Calling on the expertise of a University religious studies professor, the Vatican in Rome has launched a probe into the Catholic Church's role in anti-Semitism during the World War II era and, specifically, whether then-Pope Pius XII could have done something to alleviate the Holocaust.
The University's Rev. Gerald P. Fogarty, S.J., a Catholic priest at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and an expert on Vatican diplomacy, is one of six international figures named to the study's commission, which includes three Catholic and three Jewish scholars. The commission will review 12 volumes of published Vatican documents dating from the World War II period and suggest areas for further exploration.
Fogarty said his team will look for clues related to the possibility of anti-Semitism within the Church. After reviewing the documents the commission will make recommendations on what information and what further steps should be taken in the probe.
An earlier commission, which convened from 1965 through 1981, investigated the papacy's actions during the war and chose which documents to publish. Widespread international criticism at the time, which claimed Pope Pius XII was anti-Semitic, prompted formation of the initial commission. But doubts remain about the biases of the original group because it included only Catholic scholars.
"They should have had a non-Catholic and certainly a Jew," Fogarty said, noting that the scholars, although all Catholic, still were qualified to do the job.
Fogarty said the earlier commission may have omitted some information from the earlier volumes so as not to incriminate officials who still were alive.
Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, president of the pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, conceived the idea for the new commission in April 1998. Cassidy recommended the commission to promote dialogue between the Jewish and Catholic communities, Fogarty said. He said he was chosen for the commission because of his diplomatic background and his familiarity with Vatican archives.
"Father Fogarty's appointment to the commission is certainly a tribute to his expertise and standing in the field of American Catholic history," Religious Studies Chairman Harry Y. Gamble Jr. said.
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