New York City, N.Y., Feb 17, 2010 / 01:03 am
In cooperation with the Vatican, the Pave the Way Foundation will soon publish online twelve volumes of World War II documents from the Holy See during the time of Pope Pius XII. The documents have been “almost completely ignored” until now, the organization's founder told CNA.
The Pave the Way Foundation is a non-profit group founded by Gary Krupp, which seeks to promote inter-religious dialogue and reduce religious conflict. A major focus of the organization is to vindicate Pope Pius XII from false accusations surrounding his papacy. Many have claimed that the late pontiff did nothing to assist European Jews during the Holocaust.
Speaking on the significance of the documents, Krupp, who is Jewish, explained to CNA how the accusations against Pope Pius XII surfaced. In 1963 a play called “The Deputy” by Rolf Hochhuth debuted in Europe which denounced Pope Pius XII and claimed that he failed to take any action in speaking out against the Holocaust.
Although “everybody condemned” the play at the time, including Israeli and Jewish leaders around the world, it nevertheless “caught on and started changing the entire impression of Pope Pius XII,” said Krupp.