Cardinal Kasper comments on Joint Historical Commission controversy
Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, has issued a statement reviewing the controversy about the International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission and expressing regret that it has suspended its work. The Commission was charged to analyze published archival materials on the role of the Vatican during the Second World War, especially as concerns the Holocaust, but was not given access to unpublished materials.
In a Communiqué dated 24 August 2001, Cardinal Kasper states that the Commission was never promised access to the full archives since 1922, i.e., those covering the pontificates of Pius XI (1922-39) and Pius XII (1939-1958). The Vatican, he states, is ready to grant such access 'as soon as the reorganising and the cataloguing work is concluded.'