Rome, Italy, Jan 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Pope Pius XII was a heroic leader, who kept the Church intact and saved the lives of many with his wise decisions during World War II, says an Italian professor and specialist in religious geopolitics.
As the debate rages on in some Jewish and Christian camps about whether the wartime Pope should be beatified, University of Florence professor Pietro De Marco says Pius XII would be “a lofty model of charismatic responsibility and rational rigor” if the Church moved ahead with the beatification.
Critics have accused Pope Pius XII of not having done enough to stop the arrest, torture and extermination of the Jews and others targeted by the Nazis during World War II. The Vatican is expected to begin reviewing documents for the former Pope’s cause for the sainthood this spring.
De Marco, who is also a professor at the Theological Faculty of Central Italy, shares his analysis of Pius’s pontificate in his article “Towards an Evaluation of Pius XII,” published by http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/index.jsp?eng=y