Rome, Italy, Mar 6, 2009 / 11:52 am
Father Peter Gumpel, the promoter of Pope Pius XII’s cause of beatification, revealed this week that he has uncovered new proof of the Pope’s efforts to protect Jews from the Nazis. The evidence consists of a note from the archives of a Roman monastery that mentions an order from the Holy Father to give shelter to persecuted Jews.
In statements to Vatican Radio, Father Gumpel said the note from the archives of the Augustinian Nuns of the Roman Monastery reads: “The Holy Father wishes to save his children, the Jews as well, and orders that the Monasteries provide hospitality to these persecuted people.” The note is from November of 1943 and includes a list of 24 people taken in by the monastery in response to the Holy Father’s request.
Father Gumpel said the importance of the find is that it is a written document.
“There are numerous oral testimonies, not only of nuns and priests, but also of others” about the work of Pope Pius XII, but “often there is a lack of contemporary written statements, which has provided those who continue attacking Pius XII the opportunity to respond with, ‘There are no documents that he ever acted during the raids against the Roman Jews on October 16, 1942.”