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Donderdag, 23 December 2010 | The Guardian: Document 1, Document 2, Document 3, Document 4 | Bewerkt door Crethi Plethi

Paus Pius XII is sterk bekritiseerd, omdat hij te weinig gedaan zou hebben tegen de Jodenvervolging tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog (Foto: Getty Images).

WikiLeaks: Vaticaan Trok Zich Terug Uit Holocaust Task Force

Op 13 Oktober 2009 verbrak het Vaticaan een eerder gesloten schriftelijke overeenkomst om waarnemer te worden bij een internationale ‘Holocaust memorial’ Task Force als gevolg van spanningen over de activiteiten van paus Pius XII tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, zo melden Amerikaanse diplomatieke documenten in Oktober 2009.

Volgens Julieta Valls Noyes, de nummer twee op de Amerikaanse ambassade bij de Heilige Stoel, waren de relaties zo bekoeld dat het Vaticaan “terug kwam op een voorafgaande schriftelijke overeenkomst” om de status van waarnemer op zich te nemen bij een internationale organisatie gewijd aan het herdenken van de Holocaust en het vastleggen van lessen voor de toekomst.

In oktober 2009 meldde ze dat de plannen van het Vaticaan voor het invullen van de status van waarnemer bij de “Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) volledig uit elkaar was gevallen … wat te wijten was aan het terugkrabbelen van het Vaticaan,” ondanks dat drie leden van het ITF naar Rome waren gekomen om de laatste afspraken rond te maken.

Het was onduidelijk of dit toe te schrijven was aan de nieuw benoemde vice-minister van Buitenlandse Zaken van het Vaticaan, Mgr. Ettore Balestrero, die zij omschreef als “relatief onervaren” en eraan toevoegend dat “dit niet de eerste keer zou zijn als hij de buitenlandse betrekkingen van het Vaticaan bemoeilijkt heeft.” Maar het kon ook het gevolg zijn van “bezorgheid over de druk van het ITF om archieven uit de periode van het pontificaat van paus Pius XII ten tijde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog vrij te geven.”

“De team-leden — de Oostenrijkse ambassadeur Ferdinand Trauttsmandorff, Professor Steve Katz van het Elie Wiesel Centrum aan de Boston Universiteit en Dina Porat, de Israëlische adviseur van het ITF — uitten alle drie hun diepe teleurstelling over deze onverwachte tegenslag.” Het Amerikaanse document was kritisch over het nieuwe buitenlandse zaken team van het Vaticaan die gevormd was na het tot stand komen van de originele overeenkomst met het Internationale Holocaust Task Force.

De drie leden van ITF dachten dat de beslissing te maken had met de Vaticaanse terughoudendheid om archieven openbaar te maken, in tegenstelling tot de andere veronderstelling dat het Vaticaan Israël hiermee onder druk wilde zetten om de betrekkingen met de Heilige Stoel te normaliseren.

Paus Pius XII is al lang een controversiële figuur vanwege zijn falen om de Jodenvervolging publiekelijk te veroordelen voorafgaand en tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, ook niet nadat in 1941/1942 het Vaticaan voor het eerst geïnformeerd werd over wat er gaande was.

Voordat hij paus werd was hij ambassadeur voor het Vaticaan in Berlijn. Sommige Joodse groeperingen hebben hem van antisemitisme beschuldigd, anderen beweren dat nog meer openlijke verzet tegen de nazi’s contra-productief zou zijn geweest. Hierbij verwijzen ze naar het voorbeeld van de kerk in Nederland, waar onderdrukking en deportatie van de Joden mede een gevolg zou zijn geweest van het veroordelen van het nazi-beleid vanaf de kansel.

Deze laatste stelling is echter van weinig invloed geweest op de Jodenvervolging in Nederland. Het is een feit dat er verhoudingsgewijs in geen enkel Europees land zoveel Joden gedeporteerd zijn als in Nederland, maar dit is niet het directe gevolg geweest van ‘verzet door de Nederlandse kerk,’ maar is vooral mede te wijten aan de volgzame houding van ons ambtenaren- en politieapparaat in Nederland die, hoewel bij machte, de Duitse deportaties vrijwel niet saboteerden en zelfs passief en actief meewerkten aan de Nazi-Duitse Jodenvervolging in Nederland. Daarnaast keek de meerderheid van de Nederlandse bevolking vooral lijdzaam toe hoe de Nederlandse Joodse medeburgers werden opgepakt, vastgezet en gedeporteerd naar concentratiekampen in Duitsland en Oost-Europa.

Het openbaar maken van de archieven uit die periode van het Vaticaan zou licht op de zaak kunnen werpen, maar dit proces gaat uiterst traag. Uit de Amerikaanse ambassade documenten blijkt een lange en vruchteloze poging namens de ambassade om te bemiddelen tussen de archivarissen van het Vaticaan en buitenlandse historici.

In 2001, na het afbreken van de eerste onderhandelingspoging voor een oplossing dreigde Pater Peter Gumpel, een Duitse jezuïet en bewonderaar van Pius XII en bewaarder van het Pius XII archief, een journalist aan te klagen die beweerde dat hij of zijn familie nazi’s waren geweest.

“Gumpel uitte ook zijn bezorgdheid over verwijzingen in de media naar hem als de ‘Duitse jezuïet’. Gumpel [zei] dat zijn familie het slachtoffer was van de nazi-vervolging en dat verschillende waren gedood door de nazi’s … Hijzelf had moeten vluchten uit Nazi-Duitsland, eerst naar Frankrijk en later naar Nederland. Hij herinnerde eraan dat een verslaggever van plan was geweest om te schrijven dat Gumpel een nazi was. Iets wat volgens hem ‘lasterlijk was’ en waarvoor hij meer dan bereidt was om dit voor de rechter aan te vechten.”

Het jaar daarop probeerde een andere Duitse kardinaal, Walter Kasper, de dialoog over de archieven opnieuw leven in te blazen. De toenmalige Amerikaanse ambassadeur, Jim Nicholson, meldde na een gesprek met hem op 18 december 2001: “[Kasper] zei dat pater Gumpel de best geïnformeerde expert over het pausschap van Pius XII in het Vaticaan was.”

Mede door Amerikaanse druk gaf paus Johannes Paulus II, die Pius XII eerbiedwaardig wilde laten verklaren, twee maanden later toestemming voor de openbaarmaking van documenten die betrekking hadden op het ambassadeurschap van Pius XII voor het Vaticaan in Duitsland.

Nicholson schreef: “De beslissing … lijkt een poging van de paus om beschuldigingen van antisemitisme geuit tegen zijn voorganger Pius XII het zwijgen op te leggen en het kan ook een nieuwe poging van het Vaticaan zijn om Pius XII, bevrijd van de schandalen en hoon, eerbiedwaardig te laten verklaren.”

“Het besluit van paus Johannes Paulus II om af te zien van de standaard procedures … komt na jaren van Vaticaanse protesten dat dit archief niet kon worden vrijgegeven, omdat het nog niet goed gecatalogiseerd was. Het besluit toont aan dat wat de paus wil, ook gebeurt.”

Maar deze situatie zou niet lang meer duren. Paus Johannes Paulus II kreeg meer en meer last van de ziekte van Parkinson waaraan hij uiteindelijk in 2005 zou overlijden. Het Vaticaan verviel weer in doofpot-tactieken, en er werd gezegd dat er een tekort was aan onderzoekers om de archieven vrij te kunnen geven en tegen de tijd dat het onderwerp weer in 2009 aan de orde kwam was alle hoop op een compromis al verdwenen.

Paus Benedictus XVI verklaarde zowel Pius XII als Johannes Paulus II op 19 December 2009 eerbiedwaardig.

Bron: WikiLeaks

Tuesday, 19 February 2002, 06:07

UNCLAS VATICAN 000819
SIPDIS
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/PA/PD (HILTON), EUR/RHA
(BINDENAGEL), EUR/AGS, DRL
EO 12958 N/A
TAGS PREL, GM, VT
SUBJECT: VATICAN ARCHIVES – POPE ORDERS PARTIAL OPENING FOR

NAZI GERMANY AND WORLD WAR II DOCUMENTS

1. POPE JOHN PAUL II HAS ORDERED THE PARTIAL OPENING OF THE VATICAN ARCHIVES FOR MATERIAL RELATING TO THE PERIOD LEADING TO AND DURING WORLD WAR II. IN A FEBRUARY 15 STATEMENT THE VATICAN’S CHIEF ARCHIVIST SAID THAT FROM THE BEGINNING OF 2003 MATERIAL FROM PIUS XI”>XI’S PONTIFICATE HELD BY THE VATICAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PERTAINING TO BAVARIA (1922- 1939) AND GERMANY (1922-1939), AND IN THE VATICAN SECRET UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 02 VATICA 00819 190632Z ARCHIVE FROM THE APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE IN MUNICH (1922-1934) AND BERLIN (1922-1930) WOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS. THE COMPLETE RELEASE OF ALL DOCUMENTATION RELATING TO PIUS XI”>XI’S PONTIFICATE IS STILL SOME THREE YEARS AWAY WHEN ACCORDING TO THE VATICAN STATEMENT, MATERIAL ON VATICAN-GERMANY ISSUES DURING THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS XII (1939-1958) WILL ALSO BE RELEASED.

2. ARCHIVAL MATERIAL RELATING TO PRISONERS DURING WORLD WAR II WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE FROM 2003. THE VATICAN STATEMENT POINTED OUT THAT THE RELEASE OF THIS DOCUMENTATION WOULD “REVEAL TO HISTORIANS THE GREAT WORKS OF CHARITY AND ASSISTANCE CARRIED OUT BY PIUS XII ON BEHALF OF THE NUMEROUS PRISONERS AND OTHER WAR VICTIMS, FROM WHATEVER NATION, RELIGION AND RACE.”

3. THE VATICAN STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTED THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL VATICAN ARCHIVE PROCEDURES WAS EXPRESSLY ORDERED BY POPE JOHN PAUL II, IN THE HOPE THAT THE GESTURE WOULD “CONTRIBUTE TO THE END OF UNJUST AND UNWELCOME SPECULATION.”

4. COMMENT: THE DECISION TO PARTIALLY OPEN THE VATICAN ARCHIVES RELATING TO VATICAN-GERMAN RELATIONS DURING THE LEAD UP TO WORLD WAR II AND DURING THE WAR ITSELF APPEARS TO BE AN ATTEMPT BY THE POPE TO SILENCE ACCUSATIONS OF ANTI- SEMITISM LEVELED AGAINST HIS PREDECESSOR PIUS XII. IT MAY ALSO HERALD RENEWED VATICAN INTEREST IN BEATIFYING PIUS XII – FREE FROM THE PALL OF SCANDAL AND DERISION. THE DECISION BY POPE JOHN PAUL II TO DISPENSE WITH STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES IN THIS CASE COMES AFTER YEARS OF VATICAN UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 03 VATICA 00819 190632Z PROTESTATIONS THAT THIS MATERIAL COULD NOT BE RELEASED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT YET PROPERLY CATALOGUED. IN ADDITION, THE GENERAL ARGUMENT WAS FORWARDED THAT MUCH ARCHIVAL MATERIAL WAS “SENSITIVE” AND MIGHT EMBARRASS LIVING PERSONS, AND THUS SHOULD NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL AFTER A PROPER PERIOD OF TIME – CURRENTLY 70 YEARS. TODAY’S DECISION SHOWS THAT WHEN THE POPE IS CONCERNED ENOUGH ABOUT CHURCH INTERESTS, HE WILL DO AWAY WITH THE VATICAN’S STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES IN ORDER TO FURTHER THOSE INTERESTS. THE DECISION SHOWS THAT WHATEVER THE POPE WANTS, DOES IN FACT HAPPEN. END COMMENT. NICHOLSON

UNCLASSIFIED

>

2002VATICA00819 – Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Bron: WikiLeaks

Monday, 31 December 2001, 08:43
C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 006619
SIPDIS
EMBASSY VATICAN MESSAGE 134/01
EO 12958 DECL: 12/19/2006
TAGS KNAR, PHUM, PREL, VT
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES CATHOLIC-JEWISH HISTORICAL
COMMISSION WITH CARDINAL KKASPER
REF: 01VATICAN 4258
CLASSIFIED BY: AMBASSADOR JIM NICHOLSON, REASON E.O. 12958 1.5 (B,D)

1. (C) SUMMARY: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSED CATHOLIC-JEWISH DIALOGUE DURING A 12/18 COURTESY CALL ON PROPAGANDA FIDES CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 02 VATICA 06619 310931Z PRESIDENT CARDINAL WALTER KASPER. KASPER WAS OPTIMISTIC THAT A CATHOLIC-JEWISH COMMISSION OF LAY HISTORIANS WOULD BE RE-FORMED WITH A CLEAR MANDATE AND WOULD BE ABLE TO CONDUCT A SERIOUS EXAMINATION OF THE TWELVE-VOLUME WORK ON PIUS XII’S PAPACY, BUT NOT OF THE ARCHIVE ITSELF. HE SAID THE FAILURE OF THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION DID NOT MEAN CATHOLIC-JEWISH DIALOGUE HAD FAILED. END SUMMARY.

2. (C) DURING A 12/18 COURTESY CALL ON PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTION OF CHRISTIAN UNITY (PROPAGANDA FIDES) CARDINAL WALTER KASPER, CONVERSATION FOCUSED ON CATHOLIC-JEWISH DIALOGUE. (NOTE: KASPER EXPLAINED THAT PROPAGANDA FIDES, AS OPPOSED TO THE COMMISSION RESPONSIBLE FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE, HAS COMPETENCY IN THIS AREA BECAUSE CHRISTIANS AND JEWS SHARE THE OLD TESTAMENT). THE AMBASSADOR RECALLED THAT THE CATHOLIC-JEWISH COMMISSION LOOKING AT THE ROLE OF PIUS XII DURING WORLD WAR II HAD DISSOLVED IN AMID SOME ACRIMONY, AND THAT THERE WAS INTEREST IN THE UNITED STATES ABOUT WHETHER IT WOULD BE RE-FORMED. KASPER REPLIED THAT THE FAILURE OF THE COMMISSION DID NOT REPRESENT THE FAILURE OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC AND JEWISH FAITHS. HE LAID THE COMMISSION’S FAILURE TO PERSONALITY PROBLEMS AND TO LACK OF CLARITY ON ITS MANDATE (WHICH THE VATICAN MAINTAINS WAS ONLY TO REVIEW THE EXISTING 12-VOLUME HISTORY OF PIUS XII AND NOT TO EXPLORING THE VATICAN ARCHIVES). HE SAID THAT FATHER GUMPEL (REFTEL) WAS THE VATICAN’S BEST INFORMED LIVING EXPERT ON THE PAPACY OF PIUS XII, AND THAT THEY HAD TURNED TO HIM TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 12 VOLUMES POSED BY THE COMMISSION. XXXXXXXXXXXX3. (C) KASPER WAS HOPEFUL THAT A DECISION WOULD BE TAKEN SOON TO BEGIN EXPLORING RE-FORMING A COMMISSION OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED ACADEMICS NOT DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH EITHER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OR “JEWISH AGENCIES” TO EXPLORE THE TWELVE VOLUMES ON THE PAPACY OF PIUS XII. HE PREFERRED A BIGGER INTERNATIONAL GROUP THAT COULD INCLUDE ACADEMIC EXPERTS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. IN RESPONSE TO THE AMBASSADOR’S QUERY, KASPER SAID A BODY CONSISTING OF EXPERTS FROM CATHOLIC AND JEWISH UNIVERSITIES COULD BE CREATED TO NOMINATE THE ACADEMIC EXPERTS THAT WOULD COMPRISE THE COMMISSION. HE WOULD LOOK FOR MOVEMENT ON THIS ISSUE SOME TIME IN 2002. AS FOR THE ARCHIVES, HE SAID THAT THE VATICAN WOULD SEEK TO SPEED UP THE CATALOGUING OF DOCUMENTS FROM PIUS XII’S PAPACY, BUT HE GAVE NO ASSURANCE THAT THEY WOULD BE ACCESSIBLE BEFORE SOME YEARS HAVE PASSED.

4. (C) KASPER AVERRED THAT THE CRITICISM OF PIUS XII AS PRO-NAZI WAS WITHOUT FOUNDATION, AND THAT THE ARCHIVES WOULD EVENTUALLY BEAR THIS OUT. THERE WAS NO SMOKING GUN. HE POINTED TO THE NEAR-UNANIMOUS PRAISE FROM JEWS (INCLUDING GOLDA MEIR) FOR THE POPE IN THE EARLY POST-WAR YEARS, AND SAID IT WAS ONLY AFTER REVISIONIST HISTORIANS BEGAN PUBLISHING IN THE 1960S THAT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY “BECAME OBSESSED” WITH WHAT PIUS XII DID OR DID NOT DO DURING THE WAR. KASPER, WHO HAD BEEN A CHILD IN NAZI GERMANY, RECALLED THAT DURING THAT TIME THE POPE, FEARING THAT OTHERS WOULD SUFFER REPERCUSSIONS FOR THINGS HE MIGHT SAY, COMMUNICATED SUBTLY BUT CLEARLY HIS OPPOSITION TO NAZISM. KASPER SAID CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 04 VATICA 06619 310931Z “EVERYBODY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANT.” MOREOVER, KASPER SAID, “THE CONVENTS ALL AROUND HERE (ROME) WERE FULL OF JEWS, AT GREAT RISK, EVEN THOUGH THE SS WAS IN THIS VERY BUILDING” (REFERRING TO THE APOSTOLIC PALACE.) HE SAID JEWISH ATTITUDES TOWARD PIUS XII TOOK A NEGATIVE TURN ONLY AFTER THE DEBUT OF THE PLAY “THE DEPUTY” IN THE 1960S.

5. (C) COMMENT: CLEARLY THE VATICAN REMAINS HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO CRITICISM OF PIUS XII, A POPE THEY ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING TO CANONIZE. KASPER SEEMS TO US A REALIST, AND WILL WORK IN GOOD FAITH TO RESOLVE DIFFERENCES THAT AROSE OVER THE CATHOLIC-JEWISH COMMISSION. THE ARCHIVE WILL BE A HARD NUT TO CRACK. VATICAN SOURCES CONSISTENTLY TELL US THAT IT WILL REMAIN OFF-LIMITS UNTIL IT IS PROPERLY CATALOGUED. TO ARGUMENTS THAT THE USG HAS DECLASSIFIED A MILLION PAGES OF RELEVANT HOLOCAUST ERA DOCUMENTS, THEY RESPOND THAT THEY DID THAT AND MORE WHEN THE JESUITS PUBLISHED THE TWELVE VOLUME SERIES CULLED FROM THE PIUS XII ARCHIVE. TO THEM, TO ASK MORE NOW IS UNREASONABLE. NICHOLSON

CONFIDENTIAL

>

2001VATICA06619 – Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

Bron: WikiLeaks

Friday, 16 October 2009, 14:39
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000106
SIPDIS
EO 12958 DECL: 10/16/2034
TAGS PREL, SCUL, VT, IS
SUBJECT: (C) VATICAN BACKS AWAY FROM DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL
HOLOCAUST TASK FORCE
REF: A. VATICAN 25 B. VATICAN 99
VATICAN 00000106 001.2 OF 002
CLASSIFIED BY: Julieta Valls Noyes, DCM, EXEC, State. REASON: 1.4 (b) 1. (C) Summary: On October 13, the Holy See walked back from a prior written agreement to become an observer on the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF). The decision may been taken by the Vatican’s relatively inexperienced new deputy foreign minister, and if so, would not be the first time he has complicated Vatican foreign relations. But the Vatican may also be pulling back due to concerns about ITF pressure to declassify records from the WWII-era pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Regardless of the cause, the ITF will continue to pursue closer ties with the Holy See in the months ahead. End Summary.

High Hopes Dashed

—————–

2. (C) Three members of the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) visited Rome this week to finalize arrangements with the Holy See to become an ITF observer. However, over lunch on October 13, the team members told the Austrian Ambassador and UK and U.S. DCM’s that the plan had fallen apart completely that morning due to Vatican back-pedaling. Team members — Austrian Ambassador Ferdinand Trauttsmandorff, U.S. Professor Steve Katz of the Elie Wiesel Center at Boston University, and Dina Porat, the Israeli academic advisor to the ITF — expressed considerable disappointment about the unexpected set-back.

3. (C) They were especially chagrined, Trauttsmandorff said, because the Vatican had first offered more than the ITF asked then rescinded its commitment. Specifically, the ITF had suggested during a February visit to Rome that the Vatican enter into a “special arrangement” with the body. The February talks and follow up discussions went very well (ref a). Subsequently, the then-Deputy Foreign Minister-equivalent at the Holy See, Monsignor Pietro Parolin, wrote to the ITF to indicate that the Vatican wanted more than a “special arrangement” and was prepared to become an ITF observer. (Note: It’s unclear whether Parolin suggested permanent observer or observer country status for the Vatican. End Note)

New Vatican Team Disappoints

—————————-

4. (C) On arrival in Rome in October, though, the ITF had to deal with a new team, as the highly-regarded Parolin had been promoted and sent as Nuncio to Venezuela. Parolin’s successor, Msgr. Ettore Balestrero, saw the ITF group instead, at what the ITF team expected to be the final meeting before signing an observer agreement. Surprising the ITF, Balestrero also invited a representative from the Vatican Archives, Msgr. Chappin, and the Holy See’s chief negotiator for the long-delayed Vatican-Israel Fundamental Agreement, Father David Jaeger.

5. (C) All three men, Trauttsmandorff said, evinced considerable discomfort with the idea of ITF observer status. Balestrero argued that the Vatican needed to study the implications of the status further before committing, focusing on legalistic impediments that Parolin had already dismissed. Jaeger was hostile overall to the ITF, Porat said. She fiercely criticized his inclusion, saying he had no role to play in a discussion of the ITF’s relationship with the Vatican. XXXXXXXXXXXX Porat said that if Jaeger was so rigid about closer ties with the ITF while Austria held its rotating chair, no progress would be possible next year when Israel chairs the body. Trauttsmandorff was less harsh than his colleague but allowed the Jaeger’s involvement in the meeting was not constructive. XXXXXXXXXXXX

Connection to the Papal Archives?

———————————

6. (C) The three ITF visitors agreed that Chappin, who had previously been more open to dialogue with them, was very defensive at the October 13 meeting. He believed that the ITF would ask the Archives to release ahead of schedule the documents from the papacy of Pius XII, the World War II-era Pope. (Note: The Vatican releases the documents from each pontificate as a whole. End Note) DCM said that Father Norbert Hofmann, Secretary of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, had told her the preceding week that the files from the entire papacy would be ready for declassification in about five years. Katz thought this was far too rosy a

VATICAN 00000106 002.2 OF 002

scenario given that only six-eight researchers are now reviewing the documents. Although this number is up from the one-two working on them a year ago, he thought it was insufficient to catalog and review the 16 million documents from the Pius XII Papacy.

7. (C) The ITF members acknowledged their wish to gain access to the Pius XII files as soon as possible. Nevertheless, they also accepted the Vatican’s arguments, shared by DCM, that ordained clergy must review them first given the possibility that the files contain confessional documents from individual Catholics. Trauttsmandorff insisted, however, that the ITF sought a relationship with the Vatican not only to get access to the Vatican Archives, but also to work jointly with Catholic Church leaders in many countries on anti-racism and remembrance education.

Now What?

———

8. (C) Despite the disappointment, the ITF members were determined to find a way to move ahead with the Vatican. They concluded that they must now educate new Deputy Foreign Minister Balestrero about the ITF and its role, just as they had done with his predecessor, Parolin. They would also reach out to friends in the Vatican, such as Cardinal Kasper, to exert influence on their behalf. UK DCM indicated that HMG would also express support for ITF goals in discussions with Vatican officials, as did U.S. DCM. The team members left discouraged but committed to keep their eyes on the long-term goal.

Comment

——-

9. (C) Unfortunately, the ITF is only the latest group to run into problems caused by the recent change of personnel at the Vatican Foreign Ministry – others, including this embassy (ref B), have experienced similar problems on other issues. What remains to be seen is whether the ITF’s problems are the results of Msgr. Balestrero’s growing pains or caused by deeper Vatican uneasiness related to declassification of their Archives. The ITF team did not believe the Vatican was sending – via the decision to slow progress on the ITF observer status — a subtle message to Israel about the need for progress in the Fundamental Agreement talks. Time will tell. DIAZ

Bron: WikiLeaks

Monday, 13 August 2001, 11:46
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 004258
SIPDIS
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI
FROM EMBASSY VATICAN/MESSAGE NO. 134/01
EO 12958 DECL: 08/10/06
TAGS PREL, PHUM, KNAR, PHUM, KNAR, VT.PREL, VT.
SUBJECT: VATICAN ARCHIVES Q “THE REAL STORY”
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 VATICA 04258 01 OF 02 131205Z REF: STATE 137397
CLASSIFIED BY A/DCM GEORGE FROWICK, REASON E.O. 12958 (B,D).

1. (C) A/DCM AND POLITICAL ASSISTANT MET WITH JESUIT FATHER PETER GUMPEL AUGUST 10 AT HIS OFFICES IN THE JESUIT CURIA TO DISCUSS THE TECHNICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN OPENING THE VATICAN ARCHIVES. (NOTE: THIS WAS A PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED MEETING, I.E. BEFORE WE RECEIVED REFTEL. WE NEVERTHELESS DELIVERED SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SET OF POINTS, FOCUSING ON THE USG’S INTEREST IN PROMOTING A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUE, AND QUICKLY, AS THE HOLOCAUST GENERATION IS PASSING. END NOTE.) GUMPEL IMMEDIATELY ADVISED THAT THE ISSUE OF ACCESS TO THE VATICAN ARCHIVES RELATED TO THE WORLD WAR II ERA WAS SIMPLY AN INTERNAL MATTER OF PROCEDURE AND NOT A POLITICAL ONE. XXXXXXXXXXXX HE ASSURED US THAT HE WAS A JUDGE FOR MATERIAL USED IN THE PROCESS TO DECLARE PIUS XII A SAINT AND NOT THE PROMOTER OF THE CAUSE FOR SAINTHOOD.

———————–

THE “TECHNICAL” PROCESS CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 03 VATICA 04258 01 OF 02 131205Z

———————–

2. (C) WHEN PRESSED, GUMPEL, WITH SCHOLARLY PRECISION, EXPLAINED THE TECHNICAL PROCEDURES FOR ACCESS TO THE VATICAN ARCHIVES. THE MOST RECENT MATERIAL RELEASED FOR SCHOLARLY SCRUTINY GOES BACK FIVE PONTIFICATES. MATERIAL RELATED TO THE REIGN OF BENEDICT XV”>XV (1914-1922) HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AND CATALOGUED AND IS AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS. CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS XI”>XI (1922-1939) WILL BE COMPLETED IN 2009 AT THE LATEST. GUMPEL SAID HE HOPES FOR AN EARLIER COMPLETION DATE. (NOTE. THE PIUS XI”>XI DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN MATERIAL RELATED TO PIUS XII WHEN, AS CARDINAL EUGENIO PACELLI, HE WAS PIUS XI”>XI’S SECRETARY OF STATE Q PM EQUIVALENT – FROM 1930 UNTIL 1939.

SIPDIS END NOTE). WORK TO CLASSIFY AND CATALOGUE MATERIAL RELATED TO POPE PIUS XII (1939-1958) WOULD NORMALLY COMMENCE IN 2009. GUMPEL POINTED OUT THAT FOUR JESUITS HAD BEEN GIVEN ACCESS TO THE LITERALLY MILLIONS OF DOCUMENTS AND HAD SPENT 17 YEARS (1964-1981) SORTING OUT ALL/ALL THE DIPLOMATIC MATERIAL RELATING TO PIUS XII’S ACTIVITY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THESE WERE THE PAPERS PUBLISHED IN THE 12 VOLUMES TO HAVE BEEN REVIEWED BY THE COMMISSION. (COMMENT: IT IS POST’S UNDERSTANDING THAT IT CURRENTLY IS LOGISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OPEN UP THE VATICAN ARCHIVES RELATED TO PIUS XII’S ACTIVITIES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. GUMPEL SAID IT CONSISTS OF SEVERAL HUNDRED BOXES (THROUGH WHICH THE JESUITS WENT PAPER-BY-PAPER EXTRACTING ALL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS FOR REVIEW) AND MILLIONS OF SHEETS OF PAPER. MANY OF THESE ARE PASTORAL DOCUMENTS (LETTERS TO PRIESTS, ETC) THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HOLOCAUST, BUT WHICH COULD PROVE EMBARRASSING TO LIVING PEOPLE. IT TOOK FOUR HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 04 VATICA 04258 01 OF 02 131205Z MOTIVATED, INTELLIGENT, MULTILINGUAL JESUITS 17 YEARS TO SORT THROUGH AND PUBLISH THE MATERIAL. END COMMENT.) THE VATICAN INSISTS THE OTHER DOCUMENTS WILL BE OPEN TO SCRUTINY ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED AND CATALOGUED AND NOT BEFORE. TWO ARCHIVISTS STAFF THE VATICAN ARCHIVE. GUMPEL ADMITTED THAT THIS WAS INADEQUATE AND THAT HE HAS REQUESTED AN INCREASE IN PERSONNEL PRECISELY TO SPEED US THE PROCESS. GUMPEL INFORMED US THAT THIS ARCHIVAL PROCEDURE HAD BEEN CLEARLY EXPLAINED TO THE SCHOLARS ON THE COMMISSION OVER THE COURSE OF MANY CONVERSATIONS.

———————————–

ACRIMONY FROM THE COMMISSION’S WORK

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3. (C) GUMPEL RECOUNTED AN OCTOBER 2000 MEETING HE HAD BEEN ASKED TO ATTEND WITH MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH-VATICAN COMMISSION STUDYING PIUS XII’S ROLE IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE MEETING WAS TAPE-RECORDED WITH THE CONSENT OF ALL THOSE PRESENT. XXXXXXXXXXXX NONE OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS HAD READ ALL THE PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS, AND MOST WERE NOT ABLE TO READ THE DOCUMENTS IN THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN AND HAD TO RELY ON TRANSLATED SUMMARIES. GUMPEL NOTED THAT FROM A SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE, THIS SITUATION WAS “LESS THAN IDEAL.” THE COMMISSION’S REPORT, WHICH CONSISTED OF 46 COMPLEX QUESTIONS, GUMPEL HAD PREPARED TO ANSWER. HE WORKED

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INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AMAD-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 DS-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO”>IO”>IO-00 VCE-00 NSAE-00 SNIS-00 NISC-00 DSCC-00 LBA-00 PRM-01 DRL-02 SAS-00 /003W ——————115973 131213Z /38 R 131146Z AUG 01 FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0000 INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 VATICAN 004258

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI

FROM EMBASSY VATICAN/MESSAGE NO. 134/01

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/06 TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KNAR, VT. SUBJECT: VATICAN ARCHIVES Q “THE REAL STORY”

UP A SERIES OF HISTORICAL DOSSIERS, INCLUDING PRIMARY DOCUMENTS. XXXXXXXXXXXX THOSE SAME VATICAN OFFICIALS, HE SAID, EXPRESSED APPRECIATION FOR FR”>FR. GUMPEL’S ACUTE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITUATION AND HIS SCIENTIFIC PROFESSIONALISM. GUMPEL MADE IT CLEAR TO A/DCM THAT EVEN POPE JOHN PAUL II IS AWARE OF THE SITUATION.

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I AM A GERMAN, NOT A NAZI

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4. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX GUMPEL ALSO EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT REFERENCES IN THE MEDIA AND IN OTHER COMMENTS TO HIM AS THE “GERMAN JESUIT.” GUMPEL TOLD A/DCM THAT HIS FAMILY HAD BEEN VICTIMS OF NAZI PERSECUTION AND SEVERAL HAD BEEN KILLED BY THE NAZIS. HE HIMSELF HAD TO FLEE NAZI GERMANY AS A REFUGEE, FIRST TO FRANCE AND THEN LATER TO HOLLAND. HE RECALLED THAT AT ONE POINT A REPORTER HAD PLANNED TO PRINT AN ASSERTION THAT GUMPEL WAS A NAZI HIMSELF — SOMETHING GUMPEL SAID WAS LIBELOUS, AND WHICH HE WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO GO TO COURT TO FIGHT.

5. (C) GUMPEL SAID HE WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN THE JEWISH- VATICAN COMMISSION DECIDED TO SUSPEND ITS WORK. XXXXXXXXXXXX HE CLOSED BY SAYING THAT THE VATICAN WANTS TO LET PASS A PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE REOPENING THIS DISCUSSION. HE SAID THAT THE VATICAN AND HE HIMSELF WERE MORE THAN WILLING TO DISCUSS ANY ANOMALIES OR QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE 12-VOLUME HISTORY ALREADY PUBLISHED. THEY JUST DIDN’T THINK THAT THE JUST-DISBANDED COMMISSION CONSISTED OF THE RIGHT MIX OF PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO DO SO. MERANTE

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2001VATICA04258 – Classification: CONFIDENTIAL