Jesuits to open archive on Pius XII

VATICAN CITY, April 23 (UPI) -- The Jesuit order has decided to release documents assembled by the Rev. Robert Graham, a historian and expert on the Vatican during World War II, officials say.

The Pave the Way Foundation, an inter-religious organization, is to be allowed to study the papers, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Graham's papers could provide more information on the role Pope Pius XII played during the war. The debate has become urgent because the pope is a candidate for sainthood.

Pius was praised in the years after the war by many Jewish leaders who believed he had done his best to save Jews from the Nazis. More recently, he has been criticized for failing to denounce the Holocaust openly.

The pope's defenders argue that he believed he could save more people by working behind the scenes.

Graham, who died in 1997, was considered the top Vatican expert on Pius' wartime work.