VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s No. 2 official has slammed allegations that Pope Pius XII didn’t do enough to save Jews during World War II as “outrageous.”
Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Thursday condemned the criticism of the wartime pope by some historians and Jewish groups. Pope Benedict XVI said he hoped Pius XII’s path for sainthood could move ahead but also reportedly agreed to consider freezing the process until the Vatican’s wartime archives are opened.
Bertone said the possible beatification, the last formal step before sainthood, is an internal affair and “a religious matter that requires respect.”
The Vatican rejects criticism that Pius didn’t speak out publicly to condemn the Holocaust, maintaining that he used quiet diplomacy to save thousands of lives.
