 
Haifa Chief Rabbi At Vatican: Wartime Pope Let Jews Down
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Published on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 -
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The first Jew to address a Vatican synod told the gathering on Monday that Jews “cannot forgive and forget” that some major religious leaders during World War II did not speak out against the Holocaust.
Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen’s words, spoken in the presence of Pope Benedict, were a clear reference to wartime Pope Pius XII, who many Jews say did not do enough to help them.
Rabbi Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa, said in an interview before he addressed the gathering of Catholic bishops, “We feel that the late pope [Pius] should have spoken up much more strongly than he did.” He said that in his speech he planned to make an indirect reference to Jewish disappointment about Pius as well as an appeal to all religious leaders to denounce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
While Jews maintain Pius did not do enough to save Jews, the Vatican says he worked behind the scenes to help because more direct intervention would have worsened the situation. Last month Pope Benedict forcefully defended Pius, saying he “spared no effort” on behalf of Jews during World War II.
“He may have helped in secrecy many of the victims and many of the refugees but the question is could he have raised his voice and would it have helped or not?” Rabbi Cohen said. “We, as the victims, feel yes. I am not empowered by the families of the millions of deceased to say ‘we forget, we forgive.’”
Pius is one of the most difficult issues in Catholic-Jewish relations. On Thursday the Vatican marks the 50th anniversary of his death, Benedict celebrates a Mass in his memory and there will be a conference and photo show on his papacy next month.
“I did not know [the anniversary commemorations] happened during the same meeting. If I had known … I might have refrained from coming because we feel that the pain is still here,” Rabbi Cohen said.
“I have to make it very clear that we, the rabbis, the leadership of the Jewish people, cannot, as long as the survivors still feel painful, agree that this leader of the Church in a time of crisis should be honored now. It is not our decision. It pains us. We are sorry it is being done,” he said.
Urged by historians to open up all its archives from World War II, the Vatican says some are closed for organizational reasons but that most of the significant documentation regarding Pius is already open to scholars.
Last year, the Vatican’s saint-making department voted in favor of a decree recognizing Pius’ “heroic virtues,” a major hurdle in a long process toward possible sainthood that began in 1967. But Pope Benedict has so far not approved the decree.
Some Jewish groups say the Vatican should freeze the process of beatification but others say it is an internal Church matter.
Rabbi Cohen said he would also appeal to the synod to denounce Ahmadinejad, who made another virulent anti-Israel speech last month at the United Nations. He said he would “appeal to the leaders of religion not to keep quiet, not to stand aside.”
“He says that he wants to annihilate Israel and destroy it. The problem in the days of the Second World War was that people didn’t believe that what Adolf Hitler was saying, he really meant to fulfill.”
”Unfortunately we had the Holocaust and I am sure that if we have a painful memory it is because we don’t feel that enough was done by the leadership of the religions in the world and other powerful leaders to stop it at that time. We expect them to do it today,” he said. (Reuters via Haaretz) ♦
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