Pius XII Praised at Holocaust Conference

INSIDE THE VATICAN ONLINE, April 19 — The debate over Pope Pius XII's reaction to the Holocaust may be shifting to favor the wartime Pope, Inside the Vatican reported in its coverage of the 22nd annual Conference on the Holocaust.

The conference, held April 14-15 at Millersville University in Millersville, Pa., featured historians strongly critical of Pius, as well as his defenders. Speakers included James Carroll (Constantine's Sword), Susan Zuccotti (Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy), Jose Sanchez (Pius XII and the Holocaust), John S. Conway (The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, 1933-1945), and almost a dozen others.

David Dalin, a distinguished American rabbi and historian, spoke about Pius' wartime assistance to Jews and described Pius' outspoken denunciation of Nazi atrocities.

Dr. Michael Feldkamp of Germany engaged in a careful rebuttal of the central thesis of John Cornwell's best-selling Hitler's Pope, accused Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pius XII) of engaging in reactionary policies, as Pius XI's Secretary of State, that enabled Hitler to come to power.

Said Inside the Vatican, “As Feldkamp noted, citing unimpeachable evidence from German and Church archives, there is not a shred of truth to these charges, and that, if anything, Pacelli was a moderate realist who was open to progressive thinking, and always pursued a path compatible with an honorable Christian conscience.”

Sign of Hope From Russian Orthodox?

ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 18 — Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, leader of Russia's Latin-rite Catholics, discerned some hope of an ecumenical opening among Russian Orthodox in the recent statements of Moscow Patriarch Alexy II, the news service reported.

Pope John Paul II has long wished to visit Russia, but his proposed pilgrimage there is vigorously opposed by nationalist Russian Orthodox clergy, who regard Catholics as foreign interlopers.

“I have said more than once that I am prepared to meet with the Pope, but it would have to be a meeting that really allows us to solve the problems,” Patriarch Alexy told a Russian paper in mid-April.

That's a hopeful statement, in Archbishop Kondrusiewicz's view. “Before, he said they couldn't meet until all the problems were resolved,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Now, he's saying they can meet in order to solve the problems.”

God Save the Queen

THE TIMES, April 20 — As Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her golden jubilee — the 50 years since her coronation in 1952 — and mourns the death of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, the Vatican Museum will pay her a special, ecumenical tribute.

The London daily reported that “the museum will host an exhibition on ‘Anglicanism and the Western Tradition’ — the first display dedicated to a non-Roman Catholic denomination in the museum's history.”

The British ambassador to the Holy See, Mark Pellew, came up with the idea after an Italian congratulated him for knowing the “Our Father.”

The Times reported that “the Dean of Norwich, the Very Rev. Stephen Patten, who will open the exhibition, said he hoped it would dispel the view that Anglicanism was ‘a curious eccentricity on the northwestern edge of Europe.’”