HOLOCAUST ENVOY'S VATICAN FAREWELL CALL

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
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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
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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
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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 GM IT KNAR PHUM PREL SOCI VT VTFR
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
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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

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2002VATICA02229 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL