European Rabbis Regret Vatican Move to Canonise Pope Pius XII

Brussels - 23-Dec-09

The Conference of European Rabbis regrets the decision taken by Pope Benedict XVI to declare that Pius XII displayed heroic virtues throughout his life, thereby moving his World War II-predecessor closer to beatification.

In light of Pius’ XII failure to make any protests as six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, the move stands in contrast to the message and the values of the Church. Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome and member of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis, emphasised that “we cannot in any way interfere with internal decisions of the Church and infringe on its freedom of religious expression. But at the same time, if this is a final and unilateral decision regarding the actions of Pope Pius XII, we emphasise that we do not agree and we have a lot of criticism for the move.”

It is furthermore regrettable that the Vatican has chosen to act before opening all its relevant archives and allowing scholars to clarify Pius’ XII role during this controversial period of history.