NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Father Pierre Blet, SJ, the French historian who is the leading living expert on the actions of the Church during World War II, believes that Pope Pius XII will eventually be beatified. The Jesuit scholar told the Italian monthly 30 Days that he believes the cause of Pius XII has been delayed for "diplomatic reasons."

      Father Blet is one of four Jesuit historians who, at the request of Pope Paul VI, thoroughly examined and summarized the contents of the secret Vatican archives relating to World War II. The four-man team-- of which Father Blet is the only survivor-- produced a 12- volume summary of those documents.

      After the recent publication of a new Vatican document on the Holocaust, and subsequent angry reactions by some Jewish leaders, Father Blet published an essay defending the actions of Pope Pius XII, and accusing that pope's critics of calumny.