Not surprisingly, there are strong comments from those who support the canonization of Pope Pius XII and those who oppose it. Some Catholics and some Jews support it while some obviously do not. I have always wondered why those who are not Christian or Christian-minded care whether someone is a Saint or not - after all, they don't believe in this - why do they care? But maybe that is beside the point...

Not surprisingly, some members of the Israeli government are sceptical, including Isaac Herzog, the social affairs minister.

He accused Pius of having kept silent during the war. "Throughout the period of the Holocaust, the Vatican knew very well what was happening in Europe," Herzog told the paper. "Yet there is no evidence of any step being taken by the pope, as the stature of the Holy See should have mandated ... Instead of acting according to the biblical verse 'thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour' the pope kept silent - and perhaps even worse."

Typical words from the social minister. As for evidence of the Pope's actions, there are plenty around. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I would like to add that it's not like I don't care about the millions of victims of the Nazi regime (be they Christian, Jewish or otherwise), although admittedly there is nothing I can do for them materially - but since some in the Israeli government are so critical of Pope Pius XII's conduct during the war and apparently so concerned for the Holocaust victims, I wonder how well the survivors are being cared for.

Interesting, don't you think? Don't you wonder how well they are doing now?