Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Jesuit's archive adds to evidence showing Pius XII to be ‘greatest hero of World War II’

New York City, N.Y., Apr 24, 2009 / 05:26 am (CNA).- The Pave the Way Foundation has told CNA that the archives of the late Fr. Robert Graham S.J., who was the Vatican's top expert on the wartime role of Pope Pius XII, will add to the evidence showing Pope Pius XII to be “the greatest hero of World War II.”

The Vatican has been collecting evidence of Pope Pius XII’s assistance to Jews in Italy, which will be opened in 2013 when its cataloguing efforts are complete.

However, some Jewish groups have accused Pope Pius XII of not doing enough to stop Nazi persecution of Jews in the Holocaust.

The non-sectarian Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF), based in New York City, will have exclusive access to the documents of Fr. Graham.

On its website the Pave the Way Foundation says it is “dedicated to achieving peace by closing the gap in tolerance, education and the practical relations between religions, through cultural, technological and intellectual exchanges. We strive to eliminate the use of religion as a tool which, historically has been used, by some, to achieve personal agendas and to cause conflicts.”

CNA contacted PTWF for comment and spoke with Gary Krupp, who is president of the Pave the Way Foundation.

Krupp told CNA that Fr. Dennis McManus will head the analysis team, probably in Washington, D.C.

Fr. McManus, a visiting professor of theology and interreligious studies at Georgetown University, is also a Consultant on Jewish Affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The research team will first digitize the documents and then assemble them, as they are in disarray. Once the documents are assembled and analyzed, they will be published on the Internet in order “to end this problem between Jews and Catholics,” said Krupp, who is Jewish.

Krupp said the digital version of many of the documents will be available in the Education section of the PTWF website, and that many related documents are already on-line.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 4:52 PM