The Vatican on Monday opened
up its archives on Pius XII and an expert said the documents
show that World War II pontiff acted to help Jews during the
Holocaust.
Pius XII, who was the head of the Catholic Church from 1939
to 1958, has been accused of failing to try to stop Nazi Germany
murdering Jews.
Johan Ickx, the director of the historical archive of the
Section for Relations with States of the Holy See's Secretariat
of State, said the Church's role under Pius XII is shown by a
folders with requests for help from around 4,000 people.
He said the documents included evidence of Vatican officials
providing false documents to Jews and taking in persecuted
people in extraterritorial Vatican buildings.
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