Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Still on Hold

Catholic World News reports that the beatification of Pope Pius XII is not imminent. There will be a conference and a photo exhibit in Rome later this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the Pope's death; however, his beatification still remains "in the kingdom of the future," said Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press office director. The beatification (and, hopefully, eventual canonization) are thus not ruled out altogether; however, even the title "Venerable" is still being withheld from him, despite the requisite finding of heroic virtue by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in May of last year.

There are certain people who, blinded by their hatred for the Catholic Church, and notwithstanding the mountain of evidence to the contrary, insist on buying into the old lies about Pius XII being Hitler's lapdog. These lies originated in the Soviet Union, which, before the Second World War broke out, had itself entered into a secret alliance with the Nazi regime for the purpose of carving up and conquering vast tracts of Eastern Europe. The play The Deputy, which has been the source of the rumors of Pius' purported collaborationism, was the product of a KGB conspiracy to undermine the Church by discrediting the then-deceased Pope -- who, being dead, could no longer defend himself. The "controversy" surrounding -- and probably stalling -- the late pontiff's cause for sainthood is thus entirely contrived.

True, Pope Pius XII's cause for sainthood is not the only one that doesn't seem to have any steam, for reasons passing understanding. It has now been 399 years, for example, since the beatification of Bl. Margaret of Castello, 289 years after her death. But it is frustrating to think that Pius XII cannot be venerated, much less beatified, on account of lies that have been more than torn to shreds, and despite the truth that has not yet passed out of living memory.

Those who are fearlessly proclaiming the truth should never grow weary of doing so, until the holy and unjustly maligned Pope Pius XII is finally raised to the altar.

(And while they're at it, they can canonize Little Margaret, too.)

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