From PR Newswire

In light of the recent step taken by Pope Benedict XVI to advance the process that could lead to the canonization of Pope Pius XII, the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), the international body charged with primary responsibility for representing the Jewish People in its relations with the Vatican, reiterates its longstanding position that consideration of his beatification be postponed until such time as the secret archives relating to his period are made available to independent scholars. We urge that such access be provided as quickly as possible. Under normal circumstances, we would of course take no position on a matter so internal to the Church as the canonization process, but we do so in this instance because of the deep sensitivities that the controversy over Pope Pius XII's stance during the period of the Holocaust engenders within our community.

Founded in 1970, the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) is composed of: American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Israel Jewish Council on Interreligious Relations, Rabbinical Assembly, Rabbinical Council of America, Union of Reform Judaism, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and World Jewish Congress. IJCIC serves on behalf of, and as an instrument of, its constituent member organizations to maintain and develop relations with the World Council of Churches, the Vatican Commission on Religious Relations with Jews, the Greek Orthodox Church, and other international central religious bodies.