Ghosts of Genocides Past: A Tainted Saint? A Misunderestimated Saint?…….
“The move by the sitting Pope, Benedict XVI, brings the controversial World War II pontiff, Pius XII, a step closer to sainthood, despite persistent allegations from historians and Jewish groups that he did not do enough to help prevent the murder of six million Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany. In Israel the news has been met with a mixture of disappointment, bewilderment and anger by Jewish leaders. Rabbi Yisrael Lau told CNN: "I say with all the respect. Don't do it, especially not now when many survivors are still alive and it will hurt them deeply knowing that the man who could save, could do much more and did not do it. Don't make him holy. This is a shame I think for the church. It is not a good education for generations to come." The Vatican maintains Pius XII worked quietly behind the scenes to save Jewish lives during the war, but church archives that might shed more light on his actions remain sealed despite repeated requests from historians for access. Earlier in the year the German-born Benedict faced a wave of criticism for reinstating a holocaust denying Bishop who had been excommunicated for reasons unrelated to the Holocaust………..”
He probably worked so “quietly behind the scenes” that nobody noticed, not even the victims of Nazism.
Cheers and Happy Holidays
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