Cardinal decries 'political' attack on Pius

Richard Shaw reports on the international row over the committee investigating the war-time Pope's record A US cardinal has stepped into the contmversy over the suspension of joint Jewish-Catholic research into Pope Pius XII.
Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore ned those involved in studying the Pope's life to avoid politicising the issue. His comments came after the Jewish members of the committee researching Pope Pius XII's relations with the Jews stopped their work.
The cardinal, who is the episcopal moderator of CatholicJewish relations, said he felt the present breakdown in dialogue showed "more clearly than ever that the work of reconciliation will be long and immensely challenging".
The cardinal said that the project's success relied on a dispassionate and scholarly approach among those working on it according to the basic principles of true academia.
He said: "Of crucial importance for the future must be the separation from scholarly research of elements of a politically driven agenda that poisons the atmosphere and makes true progress unattainable. Those who might wish to politicise this moment of pain should reflect on what is at stake in our effort to grapple together with our history."
He added: "One question to ask of any dialogue group is whether the members have been able to work through the differing personal and profes
sional experiences they bring with them to the table, toward some measure of consensus. The preliminary report of this group indicates that they were able to do so on significant matters if by no means on everything."
He said: "Joint efforts by Catholic and Jewish scholars working together can bear fruit in the long run, provided the dialogue is conducted in a spirit of mutual trust and respect."
His remarks came after Seymour Reich, chairman of the international Jewish committee for inter-religious consultation, gave a copy to the press of the letter he had sent to Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, saying that the work would stop. Cardinal Keeler criticised the publication of the letter. He said he was sad that Reich "has released to the press the group's joint letter to Cardinal Kasper and used the occasion to misrepresent its content in his press release".
He explained that the action by no means represented the views of all on the committee. "Neither Dr Eugene Fisher, Catholic co-ordinator for the group, nor the Catholic members of the team were consulted in this by Mr Reich, and all three Catholics have firmly rejected it," he said.
"It now seems more difficult than ever to find a way forward," he concluded.
Since the committee's foundation in 1999, the project has been dogged by controversy and similar examples of politically motivated actions. Last October, Bernard Suchecky, a Jewish member of the team, gave the group's preliminary report to the press.
This move. Cardinal Keeler said, caused serious damage to the group's credibility. "This event seriously impeded the work in progress, making it impossible for them to gomplete a critical phase of their • ..:,arch in the timely fashion and diminishing the level of trust of the other members towards one of their number," he said.
Reich and the other Jews on the Committee had complained that the Vatican was not permitting them to view the complete archives on the topic. As a result. they have refused to work on the 11 volumes of material they were commissioned to research, demanding full access to the archives from which the infomiation in the volumes was derived.
The Vatican, however, has denied the charge. A spokesman said: "Everything regarding the topic up until 1945 — everything regarding World War 'land the position of Pope Pius X11 on the Jews and the Holocaust — has already been published by the Vatican in the 11 volumes available to everyone."