Pius XII Sculpture. Photo: Joseolgon.

The row over the possible canonisation of wartime Pope Pius XII was heightened this week after the current Pope blessed a bronze bust of the controversial Pontiff and welcomed a prominent nun and supporter of his promotion to sainthood.  The bust of Pius XII, who is accused of not speaking out against Nazism, will be placed in a garden in Rome. The Catholic Church claims that Pius XII, who was Pope between 1939 and 1958, saved a large number of Jews and only kept silent to prevent an aggravation of the situation. Closing his weekly audience in the Vatican, the current Pope welcomed Margherita Marchione, a nun living in the US, who wrote the former Pope’s biography and supports his canonization. The Vatican moved closer to making Pius XII a saint by bestowing the title “venerable” on him in December, a move that provoked Jewish anger.