Pope Francis announced Monday that the Vatican will open the secret archives of Pius XII in March next year, which could shed light on his actions during World War II. Researchers have long sought to examine the archives to discover why Pius XII (1939-1958) did not intervene more against the Holocaust perpetrated by the German Nazis, an attitude denounced by Jewish groups as a form of passive complicity. “I have decided that the opening of the Vatican Archives for the Pontificate of Pius XII will take place on 2 March 2020,” the pope said.
