The view that wartime pontiff Pius XII was indulgent towards Hitler is now so firmly rooted that people just ignore evidence to the contrary, Pope Benedict's deputy said on Tuesday.
Pius, who has frequently been accused of 'silence' in the face of the Holocaust, is the victim of a "black legend", Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said at a book presentation in Rome.
"He is falsely painted as indulgent with Nazism and insensitive to the fate of their victims," Bertone continued, adding that many documents and witnesses showed the idea was "totally groundless".
Pius XII, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, took a crucial step on the way to sainthood last month when a panel of top Catholic prelates voted in favour of recognising Pius's "heroic virtues".
This is the key requirement for beatification, the penultimate stage before sainthood. Procedures to canonise the pontiff have moved slowly since they started in 1967, partly because of the controversy over his stance on Nazism.
Bertone said the idea that Pius was culpably silent while Nazis exterminated millions of Jews "has become so firmly established that even scratching it is an arduous task".
Critics, among them many Jewish associations, argue that a firm, public stance from the pope could have changed the course of the war and stopped Hitler earlier.
They also question his decision to shelve a document fiercely critical of Nazism which had been prepared by his predecessor, Pius XII.
"He remains a controversial figure. We believe that more could have been done," said Rome's chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni a few hours after Bertone's defence of Pius.
He urged the Vatican not to push forward the pontiff's beatification "at any cost", noting that Pius's actions were a "delicate issue" in Christian-Jewish relations.
'UNJUSTIFIED ACCUSATIONS'.
Bertone said Pius was cautious about publicly denouncing Hitler and the Holocaust because he believed this would have made the Nazi regime intensify its persecution of Jews.
Supporters have also pointed out that, under the pope's orders, convents, monasteries and other Catholic institutions threw open their doors to Jews who were hidden and protected there. Many were also hidden in the Vatican.
Bertone complained that the "unjustified accusations" had obscured Pius's "extraordinary teaching".
Father Peter Gumpel, a Jesuit who has been in charge of gathering evidence of Pius's holiness, said that the Italian pope had prepared the ground for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
Details of the meeting at which prelates greenlighted Pius's progress on the way to sainthood have not been released but the vote reportedly revealed reservations among some cardinals who urged "prudence".
The vital decree won only majority approval while such votes, which come after long study and discussion, usually produce unanimous approval.
The decree now goes to Pope Benedict for a final green light. Then, before the beatification ceremony can go ahead, the Vatican must approve a miracle attributed to Pius's heavenly intercession.
Neither of these steps is expected to cause problems. The pope rarely goes against the opinion of cardinals on such matters and there is said to be no shortage of documentation on miracles.
