I am not a Roman Catholic.

OK, now that that's out of the way, the issue is this: Pius XII was the reigning Pope during World War II. On Thursday, which happens to be Yom Kippur, Pope Benedict XVI strongly hinted that he was in favor of the beatification of the late pontiff, after having previously tabled the issue for "a period of reflection."

Many have criticized Pius XII for not doing enough to oppose the Holocaust. His supporters, which now apparently includes the German-born Benedict XVI, point out that Pius used a few pointed public — but mostly private — acts of diplomacy to try to prevent what turned into the slaughter of 6 million European Jews. Pope Benedict cited Pius' 1942 Christmas radio message. "With a voice broken with emotion, he deplored the situation of 'hundreds of thousands of persons who, for no fault of their own, only for reason of nationality or ethnic roots, were destined for death or for steady deterioration,' " Benedict said.

Pius, said Benedict, "often acted secretly and silently because, in the light of the concrete realities of that complex historical moment, he saw that this was the only way to avoid the worst and save the largest possible number of Jews."

It's a tough issue. Maybe Pius did do what he though was best given the circumstances. Maybe he did act in a manner that he felt saved the greatest number of people.

Maybe, on the other hand, his caution was not as Christ-like as it might have been.

But here's the thing. And, again, I'm not a Roman Catholic. But shouldn't a saint be someone who's life and works are more indisputably Jesus-shaped? Shouldn't a saint be someone who the whole church, nay, the whole world, can look to and say, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" In other words, should the very debate disqualify Pius?

But its more than just that. And this is just my opinion. Again, maybe Pius did the best he could. But even if he did, in light of the horrors that he couldn't prevent, or didn't think it proper or prudent to try, wouldn't one expect a saint to be, at the end of the day, if not more Christ-like, then at least more Schindler-like?



Like I said, that's just my opinion.

And I don't get a vote.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi