Catholic-Jewish research backs reports Catholic convents sheltered 3,000-plus Roman Jews during WWII

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Researchers have discovered new documentation that substantiates reports that Catholic convents and monasteries in Rome sheltered Jews during World War II. Researchers from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust research institute and Rome’s Jewish community released the findings at an academic conference Thursday held at the Museum of the Shoah, which is part of Rome’s main synagogue. The documentation provides names of at least 3,200 Jews whose identities have been corroborated by the city’s Jewish community. It doesn’t appear to shed any new light on the disputed role of Pope Pius XII during the Nazi occupation of Rome.