US embassy cable - 02VATICAN2229

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 002229 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (SUBJECT) 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI (AMBASSADOR BINDENAGEL) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2012 
TAGS: FR, GM, IT, KNAR, PHUM, PREL, SOCI, GM, IT, KNAR, PHUM, PREL, SOCI, VT, VTFR 
SUBJECT: HOLOCAUST ENVOY'S VATICAN FAREWELL CALL 
 
REF: 01 VATICAN 06619 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: AMBASSADOR NICHOLSON.  REASONS 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1.    (C) SUMMARY:  U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOLOCAUST ISSUES 
AMBASSADOR BINDENAGEL MET WITH VATICAN OFFICIALS APRIL 26 FOR 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
PAGE 02        VATICA  02229  01 OF 02  081737Z 
A LAST UPDATE ON THE ISSUE OF ACCESS TO PONTIFICAL ARCHIVES 
FOR RESEARCH RELATED TO THE SHOAH AND THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS 
XII. HE MET SEPARATELY WITH VATICAN DFM MSGR. MIGLIORE AND 
CARDINAL KASPAR, HEAD OF THE VATICAN'S COMMISSION FOR 
RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH JUDAISM.  BOTH NOTED GRADUAL 
HEADWAY, YET ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED THE SETBACK OF THE 2001 
BREAKDOWN OF THE JEWISH-VATICAN COMMISSION TO STUDY PIUS 
XII'S WWII ROLE. KASPAR NARRATED HIS EFFORTS TO FOUND A NEW 
COMMISSION BASED ON COLLABORATION BETWEEN ACADEMIC 
INSTITUTIONS THAT WOULD MARGINALIZE INVOLVEMENT BY THE 
VATICAN AND THE WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS. KASPAR AND MIGLIORE 
DENOUNCED A RESURGENT ANTI-SEMITISM, NURTURED IN THEIR 
OPINION BY THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, AND ALSO VOICED CONCERN AT 
THE APRIL 21 FRENCH ELECTION RESULTS. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) AMBASSADOR J.D. BINDENAGEL, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR 
HOLOCAUST ISSUES, MET SEPARATELY APRIL 26 AT THE VATICAN WITH 
DFM CELESTINO MIGLIORE AND CARDINAL WALTAR KASPAR, HEAD OF 
THE COMMISION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH JUDAISM. POLOFF 
ATTENDED BOTH MEETINGS AS NOTETAKER; MSGR. FUMAGELLI 
ACCOMPANIED CARDINAL KASPAR. 
 
3. (C) CARDINAL KASPAR NOTED THAT THE ACTS OF THE BERLIN 
NUNCIATURE UP TO 1939, COVERING THE REIGN OF PIUS XI, WOULD 
BE ACCESSIBLE IN 2003. ALTHOUGH THESE WOULD NOT INCLUDE 
DOCUMENTS FROM THE PAPACY OF PIUS XII, THEY HAVE SPECIAL 
RELEVANCE GIVEN THE ROLE OF EUGENIO PACELLI, THE FUTURE PIUS 
XII, AS NUNCIO IN BERLIN AND LATER SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER 
PIUS XI.  YET KASPAR STATED HE WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE THE 
TIMETABLE FOR OPENING THE VATICAN ARCHIVES FOR THE REIGN OF 
PIUS XII, CURRENTLY ANTICIPATED ABOUT 2010 (REF).  NOT ONLY 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
PAGE 03        VATICA  02229  01 OF 02  081737Z 
WERE THOSE ARCHIVES IN EXTREME DISORDER -- A "DURCHEINANDER" 
HE DECLARED IN GERMAN -- AND IN NEED OF PAINSTAKING REVIEW, 
BUT THESE ARCHIVES WERE THE DOMAIN OF THE VATICAN SECRETARIAT 
AND NOT THE COUNCIL FOR RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS.  HE REMARKED 
THE SECRETARIAT HOLDS NO FEAR OF THE HISTORICAL VERDICT, 
HOWEVER WORK MUST PROCEED METHODICALLY. KASPAR COMMENTED THAT 
SINCE HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION ENTAILED MAKING JUDGMENTS AND 
NOT SIMPLY ASCERTAINING FACTS, THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE SOME 
DISAGREEMENT.  EARLIER MIGLIORE, TOO, HAD SPOKEN SIMILARLY, 
OPINING THAT IDEOLOGICAL CONCERNS WERE GUIDING MANY 
RESEARCHERS.  MIGLIORE DECRIED THE RECENT COSTA-GRAVAS FILM 
"AMEN" FOR ITS LACK OF CONCERN FOR HISTORICAL TRUTH. 
 
4. (C)  KASPAR LAMENTED THE 2001 BREAKDOWN OF THE 
JEWISH-VATICAN COMMISSION ESTABLISHED IN 1999 TO ASSESS THE 
12 VOLUME SET OF HOLY SEE ARCHIVAL MATERIALS RELATING TO THE 
WWII PAPACY OF PIUS XII AND THE HOLOCAUST. THAT COMMISSION 
LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER, HE STATED, YET ITS EXECUTION WAS DEEPLY 
FLAWED, CITING THE LACK OF SHARED CRITERIA, THE WANT OF 
MUTUAL TRUST, AND THE UNHELPFUL RECOURSE BY INDIVIDUAL 
PARTICIPANTS TO THE MEDIA.  HE ALSO FAULTED THE COMMISSION 
FOR ITS FAILURE TO INCLUDE A EUROPEAN HISTORIAN, GIVEN THAT 
THE HOLOCAUST WAS FUNDAMENTALLY A EUROPEAN AFFAIR. KASPAR 
DISAVOWED ANY BLAME FOR THE BREAKDOWN, BUT EMPHASIZED THE 
COMMISSION WAS FRAGILE FROM THE START.  KASPAR HAS SINCE 
SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH A NEW COMMISSION THAT WOULD PROCEED ON AN 
ACADEMIC PLANE, AS A COOPERATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN TEL AVIV AND 
FRANKFURT UNIVERSITIES, IN PLACE OF THE PREVIOUS 
VATICAN-WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS DRIVEN COMMISSION.  HIS PROJECT 
FOUNDERED, ACCORDING TO KASPAR, WHEN TEL AVIV SOUGHT NEW 
CONDITIONS BEYOND KASPAR'S AUTHORIZATION, MOST NOTABLY THE 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
PAGE 04        VATICA  02229  01 OF 02  081737Z 
INCLUSION OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, ALLEGEDLY DUE TO PRESSURE 
BY TEL AVIV'S U.S. FINANCIAL BACKERS. 
 
5. (C) BOTH KASPAR AND MIGLIORE DECRIED THE APRIL 21 
ELECTORAL SUCCESS OF FRENCH NATIONAL LEADER JEAN-MARIE LE 
PEN, A REPUTED ANTI-SEMITE. KASPAR, IN PARTICULAR, REPEATEDLY 
DECLARED HIS REVULSION, AND DELIVERED AN IMPASSIONED 
DENUNCIATION OF ANTI-SEMITISM, IN WHICH HE REITERATED THE 
CENTRALITY OF JUDAISM TO CHRISTIANITY  -- "OUR ELDER BROTHER 
IN THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM" IN THE WORDS OF JOHN PAUL II -- AND 
OF JUDAISM TO EUROPEAN CULTURE. "WITHOUT JUDAISM YOU CANNOT 
EVEN SPEAK OF CULTURE IN BERLIN AND VIENNA," KASPAR REMARKED, 
ADDED THAT IN HIS YOUTH HE HIMSELF HAD BEEN ABSORBED BY THE 
THOUGHT OF JEWISH PHILOSOPHER MARTIN BUBER. 
 
6. (C)  MIGLIORE LINKED RESURGENT EUROPEAN ANTI-SEMITISM TO 
FALLOUT FROM DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, A VIEW KASPAR 
SHARED IN PRINCIPLE, ALTHOUGH THE CARDINAL TOOK EXPLICIT CARE 
TO CONDEMN PALESTINIAN HOMICIDAL BOMBERS AS WELL AS ISRAELI 
ACTIONS IN BETHLEHEM. 
 
7. (C) COMMENT: DFM MIGLIORE'S REMARKS REVEAL THAT THE 
VATICAN MFA NOW VIEWS THE ARCHIVAL DISPUTE AS A QUESTION OF 
SECONDARY IMPORTANCE, A NUISANCE THAT PALES IN RELATION TO 
 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
                           CONFIDENTIAL     PTQ0439 
 
PAGE 01        VATICA  02229  02 OF 02  081738Z 
ACTION EUR-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   COR-01   NP-00    AMAD-00  ACQ-00   CIAE-00  DODE-00 
      PERC-00  DS-00    VC-00    TEDE-00  INR-00   VCE-00   NSAE-00 
      CAEX-01  SSO-00   SS-00    EPAE-00  DSCC-00  LBA-00   DRL-02 
      SAS-00     /004W 
                  ------------------ABCD2C  081739Z /38 
O 081227Z MAY 02 
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE 
EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE 
 
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 VATICAN 002229 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (SUBJECT) 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), EUR/OHI (AMBASSADOR BINDENAGEL) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2012 
TAGS: FR, GM, IT, KNAR, PHUM, PREL, SOCI, VT 
SUBJECT: HOLOCAUST ENVOY'S VATICAN FAREWELL CALL 
 
ENDURING CONCERNS ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT. CARDINAL 
KASPAR, ON THE OTHER HAND, SEEMED MORE AT EASE WITH THE 
SUBJECT, WHICH HE VIEWS IN THE CONTEXT OF A COMMITMENT TO 
JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RECONCILIATION.  KASPAR BELIEVES THE VATICAN 
HAS TAKEN IMPORTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE STEPS FORWARD TO DEFUSE 
THE ARCHIVAL DISPUTE, YET HE IS EVIDENTLY DISAPPOINTED AT THE 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
PAGE 02        VATICA  02229  02 OF 02  081738Z 
PERCEIVED LACK OF RECIPROCAL GESTURES; HE APPEALED 
CONTINUALLY FOR THE NEED FOR MUTUAL TRUST IN ORDER TO ADVANCE 
FURTHER.  KASPAR, WHO BRIEFLY TAUGHT IN THE U.S. AS A GUEST 
PROFESSOR, WAS PLEASED TO LEARN MORE OF USG INITIATIVES, 
PARTICULARLY ON HOLOCAUST COMPENSATION; THE CHANCE TO 
CONVERSE IN HIS NATIVE GERMAN ALSO APPEARED TO ELICIT A MORE 
AMIABLE ATTITUDE REGARDING A TOPIC THAT GENERALLY HAS THE 
VATICAN IMMEDIATELY ON THE DEFENSIVE. 
 
8.  (U) AMBASSADOR BINDENAGEL HAS CLEARED THIS CABLE. 
NICHOLSON 
 
                       CONFIDENTIAL 
 
> 
 

 2002VATICA02229 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL