The decision by Pope Benedict XVI to move World War II-era Pope Pius XII a step closer to sainthood is a step in the wrong direction ("Friend to the Jews," Gary L. Krupp, Post- Opinion, Dec. 28).
Benedict's decision approved decrees of heroic virtue for Pius XII. With that decree, the Church declares that the candidate has lived a saintly life. Pius XII has now earned the appellation "venerable" and is on his way to beatification and sainthood.
Historical facts do not justify this designation.
Whom the Church chooses as a candidate for sainthood is the Church's department. Holocaust history, however, is mine. Pius XII was no friend of the Jews, and Gary Krupp is no historian.
Benedict's decree on behalf of Pius XII may serve the Church, but it does not serve history. Indeed, it is a denial of history and, moreover, an act of aggression against the Jewish people.
Debórah Dwork
Director
Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Clark University
Worcester, Mass.
Krupp's Pave the Way Foundation has been going down the wrong road by engaging in a campaign of misinformation about what the "evidence" says concerning Pius XII.
Its use of highly selective, out-of-context documents to make overblown claims about the actions of the World War II pope on behalf of the Jewish people violates basic historical research practices.
It is crucial for the Vatican to open its secret archives for the Holocaust period so that qualified, independent scholars can study them and make a reasoned analysis of the wartime pope's record.
Benedict should do this in 2010. Until then, no final determinations about Pius XII should be made, either way.
Rabbi E. Greenberg
Director, Interfaith Policy
Anti-Defamation League
Manhattan
Gary Krupp replies:
To correct the Foxman condemnation of our work [referring to the December 29 ADL press release], our symposium was held in Rome in 2008 not 2009. All of the institutions and critics of Pius XII were invited to attend our symposium but chose to boycott it and call it “one sided.” The Campagna documents Foxman refers to were only recently discovered and what they did show, according to Prof. Paul O’Shea’s report, is that Pius XII sent financial for the support of the internees on multiple occasions specifically for the care of the Jews being protected. They also showed that war time documents everyone is so anxious to see can be retrieved from multiple sources and many countries outside the Vatican Archives. Curiously, when Pope Benedict ordered the opening of the Archives up to 1939 literally none of the institutions ever bothered to go to Rome to study these new records according to the Vatican sign in sheets. Rabbi Greenberg and Dr. Dwork like many others have simply refused to look at the documents we have discovered and completely discount eye witness testimony. Dr. Dwork what is your opinion of Msgr Ferrofino’s interview on our site? This unfortunate condemnation from Foxman is just a small example of how those we trust for historical truth have simply developed a theory and will do whatever is necessary to support it. I challenge Foxman to assemble an open forum where the critics and all of the historians can publicly face the defenders where everyone must bring their proof and to do this in front of the public. We have thousands of sources of proof to support our position that I am very anxious to share with the world. Let the people be the judge. Finally Rabbi Greenberg, never discourage anyone who seeks the truth which is the “road” Pave the Way is going down.