Statement on Holocaust criticized for not faulting silence of church officials

National Catholic Reporter, March 27, 1998

A long-awaited Vatican document on the Holocaust, described as an "act of repentance" for "an unspeakable tragedy," drew faint praise amid a chorus of negative reactions from Jewish leaders around the world.

While the document professes deep regret for "the errors and failures of... sons and daughters of the church" that contributed to persecution of Jews, it stops short of faulting church leaders for allowing Nazi crimes to go unchecked during World War II.

More than a decade in the making, the document is titled "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah." It was issued by the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, headed by Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy of Australia. The text, released March 16, was sent to Jewish leaders around the world, asking that our Jewish friends ... hear us with open hearts.

Shoah,, the Hebrew word for horror, is used by Jews to describe the Holocaust, the persecution and extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II.

Although some Jewish leaders described the, document as a step forward, many said it betrayed expectations because it exonerated Pope Pius XII and other church leaders of co-responsibility for centuries of discrimination against Jews culminating in the "final solution" of the Holocaust.

Analysts noted that German and French bishops had previously issued stronger documents. German bishops in 1995 criticized the church for its failure to intervene successfully to stop Nazi crimes. French bishops last fall acknowledged French complicity in wartime deaths of Jews.

Church leaders involved in preparing the document, however, said the criticisms were based on a misreading of the text.

The document praises Christians who took heroic measures to protect Jews, including Pope Pius XII, asserting that he "personally or through his representatives" saved "hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives." At the same time, the document says, Christians bear "a heavy burden of conscience" for those times when "spiritual resistance and concrete action ... was not that which might have been expected from Christ's followers."

Also faulted are government officials in the West, including some in North and South America, who closed their borders to Jewish emigration during Hitler's regime.

The document does not limit its condemnation of persecution to Nazi crimes during World War II. "At the end of this millennium the Catholic church desires to express her deep sorrow for the failures of her sons and daughters in every age," the document says, specifically citing crimes against Armenians, Gypsies, Ukrainians and other groups around the world.

In a brief letter accompanying the document, Pope John Paul II described the Holocaust as "an indelible stain on the history of the century" and called on Christians to "purify their hearts through repentance" for responsibility for "the evils of our time."

The document makes a controversial distinction between the "anti-Semitism ... contrary to the constant teachings of the church" that fueled the Nazi's attempted extinction of Jews during World War II and "anti-Judaism," a discrimination rooted in religion rather than race, "of which unfortunately Christians also have been guilty."

The Nazi crimes were derived from "a thoroughly modern neopagan regime ... with roots outside Christianity," a regime that "did not hesitate to oppose the church and persecute her members also," the document says.

In a half-page footnote, authors strongly defend Pope Pius XII against detractors who have accused him of faint-heartedness during the war. The footnote cites testimonials from Jewish leaders, including a telegram from late Israeli leader Golda Meir praising the pope at the time of his death. "When fearful martyrdom came to our people, the voice of the pope was raised for its victims," Meir said.

Among the document's critics, Rabbi David Rosen of Jerusalem said it made significant points, such as expressing regret for the errors and failures of individuals, but should have confessed "complicity of Catholics and the Catholic church." Rosen heads the Jerusalem office of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

Rabbi Ignatz Bubis, president of the Central committee of Jews in Germany, said the statement "showed progress" but was overall "a disappointment." Bubis said, "I have found that the Vatican is always reluctant on statements about World War II." In particular, he said, he was "incensed" by the assertion that Pope Pius XII had personally helped to save hundreds of thousands of Jews.

"The Vatican itself saved maybe a few thousand, and a few tens of thousands were saved by church authorities, through out Europe," Bubis said. "But more than the numbers, it was significant that the Vatican kept its activities secret and did not openly speak out ... during the war, when it was most needed."

The London Independent declared the document a "whitewash" containing "no suggestion that any church official might have turned a blind eye to the horrors of Nazism or even quietly condoned it."