Israel asked the Vatican to open the Church archives from World War II following Pope Benedict's decision to renew the beatification of Pope Pius XII, who is accused of not taking action to save Jews during the Holocaust.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said to AFP that Pope Pius' candidacy for sainthood does not affect Israel, but the Catholic Church. However, he said that historians must be allowed to evaluate the pope's actions during the war by opening the archives. (AFP)