Benedict XVI declares John Paul II and Pius XII "venerable"; "anger" ensues

Just in from CatholicCulture.org:

In a series of decrees issued on December 19, the Vatican has approved miracles allowing for the canonization of five people and the beatification of five others. The Vatican also recognized the 1984 murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko by Communist intelligence officers as a martyrdom, preparing the way for his beatification.

The decrees, approved by Pope Benedict XVI during a private audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, also proclaimed that ten other candidates for sainthood had lived lives of heroic virtue. Those decrees make the candidates eligible for beatification if a miracle is attributed to their intercession.

The two decrees commanding the greatest public attention were those recognizing the heroic virtue of Pope Pius XII, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, and Pope John Paul II, who reigned from 1978 to 2005.

Read the entire piece. And, of course, there are the expected expressions of "anger" and outrage that are automatically set into motion whenever anything positive is said about Pope Pius XII:

Pope Benedict moved the controversial wartime pontiff Pius XII closer to sainthood by declaring him ''venerable'' in a surprise announcement, provoking the ire of Jewish leaders.

The pontiff simultaneously bestowed the same title on his predecessor John Paul II. The statement by the German-born Pope ''took everyone by surprise'', the Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni said.

The head of Germany's Central Jewish Council, Stephan Kramer, said Benedict was ''rewriting history''.

''This is a clear hijacking of historical facts concerning the Nazi era,'' he said. ''Benedict XVI rewrites history without having allowed a serious scientific discussion. That's what makes me furious.''

Benedict is actually rescuing history from the ideologically-driven, even bigoted, revisionists who, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, insisted that Pius II was a closet Nazi, but who, in recent years, have had to downgrade their accusations into more speculative and ambiguous terms:

Italian Jewish leaders said they were still awaiting access to the Vatican's archives so they could make an accurate historical assessment of Pius, who is accused of not having done enough to save Europe's Jews from the Nazis.

John Allen, Jr., analyzes the "two-for-one strategy" he thinks is being employed by Pope Benedict XVI:

Pius XII, of course, was the pontiff during the Second World War, whose alleged “silence” on the Holocaust has long been the subject of fierce historical debate. Whether one regards Pius as a hero or a villain, the progress of his cause will produce new tensions in Jewish/Catholic relations – even if the result has seemed a foregone conclusion for some time, since Benedict XVI has repeatedly insisted that Pius XII did everything possible under the dramatic circumstances of the war to save Jews and other victims of the Nazi regime.

Those tensions were not long in surfacing. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League told the Associated Press, "We are saddened and disappointed that the pontiff would feel compelled to fast-track Pope Pius at a point where the issue of the record — the history and the coming to a judgment — is still wide open."

Hence the logic of moving Pius XII along at the same time as John Paul II, since John Paul is credited with revolutionizing ties between Catholic and Jews. John Paul II is the pope who visited the Great Synagogue in Rome in 1986, the first time any modern pontiff had entered a Jewish place of worship; he’s the pope who visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2000, leaving behind a note apologizing for centuries of Christian anti-Semitism; and in a thousand other ways large and small, he signaled a new sensitivity to the Jewish world.

I have serious doubts about aspects of this line of analysis, in part because it doesn't strike me as the sort of approach that would appeal to Benedict. I think it is readily evident that Benedict believes Pius XII was a holy man and a hero who saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews. If such is the case, it means  he has purposefully "packaged" John Paul II and Pius XII together in order to emphasize, at least in part, their shared holiness and heroic acts relating to the Jewish people. I have a hard time believing Benedict would move forward with the cause for Pius XII if he had serious doubts about the historical record. And while he is a man of obvious charity, I don't see him "softening the sting" (as Allen puts) to somehow appease people who continue to ignore or even misrepresent the historical facts about Pius XII and the Jews.

Comments

[Shaun G]

Could someone chime in and state whether, as a rule, all as-yet-unreleased documentation that might support (or contraindicate) that Pius XII did everything he could to help the Jews will be made public through the beatification process?

I guess what I'm asking, in other words, is whether it is possible that certain information in the archives that would be relevant to Pius XII's cause might somehow remain non-public.

If that's not the case -- if everything that's relevant becomes public during the process -- then one would assume that it has already been "vetted." Right?

[Manuel G. Daugherty Razetto]

Glory be! Finally we see Pius XII on his way to the altars of our beloved Church. Halleluya! Halleluya ! Halleluya! I am all exited about this news, perhaps because I was a child during his reign. Because my relatives had the happiness of meeting him in private audience. They told me the incredible magnetism that this Holy man had. Because at my K-12 school, St Josephs Marist School I learned, daily, about the wonderful work of His Holiness Pius XII. We all must thank Benedict XVI for his decision, which as we see these days, is not well accepted by all.

[Pazdziernik]

CBS news Saturday Night (Dec. 19, 2009) described the event as "so-called decree of heroic virtue". You know they would never describe President Obama, or the like, as "co-called Commander-In-Chief", nor should they.

[Sandra Miesel]

I greatly admire Pius XII, the pope of my childhood. I do wish the critics would look at the extensive documentation already published before they whine. No one criticized his behavior during WWII until that vile propaganda play THE DEPUTY came along in the '60s. "Fast-tracked"? Pius XII died in 1958!

But let's remember that the causes of Popes Pius IX and John XXIII were coupled in the same manner to please different constituencies.

[Robert Miller]

Habemus Papam! Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini!

Like Manuel, I had Venerable Pius XII as childhood Holy Father and guide. I thank God I have lived to see Benedict XVI, in my old age, confound the worldly-wise with his penetrating brilliance as a theologian, his homage to Pope Pius XII, and his implementation of the hermeneutic of continuity through Summorum Pontificum.

Viva il Papa!

[tony foleybach]

When I became terminally ill with cancer last year (I was told I had months to live and I live still, thank God!), I chose Pius XII to lead me through my final months and to plead to the Lord for my healing, if it pleased the Father. So, it is with great joy that I heard of the decree. God bless you, Benedict XVI!

[Randy]

It seems to me that somebody that was a Catholic in Germany during WII would be able to know whether Pope Pius XII's opinion of Hitler was clear or not. Sure he was only 12 when the war started but a bright 12 year-old can pick up pretty quickly whether the pope approves of certain public figures or not. So he might might be trying to re-write history because he knows first hand they got it wrong.

[Robert Miller]

The elevation of Pope Pius XII is a profound service to Truth. It is "easy" to proclaim John Paul II venerable -- to the acclaim of most of the world, except for a few degenerate Commonweal and Irish "Catholics". But raising Pius XII (as earlier John Paul raised Pius IX)is a "teaching moment". As always, Pope Benedict exhibits an exquisite grasp of the moment.

[Joseph D'Hippolito]

Frankly, I do not believe that the late Pope should be "fast tracked" on the way to canonization. A lot of investigating must be done about his adminstration (or lack thereof) during his papacy -- especially the lack of effective discipline for bishops who enabled perverts in the clergy (and, I'm sorry, but having Cdl. Law be the presiding priest of St. Mary Major while retaining his ability to vote for the next Pope is not what I would call "discipline.")

There's a reason why the Vatican imposed a five-year waiting period before considering the candidacy of potential saints. The whole idea was to let any popular devotion calm down so that the candidate is evaluated as objectively as possible. Unfortunately, JPII's cult of personality was very strong. It has influenced a lot of good and devout, yet naive, people. There's no point to waiving the usual requirements in the face of one man's immense popularity.

[Recorder]

Some interesting additions to this story here:

http://catholicheritage.blogspot.com/2009/12/venerable-pope-pius-xii.html