"Delicate issues" including the role of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust were at the heart of talks in Rome between the International Jewish Committee for Inter-Religious Consultations (IJCIC), a Jewish interfaith umbrella body, and Vatican officials. The focus of the talks included the question of when the Vatican’s secret archives on the Pius XII will be opened to scholars as well as the fight against anti-Semitism, and commitment to dialogue in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

Many scholars have called on the Vatican to open its archives to clarify the issue of whether Pius XII helped Jews or turned a blind eye to their suffering before he is beatified or elevated to sainthood by the current Pope, Benedict XVI.

The delegation was headed by IJCIC Chairman Rabbi Richard Marker and also included Maram Stern, deputy secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress. The Jewish leaders met with senior officials including Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.

It was the twentieth such meeting since 1970.