Rome, Italy, Oct 13, 2008 / 11:26 am
The director of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Paolo Mieli, said last week Pope Pius XII was a Pontiff “in line with the history of the Catholic Church of the 20th century,” who during the Nazi persecution did not doubt in extending a hand to the Jews hiding in churches, convents, seminaries, and therefore the black legend surrounding him does not have any historic basis.
“Since 1963 the focus has been on Pius XII in search of evidence of his culpability, but nothing has been found,” Mieli told L’Osservatore Romano. “Moreover, studies have brought to light abundant documentation that testifies to how the Church provided Jews with fundamental assistance.”
According to Vatican watcher Sandro Magister, the interview was carried out by Maurizio Fontana and by the director of the L’Osservatore Romano, Giovanni Maria Vian.
In the extensive interview, Mieli, who is from a Jewish family and whose relatives died in a Nazi concentration camp, underscored the heroic role played by the Church during the Nazi occupation of Rome.