The Righteous And The Unrighteous

Who are these "Jewish leaders" and "Jewish groups" who always seem to appear whenever Pius XII is mentioned? For whom do they speak? And since they know perfectly well that the plain facts of history are against them, what are their real agenda?

Pius the Righteous Gentile, praised by Moshe Sharrett, had far warmer relations with Israel than have of necessity prevailed between that State and the Vatican since, several years after his death, the invasion and occupation of the West Bank, as well as regular attacks on Lebanon. I feel that we are starting to see the point, aren't we? None of this is really about Pius at all. It cannot be - just look at the facts. Rather, it is about the West Bank, Lebanon, Israel's actions towards them, and the Holy See's pastorally inescapable attitude to those actions.

The beatification and canonisation of Pius XII would send exactly the right signal in that particular direction (by no means the only one or the most important): if you care about Israel, and if you therefore want her to have warmer relations with the Vatican, then consider that she did have them in the reign of this great Pope, and ask yourselves why.