Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial has made changes to a controversial exhibit on Pope Pius XII, presenting a more balanced view of his actions toward the Nazis and their Jewish victims.

Pave the Way Foundation President Gary Krupp, a prominent Jewish defender of Pope Pius XII, said his inter-religious group was “very pleased” with Yad Vashem's change of position, which “should show the world that it is truly an institution based on facts and truth.”

“The black legend against Pope Pius XII is being bleached white by the stark light of truth,” Krupp told CNA on July 5. Further research, he said, will show that the Pope, born Eugenio Pacelli, “was indeed a great hero to the Jewish people during our darkest years of the Shoah.”

Yad Vashem's new wall panel on Pius XII and the Vatican “presents a more complex picture than previously presented,” the museum said in a July 1 announcement, citing “research that has been done in the recent years” on the wartime Pope.

The panel's revised text states that “reaction of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, to the murder of the Jews during the Holocaust is a matter of controversy among scholars.” It acknowledges the Pope's condemnation of ethnic persecutions, as well as the Holy See's efforts to save Jews.

While the exhibit criticizes the Vatican for instances of silence and a “lack of clear guidance” during the Nazi era, it also acknowledges the perspective of those who say the Pope acted prudently under the circumstances.

“His defenders maintain that this neutrality prevented harsher measures against the Vatican and the Church's institutions throughout Europe, thus enabling a considerable number of secret rescue activities to take place at different levels of the Church,” Yad Vashem's revised exhibit reads.

Full Story: Holocaust museum praised for corrections to Pius XII exhibit

Source: Catholic News Agency