Pope Francis has strongly defended his wartime predecessor Pius XII against accusations he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, saying the opening of Vatican archives will shed light on the ...

Historians will begin combing the archives of the world's most contentious pope on Monday, hoping to glean why Pius XII stayed silent during the Nazi extermination of Jews in the Holocaust. More than ...

A portrait of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), head of the Catholic Church from 1939 until his death, who, during World War II, and while European Jews were being exterminated by the Nazis, was accused of ...

Declaring that the church "isn't afraid of history," Pope Francis said Monday he has decided to open up the Vatican archives on World War II-era Pope Pius XII, who has been criticized by Jews of ...

Germany’s small Jewish community praised Pope Benedict on Thursday for stressing the common roots of Christianity and Judaism but warned him it would be hurt if he honors wartime Pope Pius XII, who it ...

VATICAN CITY -- For years the Vatican has struggled to defend its wartime pope, Pius XII, against claims he was anti-Semitic and didn't do enough to save Jews from the Holocaust. Now the Vatican is ...

JERUSALEM -- The Vatican's ambassador to Israel attended a Holocaust memorial service Sunday, reversing an earlier decision to boycott the event that threatened to upset fragile ties between Israel ...

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian Jewish leader told Pope Benedict Sunday that his wartime predecessor Pius XII should have spoken out more forcefully against the Holocaust to show solidarity with Jews ...

JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli scholar has discovered evidence that a Vatican emissary and future Pope tried to challenge the Catholic Church's perceived indifference to the Nazi mass murder of Europe's ...

JERUSALEM — The Vatican’s ambassador to Israel attended a Holocaust memorial service yesterday, reversing an earlier decision to boycott the event that threatened to upset fragile ties between Israel ...