The Rabbi and the Pope(s)

I understand the sins the Catholic Church has made in the past, but it should also be pointed out that millions of Christians also died fighting Hitler. So I don't think Christianity owes Judaism an apology?

Many Catholic priests stood up against the Germans.
Pope John Paul II as a bishop was a key figure in helping jews escape Poland.

If the Jewish autorities would like Pope Pius blamed fine, but no one should try to make this a Christians were bad to us deal.

African Americans were treated bad in history too... so were Native Americans.

My ancestors were Irish & treated very poorly... do I rehash the past?

Growing up In the Belgian Ardennes under the German occupation, I remember vividly the complaints of my father in 1944 (when I was visiting from my hiding place in a forest nearby) to our parish priest about the silence of Pius XII throughout the pre-war and the war years concerning Hitler's atrocities, concentration camps, the racism of the Nazis, etc. His "why didn't he speak?" drew only the bland remark rhat he Himself, the priest, coukd not comprehend this silence and lamely added that the Pope hopefully knew what he was doing ... or not doing! That did not satisfy my father nor me, nor the rest of the family. This complaint went beyond what was happening to the Jews (one of whom our family of 12 children hid for a while) as we had our own relatives and friends locked in German death camps and young men like me hiding in the forest to avoid forced labor in Germany and later to fight them. The Holocaust was a real horror but not the only one. The "why" of my father has so far remained unanswered. The church simply is afraid to accept the fact one of theirs has been found tragically wanting. To me, the current scramble to justify Pius XII's murderous silence adds another insult to a 70 years old injury to Jews and non-Jews alike.

I willing to concede times were tough, but sainthood? Why go there? There's an in-your-face aspect ("Happily go forward") to this that really troubles me. Authority above all else. Time to read, again, Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor chapter from the Brothers K.

International Jewish organizations downplayed public criticism of Hitler's camps and told this to Pius XII in order to lessen the suffering. Israel as a government, and scholars have always known this. The attacks on Pius XII have little to do with truth and all about betrayal. That Pope was the Jews best friend in their worst of days as Golda Meir stated.