.- The president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, Archbishop Walter Brandmuller, presented on Monday the exhibit “Pius XII: The Man and His Pontificate.” The exhibit shows the historical truth about Pius XII’s papacy and how he saved thousands of Jews during World War II.
According to the L’Osservatore Romano, the exhibit, which will be on display November 4 through January 6, 2009, at the Vatican, was presented during a press conference by the president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, Archbishop Walter Brandmuller, who said it was created “at the explicit request of Pope Benedict XVI.”
He also explained that the exhibit was “opportune considering that since 1963—with the theatrical release of ‘The Vicar’ (which defamed Pope Pius XII claiming he was close to Hitler) by Rolf Hochhuth—an orchestrated campaign of defamation has been waged against the memory of the Pontiff.”
“The 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII has motivated the Pontifical Committee to do justice to a great Pope who in life already enjoyed the admiration of contemporaries regardless of their religious convictions,” Archbishop Brandmuller said. “This is not meant to be an apologetic. It’s enough to say that it’s intended to make the historical truth known, to show that the accusations launched against Pope Pacelli cannot claim to be based on serious historical research and that it is increasingly more obvious that they are completely unfounded,” he stated.
“Our hope is that the exhibit can show not only the importance of Pope Pacelli but also the spiritual and especially supernatural dimension of this Roman pontificate,” he added.
