June 8


VATICAN CITY:

Vatican to Release WWII POW Information


The Vatican is releasing more than 2 million files on prisoners of war
and other missing persons from its secret archives, part of efforts to
emphasize the humanitarian aspects of the World War II papacy of Pope
Pius XII, officials announced Tuesday.

The Vatican said the documentation was ``testimony to the ample charitable
and social work inspired by principles of universality and impartiality''
during Pius' pontificate.

For years, the Vatican has struggled to defend its wartime pope against
claims he didn't do enough to save Jews from the Holocaust.

Last year, the Vatican began making available to scholars millions of
Vatican documents from the years leading up to World War II, making them
available ahead of schedule at the request of Pope John Paul II.

The prisoner files date from 1939-1946, covering inquiries from across
Europe on the fate of servicemen from the various armies that fought in
the war and other missing persons. The Vatican set up offices during World
War II to help relatives trace family members.

The information will be contained in a two-volume work that will be
available for $90.

In addition, there are eight DVDs containing the image of the original
files in the archives and the names of 2.1 million prisoners about whom
information had been requested. A DVD kit will be sold for $490.

(source: Associated Press)