Former popes closer to beatification

Pope Benedict XVI moved two of his predecessors closer to possible sainthood Saturday, signing decrees on the virtues of the beloved Pope John Paul II and the controversial Pope Pius XII, who has been criticized for not doing enough to stop the Holocaust.

The decrees mean that both men can be beatified once the Vatican certifies that a miracle attributed to their intercession has occurred. Beatification is the first major step before possible sainthood.

Some Jews and historians have argued Pius should have done more to prevent the deaths ofsix million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. As a result, the German-born Benedict's surprise decision to recognize Pius's "heroic virtues" sparked immediate outcry from Jewish groups.

The Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee said the move was premature given that the Vatican still hasn't opened up to outside historians its secret archives from Pius's 1939-1958 pontificate. The Vaticansays the 16 million files won't be ready until 2014 at the earliest.

"While it is obviously up to the Vatican to determine who its saints are, the church's repeated insistence that it seeks mutually respectful ties with the Jewish community ought to mean taking our sensitivities into account on this most crucial historical era," said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee.

The Vatican insists Pius used quiet diplomacy to try to save Jews.

Pius, a Vatican diplomat in Germany and the Vatican's secretary of state before being elected pope, did denounce in general terms the extermination of people based on race and opened Vatican City up to war refugees, including Jews, after Hitler occupied Rome in 1943.

But he didn't issue scathing public indictments of Jewish deportations, and some historians say he cared more about securing a concordat with Nazi Germany than saving Jewish lives.

The Vatican argues that Pius, who officially maintained neutrality during the war, couldn't publicly denounce the Holocaust because he believed public outcry would only enrage the Nazis and result in more deaths.

Rev. Peter Gumpel, who has worked for two decades shepherding through Pius's cause and has long championed him as a great defender of the Jews, said he had read "every scrap" on Pius that is in the Vatican archives and said "the accusation that he was anti-Semitic or anti-Judaic is absolute nonsense."

In contrast to Pius, John Paul is greatly admired by Jews. During his 27-year pontificate he forged diplomatic ties with Israel; prayed at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site; and was the first pope in history to visit a synagogue.

John Paul II could be beatified late next year

No dates for the beatification ceremonies were announced, but Italian and Polish media widely reported that John Paul could be beatified as early as October.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast-track for possible sainthood just weeks after his April 2, 2005, death, heeding the calls of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood Immediately!" that erupted in St. Peter's Square during the funeral of the much-loved pontiff.

Benedict waived the customary five-year waiting period and allowed the investigation into John Paul's life and virtues to begin immediately.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, who has spearheaded John Paul's cause, told Polish reporters at the Vatican that this was a moment of "great joy and satisfaction."

Panels of doctors, cardinals, bishops and other experts must still sign off on a purported miracle concerning the cure of a young French nun who suffered from Parkinson's disease and prayed to John Paul.

Two months after he died, she woke up free of the same disease that had impaired the late pontiff himself.

John Paul's beatification could be the fastest in modern time, if the miracle is approved soon. The Vatican had only waived the five-year waiting period once before, for Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and was beatified by John Paul in 2003.