Israeli ambassador modifies stand on Pope Pius XII
June 27, 2011
Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, who said last week that Pope Pius XII had acted effectively to save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust, has backed away from that judgment, saying that it might be “premature.”
Mordechai Lewy said that the actions of Catholic religious orders, who took in Jews to protect them after the Nazis began a roundup in Rome, “is still the subject of ongoing and future research,” and he did not intend to suggest a final judgment.
Lewy had drawn a distinction in his earlier statement between concrete acts to save Jewish lives, which Pope Pius XII had taken, and public statements denouncing the Holocaust, which the wartime Pope did not make.
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Further information:
- Israel's Vatican envoy backs off WWII pope praise (AP)
- Israel ambassador salutes Pope Pius XII for sheltering Jews from Holocaust (CWN, 6/24)
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