Editing Pope Pius XII (section)

====Jewish orphans controversy====
{{Main|Jewish orphans controversy}}
In 2005, ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' published a document dated 20 November 1946 on the subject of Jewish children baptized in war-time France. The document ordered that baptized children, if orphaned, should be kept in Catholic custody and stated that the decision "has been approved by the Holy Father". Nuncio Angelo Roncalli (who became [[Pope John XXIII]], and was recognized by [[Yad Vashem]] as [[Righteous Among the Nations]]) ignored this directive.<ref>Jerusalem Report, (7 February 2005).</ref> [[Abe Foxman]], the national director of the [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL), who had himself been baptized as a child and had undergone a custody battle afterwards, called for an immediate freeze on Pius's beatification process until the relevant [[Vatican Secret Archives]] and baptismal records were opened.<ref>Anti-Defamation League. [http://www.adl.org/Interfaith/adl_vatican.asp "ADL to Vatican: 'Open Baptismal Records and Put Pius Beatification on Hold{{'"}}] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104082209/http://www.adl.org/Interfaith/adl_vatican.asp |date=4 January 2009 }}. 13 January 2005.</ref> Two Italian scholars, Matteo Luigi Napolitano and [[Andrea Tornielli]], confirmed that the memorandum was genuine, although the reporting by the ''Corriere della Sera'' was misleading, as the document had originated in the French Catholic Church archives rather than the Vatican archives and strictly concerned itself with children without living blood relatives who were supposed to be handed over to Jewish organizations.<ref>Cavalli, Dimitri. [http://www.theamericanmag.com/article.php?show_article_id=387 "Pius's Children"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527035037/http://www.theamericanmag.com/article.php?show_article_id=387 |date=27 May 2008 }}. ''The American''. 1 April 2006.</ref>

Writings from released Vatican records revealed that Pius XII was personally but secretly involved in hiding the [[Finaly Affair|Finaly children]] from their Jewish family in an ultimately failed attempt to keep them Catholic after their secret baptism done against the wishes of their family. The French Catholic Church received very bad press from the affair, and several nuns and monks were jailed for the kidnapping before the children were discovered and spirited away to Israel. Only recently was the Pope's personal involvement revealed.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kertzer|first=Story by David I.|title=The Pope, the Jews, and the Secrets in the Archives|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/the-popes-jews/615736/|access-date=20 May 2021|issn=1072-7825}}</ref>