Vatican envoy relents on Holocaust event

JERUSALEM - The Vatican's ambassador to Israel attended a Holocaust memorial service yesterday, reversing a decision to boycott the event that threatened to upset fragile ties between Israel and the Holy See.

Msgr. Antonio Franco said last week that he would skip the ceremony at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, marking the beginning of Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, because Catholics were offended by a caption at the museum describing the wartime conduct of Pope Pius XII.

The caption next to the picture of Pius reads, "Even when reports about the murder of Jews reached the Vatican, the pope did not protest," refusing to sign a 1942 Allied condemnation of the massacre of Jews.

Pius "maintained his neutral position" with two exceptions - appeals he made to the rulers of Hungary and Slovakia toward the end of the war, the caption says. It also criticizes "his silence and absence of guidelines."

Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1993 following hundreds of years of painful relations between Catholics and Jews. Many sensitive issues remain unresolved, including the Vatican's actions during the Nazi genocide of Jews.

The Vatican has struggled to defend its wartime pope as it pushes his sainthood cause, insisting that Pius spearheaded discreet diplomacy that saved thousands of Jews.

The disputed photo caption first appeared in 2005, when Yad Vashem opened its new museum. Shortly after, the previous Vatican ambassador asked that it be changed.

But Yad Vashem has not done so, insisting its research on the pope's role was accurate.

The memorial service is usually attended by all foreign ambassadors to Israel or their representatives. Had Franco stated away, Yad Vashem said, it would have been the first time a foreign emissary deliberately skipped the ceremony.

Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II, was being observed from sundown yesterday to sundown today with memorial ceremonies, somber music on the radio, and historical documentaries and movies on national television. At 10 a.m. today, sirens will wail throughout Israel for two minutes, and Israelis will stand silently to remember the victims.