Author blames Vatican for Holocaust

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Author blames Vatican for Holocaust


By the BBC's Mike Duff
An article in the latest edition of the influential American magazine New Republic looks likely to reopen the controversy over the role played by the Vatican during World War II.


Goldhagen says Catholic teaching sparked anti-Semitism


The 27,000-word article - which hit newsstands in the United States this week - accuses the Roman Catholic Church of providing the intellectual stimulus for Nazism and the Holocaust.

It is among the most savage attacks yet made on the record of alleged Catholic anti-Semitism.

But the author of this huge article is no stranger to controversy.

Daniel J Goldhagen's best-known book blamed ordinary Germans for the Holocaust. It was an award-winning bestseller, although some critics accused him of taking liberties with the truth.

Dr Goldhagen - a professor of government and social studies at Harvard University - has now turned his fire on Christianity in general, and the Catholic Church in particular.

Some of the allegations have been made before, notably that the Pope during the war, Pius XII, didn't do enough to protect the Jews, even though he must have known what was happening to them.

But Dr Goldhagen does not stop there.

Bible lessons

He goes on to condemn Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, for intellectually preparing the ground for the Holocaust.



The Pope wants to canonise WWII's pontiff, Pius XII

His argument, in a nutshell, is that traditional Church teaching - blaming Jews for the death of Christ - sowed the seeds of the genocidal anti-Semitism of the 20th Century.

On top of that, he says, the Church has refused to face up to its inescapable moral responsibility.

For its part, the Vatican has always argued that its cautious, non-confrontational policy saved more people than if it had condemned Nazi excesses from the pulpit.

Dr Goldhagen says such arguments are bizarre and nonsensical, topped only by those revisionist historians who try to argue that the Holocaust didn't happen.

The current Pope had been keen to start the process that might one day have seen his predecessor made a saint.

That had already been put on hold after earlier evidence of Pius XII's alleged anti-Semitism came to light.

Amid the likely row over Dr Goldhagen's article, one thing is clear. It won't do anything to heal the deeply-felt hurt of Jews everywhere - or put Pius XII's canonisation back on track.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1762448.stm

[ Last edited by  ef/x at 19-9-2006 10:24 AM ]

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Vatican to release Nazi files


The Church's role in the Holocaust has long been questioned

The Vatican is to open up its archives documenting relations with Nazi Germany, potentially lifting the lid on a controversial and secretive era in the Church's history.
Announcing plans to declassify the archives, officials said they hoped the move would end speculation that the Roman Catholic Church failed to speak out against the Holocaust.



Pope Pius XII's role in the Holocaust has proved controversial


The archive contains documents relating to the years leading up to World War II. During that period, the Vatican's ambassador to Berlin was the man who later went on to be pope during the war.

Pope Pius XII, who led the Church from 1939 to 1958, has long been accused by Jewish groups of turning a blind eye as many Jews were marched off to concentration camps.

Missing material

The archive will be open from 15 February next year but only to scholars by special appointment.

The Vatican has admitted, however, that files dating from 1931 to 1934 were "nearly completely destroyed or dispersed" during the bombing of Berlin and by a fire, Reuters news agency reported.


Pope John Paul apologised - but not directly for the Holocaust


Documents relating to Pope Pius' tenure have still not been given a release date, despite calls from scholars and Jewish organisations for the Church to clarify its role in the Holocaust.

In 2001, Catholic and Jewish scholars investigating the Vatican's relations with Nazi Germany suspended their research in protest at the huge amount of material kept secret.

Jewish groups at the time also called on the Vatican to delay the beatification of Pius XII.

'Works of charity'

The Vatican has long countered criticism by saying Pope Pius XII did not speak out for fear of worsening the situation for Catholics as well as Jews in occupied territories during the war.

It says the documents to be released will prove "the great works of charity and assistance" undertaken by Pius XII on behalf of prisoners and others persecuted by the Nazis.


The Catholic Church has been criticised for not revealing the extent of its possible involvement or complicity in the Holocaust, in which six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of other ethnic minorities, gypsies and homosexuals were killed.

In March 2000, the current Pope, John Paul II, asked for forgiveness for wrongs inflicted by the Catholic Church on Jews, minorities and women, but angered Jewish groups for stopping short of mentioning specifically the Holocaust or the possible role of Pope Pius XII.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2611847.stm

[ Last edited by  ef/x at 19-9-2006 10:25 AM ]

bulat

Just to add spices:




[ Last edited by  bulat at 19-9-2006 12:00 PM ]

areguard

Puak-puak ni kalau menghentam Islam...orang Islam kena terima kalau tidak dikatakan umat Islam fanatik dan radikal
Tapi kalau kita balas..dia kata anti-Semit atau Islamofascist...

DARSITA

Originally posted by areguard at 9/19/06 01:40
Puak-puak ni kalau menghentam Islam...orang Islam kena terima kalau tidak dikatakan umat Islam fanatik dan radikal
Tapi kalau kita balas..dia kata anti-Semit atau Islamofascist...

this morning I see that the Israeli president could be charged with rape. Bush must be in an hell of a scary place right now wondering if anyone is gonna come after him ( about the allegations he raped a black woman in Texas).