02 July 2009

The Vatican archivist, Mgr. Sergio Pagano, has said that the private archives of controversial wartime Pope Pius XII could be made available to researchers within five to six years, the German news agency KNA reports. Pagano said that a long time was still required to classify the documents and to prepare them for release. The decision on when to open the archives was one for Pope Benedict XVI to take, he added.

Pagano said the documents contained some “nice surprises” about the role of Pius XII during World War II, in particular concerning the “personal risks” Pius had taken to help Jews avoid Nazi persecution.

The Catholic Church wants to beatify the war-time pope, who died in 1957. This would be the first step to sainthood. Critics say that Pius did not do enough and failed to speak out against the Nazi onslaught against the Jews during the Holocaust.

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