The president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences says that Israel has 15 sets of archives relating to Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust which are not open to historical researchers. Walter Brandmuller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, one of the organisers of a meeting due to take place in Rome in November on the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII, cited in particular the World Jewish Congress, AFP reports.
"I do not understand some critics as most of the Vatican documentation is accessible... while others do not make their documents available," he told reporters at the Vatican.
Historians are demanding that they be allowed to freely consult all of the Vatican archives concerning World War II. Only parts are currently accessible.
According to Brandmuller, however, 15 Israeli archive collections keep documents to which they do not allow access.
Pius XII served as pope from 1939-1958 and his role during the war is viewed as controversial.
Many historians accuse him of staying silent and doing little to intervene during the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany killed some six million Jews in Europe. The Vatican however has highlighted Pius XII's efforts to shelter Jews during the occupation of Rome by Hitler's troops.
Pope Benedict XVI last December created a special panel to study the possible sainthood of Pius XII.
Vatican sources told one news agency the pope did not want to proceed and saw the creation of a special commission as the best way of postponing a decision, AFP says.
The possible sainthood of Pius XII is a source of tension with Jewish organisations.
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