Bad news for some local Pius XII bashers:

The Vatican’s secret archives on Pius XII should be ready for opening in about five years and will clear him of accusations that he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, the archives’ head said on Thursday.

“He was a great pope, who, as you know, is under attack for his presumed silence on the Shoah,” said Monsignor Sergio Pagano, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. “But in reality he did many things for Jews and for prisoners of World War Two”.

“There will be some nice surprises, even as far as the Jews are concerned,” Pagano said, adding that the pope did not remain inactive when Jews were rounded up for deportation on October, 1943.

“Pope Pius took great risks, even very great personal risks, to save Jews. I can’t say more now but whoever wants to open their eyes in five or six years will be able to open them,” he said. Reuters News Agency