The commission, which includes three Jewish and three Catholic academics, was jointly established last fall by the Vatican and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, or the IJCIC.
Its mandate was to review the 11 volumes of World War II archives published by the Vatican between 1965 and 1981 in order to make clear the role of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust.
The commission was authorized to raise questions or issues not resolved by this published documentation and to request further clarification that could draw on unpublished material from secret Vatican archives.
Early in their work, all six scholars concluded that the full Vatican archives from the period should be opened. Jewish organizations have long pressed for this against deep-seated Vatican reluctance.
A statement issued following the first meeting of the joint commission in December called for “full access” to archival information.
“The commitment to opening the archives is an overriding objective,” said Seymour Reich, the IJCIC chairman.
Reich said “ambiguities, questions and gaps” emerged in the initial review of all 11 published Vatican volumes.
He did not provide specific examples, but sources said it appears that some of the questions relate to the Vatican’s silence in the face of the Nazi persecution of priests and other Catholics as well as of Jews.
These issues will be addressed in a report to be presented at the group’s next meeting, slated for July in Baltimore.
“Collaborating as Catholic and Jewish scholars on a difficult and controversial subject, we are confident that our work will contribute to a deeper understanding of this painful subject,” the team’s statement said.