By Yaakov Ahimeir
April 17, 2007
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Thirteen years have passed since Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic ties, close to 2,000 years since Jesus was crucified, and there are still no "normal" relations between the State of Israel and the Vatican State. We might add: There never will be. Anyone who looks for "normalization" between the Jewish people and the Christian world, in the fullest ethical and emotional sense, is mistaken. Just as "normal" relations, in the fullest sense, are not possible between Jews and Germans, and any German would understand this, it can also be understood by any Christian, who mourns the crucifixion of Jesus, and believes in his heart of hearts that the Jews played a part in his crucifixion at the time.
In the end, the representative of the Vatican in Jerusalem, Archbishop Antonio Franco, decided not to boycott the memorial ceremony for the Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem, but his original intention of not attending was a severe error and even a harsh insult. Had he carried out his intention, this would have offended the Jewish people in the sacred moments of silence - yes, sacred - in memory of those of us who perished in the Holocaust. The reason of the boycott by the apostolic delegate: A caption next to the photograph of Pope Pius XII at the Yad Vashem museum, which criticizes his indifference to the fate of the Jews during World War II. This is at a time that the Vatican is only speeding up the process of Pius's canonization.
I believe the representative of the Vatican in Jerusalem, Antonio Franco, who said to me: "I love the Jews, I have met with them in many places, I love this country - but I am disappointed."
The ambassador of the Vatican in Jerusalem should be told the following: The historical responsibility for judging the actions of Pope Pius XII during the time of the Holocaust falls solely on the popes who were chosen to fill his place, and on the current pope as well. Even a great Jewish historian, Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official historian, who wrote extensively about the Holocaust, is not willing to pass sentence and evaluate the conduct of Pius XII one way or another.
In his last visit to Israel, Sir Martin Gilbert said to me that as a historian, who is not motivated in his historiographic writing by emotions, he cannot judge how Pius XII behaved in those dark days. Why? I asked, and he said to me: "Until we see the messages that Pius sent to his delegates in Europe - we will not know. We could find that he was an anti-Semite of the worst kind, or we could find that he was an utterly righteous man. But the Vatican archives are sealed."
Pius XII, then, remains guilty rather than innocent, if only due to the doubt on the matter. The key to his exoneration in the eyes of history lies in the hands of the Holy See in Rome. Let the archives be opened, and then not only an important historian like Sir Martin Gilbert, but all of us, Jews and Christians alike, will know how Pius XII acted.
Archbishop Franco was unable to tell me when the Vatican archives would be opened. And until they are revealed, Pius XII will be elevated to the rank of "saint." A saint in the eyes of the Catholic believers. In our eyes, the Jews, the question mark about his behavior during those fateful days will only grow, and his image will be fixated as a person who remained silent at that time.
But if the Vatican has nothing to hide, not to say to be ashamed of, regarding the actions of Pius XII, let the locks be removed, let the archives be opened. And if it is proved that in the dark days, Pius XII instructed his representatives in Europe to do everything, as an unequivocal policy, to save Jews and protest the annihilation to Hitler and his men, then we will all come to the grave of Pius XII with flowers in our hands. Who knows, perhaps even Yad Vashem will declare him a "righteous gentile."
Had the representative of the pope in Jerusalem not decided to refrain from boycotting the ceremony at Yad Vashem, this boycott on his part would have caused me, as a Jew, with all due modesty, to inform him that I would not accept his invitation to attend the reception in Jerusalem marking two years since the appointment of Pope Benedict XVI.
In the end, wisdom won out, and a severe rift between Israel and the Vatican was prevented.
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