Benedict defends WWII Pope over Holocaust

BY FRANCES D'EMILIO

VATICAN CITY

Oct. 9: Pope Benedict XVI gave World War II pontiff Pius XII a push toward possible sainthood and defended his memory from accusations that he did little to spare Jews from the Holocaust.

Benedict contended that Pius XII acted silently to save as many Jews as possible and expressed hope that efforts aimed at beatification would proceed smoothly.

Beatification is the last formal step before sainthood. Benedict, wearing red vestments, celebrated a solemn Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius, who became pontiff in 1939, a few months before World War II broke out in Europe.

Some writers and Jewish leaders have accused Pius of not doing enough to try to stop the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died. The Vatican has steadfastly defended Pius, contending he used behind-the-scenes diplomacy to try to help the Jews.

It says he was cautious about public denunciations of Adolf Hitler's treatment of Jews for fear

of worsening their plight.

"How can we forget the Christmas radio message of December 1942?" Benedict asked in his homily.

"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,' with clear reference to the deportation and extermination carried out against Jews," Benedict said quoting from Pius' 1942 radio speech.

-AP

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UK bid to ban smacking fails

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

London

Oct. 9: A bid by some British MPs to ban smacking of children failed as the measure was not tabled in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The Labour government was opposed to the measure which would have ensured that parents could not physically punish their children. In Britain, parents cannot smack a child hard enough to leave a bruise, but can lightly smack their child or are allowed "reasonable chastisement."

A cross-party group of MPs, led by Labour MP Kevin Barron, were keen to table an amendment to a legislation, Children and Young Persons Bill, which was earlier passed in 2004, in the House of Commons to give children the same protection against assault as adults.

However, the financial crisis and a statement by chancellor of exchequer to the House of Commons ensured that the amendment was not tabled.

More than 100 Labour MPs had asked the ruling party to allow a free vote on the issue.