Vatican opens Pius XII archives

(ANSA) - Vatican City, February 20 - The Vatican on Thursday opened its archives on Pius XII, the wartime pope accused by some of not speaking out against the Holocaust and not doing enough to save Jews.
    "The Church is not afraid of history, but faces the assessment of historians with the certainty that the nature of its actions will be understood," said archivist and chief librarian Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonca.
    "By placing at the disposal of historians this 'corpus' of documents", he added, "the Church is following a line of lay sharing with historians without ideological, faith-based or national preclusions.
    "All are welcome".
    Critics have claimed Pius did not do enough to stop the mass extermination of six million Jews.
    The Vatican says Pius, who has been placed on the path to sainthood but whose case has stalled in the absence of a miracle to his credit, was working quietly behind the scenes through the war to protect Jews.
    "The Church is not afraid of history," Pope Francis said last year during an audience with officials from the Vatican Secret Archive.
    "On the contrary, She loves it, and would like to love it more and better, as God does.
    "So, with the same trust of my predecessors, I open and entrust to researchers this documentary heritage." Last March 2 was the 80th anniversary of Pius XII's election to the helm of the Catholic Church.
    He was pope from 1939 to 1958.
    "The hope is that now that clarity can be achieved on the role Pius XII had in the period of the Second World War," Ruth Dureghello, the president of Rome's Jewish Community, told ANSA.
    "Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until 2020.
    "Better late than never. It's good news from which we hope to obtain clarity about that period of history and the role of the pope".
    Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Centre welcomed the pope's announcement last year that the archives would be opned in a year's time.
    "Yad Vashem commends the Vatican's decision to open the Pius XII Archives, covering the years 1939-1958," a statement read.
    "For years, Yad Vashem has called for the opening of these archives, which will enable objective and open research as well as comprehensive discourse on issues related to the conduct of the Vatican in particular, and the Catholic Church in general, during the Holocaust.
    "Yad Vashem expects that researchers will be granted full access to all documents stored in the archives".
    Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said the archives were unlikely to change the change the Jewish community's opinion of Pius XII.
    "We have no doubts about what happened," Di Segni said.
    "Our judgement on the historical events is not changing.
    "Sensational things would have to come out to disprove objective historic data.
    "We would like to know what documents will be made available.
    "Will it be everything or just a part? We hope that the Vatican makes everything accessible".
    Pope Francis once said that criticism of Pius XII for allegedly not speaking out against the Holocaust "gives me a rash".
    Francis admitted that Pius "made mistakes" but stressed that his actions should be seen "in the context of the times".