has clouded the pontificate of Pius XII for almost half a century may finally be resolved".
So far, he says, the Foundation has posted "more than 40,000 pages of documents, articles, interviews and eyewitness accounts, much of it original material, on that historical period".
The new book on Pius XII's record has just been published in Hebrew. The material presented, which is easy reading, allows the reader to come to his own conclusions.
It is the first book in Hebrew on Pius XII that is based on documentary evidence, not on speculation.
Krupp also gave the Pope the book
Hitler, the war and the Pope, written by Prof. Ronald Rychlak with Migai Ion Pacepa, the Romanian general who became the highest-ranking ex-KGB agent ever to defect.
The book describes the operations of the KGB disinformation network and their plan called 'Seat 12' intended to destroy the reputation of Pius XII and to open up the division between the Catholic Church and the Jewish world.
It was ordered by then Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to discredit the Catholic Church and to isolate the Jewish world from Christians.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/11/2010 20:55]