World Jewish Congress criticizes Pope's decision to beatify Pius XII

[demoleft]

Source: the jerusalem post

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) Monday criticized the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to pave the way for the beatification of his controversial war-time predecessor Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), who was pontiff of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958.

"As long as the archives of Pope Pius about the crucial period 1939 to 1945 remain closed, and until a consensus on his actions - or inaction - concerning the persecution of millions of Jews in the Holocaust is established, a beatification is inopportune and premature," WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said in a statement.

"While it is entirely a matter for the Catholic Church to decide on whom religious honors are bestowed, there are strong concerns about Pope Pius XII's political role during World War II which should not be ignore," Lauder added.

Lauder called on the Vatican to immediately open all existing archives about the Pius era to international researchers in order to dispel doubts that still persist. "Given the importance of good relations between Catholics and the Jews, and following the difficult events of the past year, it would be appreciated if the Vatican showed more sensitivity on this matter," he said.



Read more: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1261364463253&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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well i'm not jew, indeed i'm atheist.
but i join the criticism, i add my disgust, and hope the vatican will not get the next chance to show the worst.

as an italian and antifascist - i find this operation disgusting.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I can name a miracle that Pius XII performed.

It's a miracle that he didn't use the power of The Vatican to at least attempt to save the Jews, the Romanis, gays, even members of his Church who spoke out.

[JoDog]

3. There's also the miracle

of sneaking all the Nazis and ex-SS out of Europe through the Vatican. Msgr. Krunoslov Dragonovic (a war criminal himself) organized the ratline, but the pope likely knew about it and the efforts Catholic organizations like Intermarium and Catholic Relief Services to quietly move war criminals to the US and South America.

[Ignis]

35. +1. That'll leave a mark. (nt)

[old mark]

2. Pius XII's miracle: He made a lot of Nazis dissappear from Europe

and reappear in South America. The vatican gave a lot of diplomatic and other passports to Nazis who were being hunted by the allies right after WWII, and managed to bring a lot of them out from 1945 till 1948 or so. I don't believe the Pope was ignorant of this at all - he had a lot of pals among the German and Italian Fascists as well as Franco's regime in Spain.

He was no more of a saint than I am.
Rec.
mark

[old mark]

14. For anyone who wishes to know some of the history of this period

read this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratlines_(history)

there are enough references in this to give you something to do for quite some time.

mark

[IndianaGreen]

16. K&R for telling the unvarnished truth!

The Vatican had lots of passports for fleeing nazi war criminals, and few (if any) to save Jews during the Holocaust.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[harmonicon]

5. Nazi Pope II LOVES Nazi Pope I.

How cute - and disturbing.

[iandhr]

6. cute?

not so much

[Wizard777]

7. What people fail to understand about Pius XII.

He was playing both sides of the line to ensure the survival of church regardless of who won the war. What Pius XII failed to understand about God. For as long as that church pleases God. Nothing can destroy it. When that church no longer pleases God. No deal with the devil can save it. Pius XII = he of little faith.

[GillesDeleuze]

12. nonsense.

yes, he played both sides, but its not like the object of their fairytales had anything to do with it.

[dflprincess]

23. Pius XII was succeeded by John XXIII ("the good pope")

Maybe that was how God showed his displeasure - by finding a pope who would try to change the church. It was John who convened the second ecumencial council (Vatican II) - something conservative Catholics still haven't gotten over.

In addition, John XXIII was credited with saving the lives of thousand of Jews during the Holocaust.

http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/press/pope-john-xxiii-jews.1709.htm

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation asked the Holocaust Museum of Israel to designate Roncalli as "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor reserved for non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust. Rabbi Simon Moguilevsky, chief rabbi of Buenos Aires, called Roncalli "a man truly created in the image of God."

..Roncalli even communicated his outrage to the Germans. He rebuked German Ambassador Franz von Papen, a devout Catholic who suggested that the anti-Communist Pope Pius XII demonstrate public support for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union.

"And what shall I tell the Holy Father," Roncalli replied, "about the thousands of Jews who have died in Germany and Poland at the hands of your countrymen

He was an interesting pick to succeed Pius, though I would suspect that he was elected as a "place holder" and no doubt caused many of the Curia's heads to explode.

[fascisthunter]

8. well, the Nazi in this Guy still Exists, I see (nt)

[thestoic]

38. h

?

[Doc Martin]

9. A Political Move

The current pope, Joseph Ratzinger, is on mission to take the Roman Catholic church back to a time prior to 1958 before the election of John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council.

He is tying the candidacy of Pius XII with that of John Paul II who was popular in many Catholic quarters (but hardly so among progressive Catholics).

"Last week, an apparent Vatican strategy on turning popes into saints came into view: When you're going to move a controversial pope along the path to sainthood, bundle him with a more popular pontiff - the PR calculation apparently being that acclaim for the latter may drown out negative reaction to the former. Call it a "two-for-one" strategy, one that appears especially probable when the controversy concerns Jewish/Catholic relations."

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-moves-john-paul-ii-and-pius-xii-closer-sainthood

Thank God, the Catholic Church has far less power in the world than it ever did.

As a Catholic, it is sad to see the current institutional leader politicizing sainthood.

[DebbieCDC]

10. What do you expect from Pope Rat?

He was a member of the Hitler Youth. Of course he'd want to make a "saint" out of the Hitler Pope.

IMHO that is.

[tonysam]

11. I'll never forget how botched the embalming of Pope Pius XII's body was

It was a worldwide scandal:

They had even more against him. The Pope's body would normally have been embalmed in readiness for the traditional lying-in-state in St. Peter's but Galeazzi-Lisi contrived, in some inexplicable way, to keep it from the regular embalmers. He virtually took the body into his own keeping. With brash self-confidence, he and an associate had worked out an embalming system of their own. This, they claimed, although based on ancient formulas, was superior to modern methods and would ensure that Pope Pius' body would resist contamination for at least 100 years. And, of course, if the system, following its spectacular debut, turned out to be a lucrative proposition on the funeral-markets, they wouldn't be averse from that.

The Galeazzi-Lisi miracle system involved encasing the Pope's body in a cellophane bag into which were inserted aromatic herbs, or spices, or some such, used, said one report, by the early Christians, and, said another, by the ancient Egyptians, to preserve their dead. It was all mumbo-jumbo. The whole thing was a ghastly failure from the start; all that Galeazzi-Lisi and his accomplice succeeded in doing was profane the Papal corpse.

When Pope Pius's body, stretched out in its bizarre transparent sheath, was laid on a great raised catafalque in St. Peter's, the multitudes who filed by were horrified to see it literally decomposing before them. When I saw it, several times, it was taking on a progressively yellowish tinge. Each evening, after St. Peter's was closed, Galeazzi-Lisi would climb a ladder to the body and feverishly pour more of his ingredients into the sheath. It was all futile. The funeral of Pope Pius XII came just in time.

Lots more

[Wizard777]

24. That explains it. Now I get it.

"The Galeazzi-Lisi miracle system involved encasing the Pope's body in a cellophane bag into which were inserted aromatic herbs, or spices"

I now understand why some Catholic friends call him the Shake & Bake Pope. Too funny.

:rofl:

[tonysam]

27. "Shake & Bake Pope"

I about fell out of my chair laughing.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[jberryhill]

13. Aww... Why Not Beautify The Guy?

With a few highlights and a perm, a facial peel, and some botox, it could change his whole outlook.

[tonysam]

18. See my post above. They tried that and it didn't work.

n/t

[IndianaGreen]

15. They want to canonize the Pope that saved Jews (JPII) together with the one that failed to save them

and the one pushing for this is a former Hitler Youth.

What is wrong with this picture?

[MellowDem]

17. Pot calling the kettle black?

Does the World Jewish Congress condemn the current plight of Palestenians at the hands of Jewish occupiers? Hum-dee-dum. Nope. I can't stand the idea of the Pope in general, and disagree with the beatification, but coming from the World Jewish Congress, it seems rather hypocritical. The WJC blames the "liberal free press" for the way Israel is viewed sometimes in negative manners. Seems like another conservative religious organization that ignores its own current transgressions to condemn other religions of past wrong.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Not about pots, and kettles...your post is about fruit: apples and oranges.

Oh and learn about the I/P conflict. Do notice the "I".

[MellowDem]

25. The WJC has a very specefic bias...

but if you want to pretend otherwise, go ahead. I know about the I/P conflict, and realize that Israel is a secular state, but a lot of their politics are influenced by ideas about the Jewish religion, which is undeniable. An organization that is so one-sided in its support of Israel is automatically sundered in my eyes as an organization with much meaningful thought on other subjects.

[Behind the Aegis]

26. Your bias has blinded you.

This topic has nothing to do with Israel and with a Pope who did nothing (and may have actively helped in protecting murders of Jews, among others) about the massacre of Jews (among others). It is an entirely different topic and if you cannot see that fact, you are the one with extreme bias as you are unable to separate this situation from Israel; it is just as disingenuous as though that declare all criticism of Israel anti-Semitic, like them, you have blurred the lines to an opaqueness.

[DavidDvorkin]

28. Mellowdem's attitude is sadly common on DU.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. maybe so, but that doesnt mean the kettle isnt black. what the wjc supports in israel

doesnt neutralize, what this pope is doing by supporting a nazi sympathizing pope

[Ter]

36. I agree

They criticize the Pope. Guess what that will bring? Anti-Semitism, the very thing they say they're against. Ironic.

[DavidDvorkin]

37. So Jews should never point out anti-Semitism because

that will generate more?

[Ter]

40. Not on a sitting Pope

Unless it's major (and this isn't that big of a deal). Let us Catholics criticize him for this, and we will.

[DavidDvorkin]

41. Therefore only Jews are allowed to criticize the actions of other Jews?

Or at least, of highly visible Jews?

Only Anglicans can criticize statements made by the Archbishop of Canterbury?

And so on. No one outside a group can criticize the actions or statements of prominent figures within the group?

[CBGLuthier]

42. I am neither jew nor catholic. Your pope sucks.

[LeftishBrit]

39. So Jews should never criticize the Pope in case it makes some of his followers antisemitic?

Do you also think that women, gays, etc. should never criticize the Pope because it might increase the sexism, homophobia, etc. of some of his nuttier followers? The argument doesn't make much sense.

[CANDO]

19. The arrogance is overwhelming.

A religion created(as all are) from the mind of man then turns around and deifies a man. Something is wrong with that picture.

[unkachuck]

20. I think....

....the WJC is just being rather sensitive....I see no problem with the beatification of Reichsmarschall Pius by the Nazi Pope....

[Endangered Specie]

22. Birds of a feather...

[demoleft]

29. pius XII won't get beatification the same day as wojtyla, october 16, 2010...

...states the Vatican today.

there's no historical evaluation regarding the proces of beatification - with this the Vatican answers criticism from the jewish front.
it's just about the pope's evaluation of faith.

source, italian: http://www.repubblica.it/2009/10/sezioni/esteri/benedetto-xvi-37/vaticano-ebrei/vaticano-ebrei.html?rss

[LeftishBrit]

30. I agree with the WJC here; this is shocking

[demoleft]

31. yes. just updated on the subject with news of the vatican response...

...ciao u there.

:hi:

[newspeak]

32. what I read about Hitler's pope

is that the first to be rounded up were the priests and nuns who believed in social justice, those who wouldn't tolerate Hitler's agenda. And, didn't the pope make a concordant with Hitler? I consider pope John XXIII more of a saint and Pious XII the devil's advocate.

[David Zephyr]

34. Our family was shocked when we heard Ratzinger's sickening decision.

This is simply vile.