Says William Doino, who writes for Inside the Vatican and contributed to The Pius War, in a lengthy piece in the London Times today.  It’s one of the most concise, and well-documented defenses of the pope that you will find.

In the Autumn of 1987, during one of his many meetings with the Jewish community, Pope John Paul II gave an important speech on the Roman Catholic Church and the Holocaust. Recalling “the strong, unequivocal efforts of the Popes against anti-Semitism and Nazism,” he cited Pius XI’s condemnation of Nazism as “an enemy of the Cross of Christ,” and went on to praise his successor, Pius XII : “And I am convinced that history will reveal ever more clearly and convincingly how deeply Pius XII felt the tragedy of the Jewish people, and how hard and effectively he worked to assist them during the Second World War.”

A decade later, John Paul issued a document on the Holocaust,We Remember, which again noted Pius XII’s humanitarian acts, and soon thereafter praised Pius’s entire pontificate: “He was a great Pope.”

Shortly before Christmas, Pope Benedict XVI validated John Paul’s judgment by signing a decree declaring Pius XII “Venerable,” advancing his cause for sainthood.

Benedict’s decision is certainly debatable, but it was not, as some have suggested, rushed, much less deliberately “insensitive.” It was rather the end result of a well-thought out, process.

Read the rest here.

The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.