Benedict defends Pius XII

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI defended Pius XII's wartime actions during a mass Thursday on the 50th anniversary of his predecessor's death.

Pius has been attacked for refusing to criticize the Nazi regime in Germany and its treatment of Jews. Benedict said that Pius saved "the largest possible number of Jews" by avoiding an open confrontation, ANSA, the Italian news agency, reported.

Benedict spoke at a mass attended by 275 bishops attending a conference at the Vatican.

The Vatican department in charge of canonization recognized Pius's "heroic virtues" in May. Benedict hasn't signed the decree and didn't say during the mass when he would, although he said he prays that Pius's canonization process "continues happily."

David Dalin, a U.S. rabbi, said recently that immediately after the war Pius was honored by prominent Jews, including future Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and Albert Einstein. His reputation began to fall in 1963 when Rolf Hochhuth, a German playwright, produced "The Deputy," an attack on the Vatican's wartime policy, ANSA said.