The Tragedy of Pius XII by Albert Friedlander Jewish sources have expressed deep disquiet over the recent canonisation of Edith Stein and the beatification process for Pope Pius XII. The Jesuit promoter of that cause has called such reproaches outrageous. But the Reform rabbi of Westminster synagogue in London believes that Jews can and must make their voices heard. INTERFAITH dialogue today no longer means merely pointing out what we have in common with our neighbour*s religion. We can also enunciate our differences. [more...] When I go to the Katholikentag in Germany, or meet Christian colleagues in international conferences, we trust each other sufficiently to engage in strong arguments. Recently, in conferences I attended in Prague, Vienna and Trier, many of us were perplexed at the differences between us over the canonisation of Edith Stein and the beatification process of Pope Pius XII. A number of priests and Catholic scholars did share my concern in these matters. Others worried greatly. Should a rabbi enter the internal discussions of the Church, particularly in regard to church doctrine? Should not the Catholic Church engage in its soul-searching without interference from outside? And I was clearly not an objective judge in an area where I and my family had suffered: the Holocaust. I carried a great deal of emotional baggage into this situation of conscience. Could I really act as the devil*s advocate, the biblical accuser who is normally played by Satan (see the Book of Job)? Each of us must look into our own conscience. There is a wonderful Dannie Abse poem which deals with a surgeon in a hospital theatre. He is probing the brain of a patient who should be unconscious, but whose voice suddenly is heard: "Leave my soul alone!" In a more elegant, philosophic mode, Hegel referred to our conscience as "this deepest, inner loneliness within itself". On that level, the Church and the individual Catholic must turn inward, without advice from the outside. Nevertheless, the Church lives in this world; its thoughts and actions of yesterday and of today affect its neighbours. And yesterday was the time of the Holocaust. Have all of us really confronted that world in terms of the inheritance it has left us? A rabbi cannot tell Christians what to believe; but why should he not criticise actions by neighbours which hurt his own community? We must not issue blanket condemnations. I do recall Jews who collaborated with the Nazis because they were powerless victims, placed alongside others who became involved with the Nazis without being forced to do so. The Church was under pressure from the Nazis, and at times took the easy road, which was seldom the right road. At times, its theology was wrong; and this pains me. Religion must be prepared to suffer; it cannot always be diplomatic. My priest friends wonder why I object to Edith Stein becoming a figure of veneration. In a sermon given in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, I acknowledged the Pope*s desire to bring the Holocaust into the prayers and memories of the Church through her. Yet Edith Stein, as she herself said, went to her death "to join her people", whereas the nuns around her were spared. She remains a Jewish figure. Was she a Catholic saint? Priests who enter the gas chambers may well acquire sainthood in the Church. Somehow, Edith Stein was different. And what about Pope Pius XII? This is an internal matter for the Church or is it? It is clear that the Vatican's role during the Holocaust is the issue, and that the Jewish community is addressed. Some words of Cardinal Hume are directly relevant here. When Elie Wiesel and I wrote a prayerbook to be used by Christians and Jews on Holocaust Memorial Day, the Cardinal wrote an introduction to it. "We tend to be very selective in our memories", Cardinal Hume pointed out, "and this is particularly true of religious traditions. . . . We like to defend ourselves by our good memories, by the lives of saints . . . but they are also tragic memories." Are there not doubts even within the Catholic community about its tragic memories of Pius XII? What otherwise is the explanation for the direct anti-Semitic attack by Fr Kurt-Peter Gumpel in Rome in defence of the beatification procedure for Pope Pius XII, of which he is the relator? In response to the Jewish perception of the Pope*s "timidity", which he takes as a direct attack upon the Vatican, he demands that one should now examine the Jewish attacks upon Christianity through the centuries. Is this the way for the Church to defend itself? Do his wildly exaggerated claims for Pius XII as a defender and saviour of the Jews during the Holocaust advance the beatification process? It would be disastrous for all of us, Jews and Christians, if this debate were to result in a closing of ranks and of minds in Rome. Surely, the pain expressed by the Jewish community should have some impact upon the deliberations that could lead to sainthood for Pius XII? A rabbi cannot put himself into the position of being a devil's advocate; doubts must be expressed within the customary procedure of the beatification process. The dark history of the time of the Holocaust is the backcloth to any assessment of individuals during that testing period. Who is a saint in the time of evil? The rabbis take the Genesis text, "And Noah was a righteous man in his time", and examine it closely. Does "in his time" suggest that the standards of righteousness were much lower: that anyone who was not totally evil could be called righteous? Or does it mean that in such an evil time anyone fighting evil had to be particularly good? The end decision was in Noah's favour, even though his actions after leaving the ark cause much concern. In the time of the Nazis, we find a similar situation: does silence or indirect action when one does not put one's life at risk constitute the moral resistance required? Many individuals had to make that choice. As I have already said, there were moral failures among the victims as well. But I am concerned with the apathetic onlookers. Does not "sainthood", by contrast, indicate a superhuman effort? Standing on the outside, I would not and should not act as a judge. But I must ask the Church to reassess its conscience, particularly if it wants to be a teacher and witness to everyone. [back to the Sunflower discussion]