Young street doctor defies virus to help Belarus homeless

Yahoo – AFP, Alexander Grebenkin, May 3, 2020

Since the onset of the coronavirus a project providing free health care to the needy
and homeless in Belarus has seen a spike in demand (AFP Photo/Sergei GAPON)

Minsk (AFP) - For the past year-and-a-half medical student Karina Radchenko has provided free health care to the homeless in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak she has seen a spike in the number of people needing her help.

Many people who were eking out a living in the ex-Soviet country before the epidemic can no longer afford to purchase medicines or go to a doctor, said Radchenko.

Together with those sleeping rough on the streets some of them come to see her.

"They are now forced to ask for help together with the homeless because there's nowhere else they can get it," Radchenko told AFP during one of her street rounds.

The 28-year-old is the founder of "Street Medicine," the country's first volunteer project to treat the homeless and needy.

Pensioner Tatyana, who declined to give her last name, said she comes to see the volunteers "sometimes" -- when she runs out of money.

On a recent afternoon Radchenko distributed nonprescription medicines to her patients with the help of several fellow volunteers in a small park.

She and her assistants wore visors and gloves to protect themselves against the infections.

An elderly woman turned up to have her blood pressure checked.

Another elderly woman received a surgical mask.

A 30-year-old ex-convict had his temperature taken.

Yury praised the volunteers for giving out medicines and masks.

"There are many fatalities. People should not be dying," he said, declining to give his last name.

Radchenko's team does not have testing kits to screen people for the coronavirus so all they can do is to watch out for the disease's telltale symptoms.

"We pay special attention to people with signs of a respiratory infection," she said.

Belarus, which has a population of more than nine million people, has reported more than 16,700 coronavirus cases overtaking neighboring EU member Poland and ex-Soviet Ukraine.

Ninety-nine people have died so far.

The ex-Soviet country remains one of the few nations that did not impose lockdown measures.

Its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the contagion as a "psychosis" and plans to stage a military parade to mark victory over Nazi Germany next week.

'At our own risk'

Radchenko, who is a fifth year medical student, said the country's most vulnerable people -- who face a higher risk of being infected and then infecting others -- were not getting enough help.

Organisations providing care for the homeless were either closing doors or reducing working hours over coronavirus fears.

Radchenko, who was inspired by projects like the US-based Street Medicine Institute, started out on her own in late 2018.

The one-woman mission gradually grew, and now the team includes 25 volunteers including around seven doctors, all of them practising physicians except her.

Since the start of the project, they have cared for more than 200 patients.

Twice a week they hit the streets to seek out the homeless. But Radchenko does not know how long they will be able to continue. The state does not help, and donations are small.

There is also no law regulating their work.

"We operate at our own risk," Radchenko said..

Open-air classes for Denmark's students

Yahoo – AFP, April 29, 2020

Teacher Marie Kaas-Larsen speaks with her pupils of the Norrebro Park primary
school outside in a nearby park in Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP Photo/Thibault Savary)

Copenhagen (AFP) - With ancient gods and Danish on the lesson plan, Marie Kaas-Larsen taught her 10 fourth graders in a central Copenhagen park on Wednesday, braving the cold as part of new coronavirus protocols.

Denmark was the first country in Europe to reopen its schools for the youngest pupils on April 15.

In addition to practising social distancing and regular handwashing, classes must be held outdoors as much as possible to limit the spread of the virus.

"It's very different from how we usually work," the 32-year-old teacher told AFP.

"I'm not afraid that kids are not learning enough. I think that they learn a lot by having this kind of school," she said.

Seated in a circle around her, the children, aged 10 and 11, listened eagerly to the adventures of Neptune before doing some gym exercises to keep warm.

Pupils of the Norrebro Park primary school have lessons outside in a nearby 

park in Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP Photo/Thibault Savary)

At the Norrebro Park Skole in central Copenhagen, 450 primary school students -- six grades between the ages of six and 11 -- resumed classes two weeks ago after a five-week closure.

Middle school and high school students could return to their desks on May 11 but no official plan has been announced for them yet.

At Norrebro Park Skole, students' morning arrivals are staggered to ensure that hallways and stairways are not overcrowded.

And before entering their classrooms, students have to wash their hands.

"I think almost all of them go directly to wash their hands without us even telling them to do it," Kaas-Larsen said.

The students are happy about the way things are going.

A sign informs the public they not welcome in the park as pupils of the Norrebro 

Park primary school spead time outside for lessons in Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP 

Photo/Thibault Savary)

"I like how we wash our hands and everything, because it's to protect us," said one student named Siham.

Social distancing is the hardest part for the children, and even for teachers who have to be careful to not get too close to the students, the teacher said.

The class has been divided in two, and while the kids are happy to be back together, some wish there could be more mixing of the groups.

In one huddle of friends, there are murmurings of an upcoming pyjama party. "Are you sure we're allowed?" asked one child.

In Denmark, gatherings are restricted to a maximum of 10 people, but smaller groups are allowed to get together.

The country on Wednesday confirmed 9,206 cases of the virus and 443 deaths, as Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it had the spread "under control".

French and German ambassadors urge Dutch to support the EU

DutchNews, April 16, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Algemeen Dagblad on Thursday published an open letter from the French and German ambassadors to the Netherlands, calling on the Dutch to help preserve the unity of the European Union. 

In the letter, French ambassador Luis Vassy and German ambassador Dirk Brengelmann slate attempts to make European governments’ reactions to the coronavirus crisis look ‘weak and disorganised’, which they say is an attack on democratic values. 

The letter, headed ‘Dear Nederlanders, dear friends’, warned of ‘eurosceptics’ in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe who are taking advantage of the ‘worst crisis since the World War II’ to point to the EU’s ‘shortcomings’. 

The letter does not identify who these eurosceptics are, but some political parties in the Netherlands, such as PVV and Forum voor Democratie have long campaigned for the Netherlands to quit the European Union. 

Instead of criticising the EU, the ambassadors ask their ‘dear Dutch friends’ to consider the importance of shared values, particularly the democratic values of transparency, responsibility and debate. 

Science 

The ambassadors point out that in Europe ‘whistleblowers are not silenced and scientists are listened to’. This reaction to the crisis, the letter went on to say, is ‘now being painted by propagandists as weak and disorganised in an attempt to create discord and weaken people’s faith in our democratic system’. 

The ambassadors also stressed the need for solidarity, citing the €37bn funding package which was finally hammered out between the member states last week. 

However, Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra and prime minister Mark Rutte were both heavily criticised for showing a lack of solidarity to fellow EU countries who are struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Post coronavirus 

The Netherlands will also have an important role to play in a post coronavirus Europe, the ambassadors said, pointing out that a number of things will have to change in case Europe is faced with a similar challenge in the future. 

The production of strategic goods, such as medical equipment, will have to take place in Europe while the Dutch will also have to contribute to issues related to climate, the digital economy and the management of big data. These, they said, are ‘fields in which none of the  European countries have the means to become the dominate player’. 

According to the AD the message is part of a trend for ambassadors to make their opinions known to the public. DutchNews.nl has asked the French embassy for a comment.

Coronavirus: EU calls for coordinated exit plan

DW, 15 April 2020 

The Commission wants member states to collaborate on easing coronavirus restrictions. But with disparate national responses to COVID-19, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Bernd Riegert reports from Brussels.

Ursula von der Leyen (Reuters/J.Geron)

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is unveiling on Wednesday her road map for lifting coronavirus restrictions across the bloc. In a 14-page document laying out her ideas, von der Leyen says that "although it is clear that the path back to normalcy will take a long time, it is also obvious that we cannot maintain these extraordinary restrictions indefinitely."

She says lockdowns across the continent had proven effective, yet also precipitated a tremendous economic shock and placed a heavy burden on public life. EU officials estimate that the eurozone economy could shrink by 10 percent this year — a drop in economic productivity not seen since the global economic crisis of the 1920s.

Austria has begun lifting restrictions, but people must contineu to wear masks
in public

Avoiding tensions between member states

Ursula von der Leyen urges all 27 EU member states to coordinate their lifting of restrictions and to continue coordinating their approach to tackling the pandemic going forward. She warns that "insufficient coordination in the lifting of restrictions poses the risk of creating negative effects for all member states and most likely increases tensions between them." She admits there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but that member states should strive to inform each other of steps taken.

At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, various EU members states had closed their borders, or imposed travel restrictions, without giving each other advance warning. Ursula von der Leyen now hopes that the re-opening of borders over the coming weeks and months will happen in a more systematic fashion.

Sweden has thus far avoided implementing restrictive measures, even as deaths from
coronavirus have risen, meaning these Stockholm bargoers can enjoy beers out — for now

Infections could surge again

The EU Commission says three conditions must be met for coronavirus restrictions to be eased. Brussels says that curfews could be lifted once national health care systems are no longer under such extreme strain, once infections rates have dropped off, and once particularly vulnerable groups are able to be provided with extra protection. Brussels does not, however, propose a specific time plan for this.

The paper recognizes that this is fraught with danger: "It is certain that such a gradual lifting of restrictions will lead to new infections." This is why, it states, developments must be closely monitored and new, possibly even more draconian measures will have to be imposed. Von der Leyen writes that "we will have to live with the virus until a vaccine has been developed."

Member states are autonomous actors

Some EU states, like Austria and Denmark, have already announced plans to lift some restrictions on daily life. Countries like France and Spain, meanwhile, are keeping strict measures in place.

France will remain in a lockdown until May 11

And while some states have isolated themselves, others are still permitting international flights to operate. Roughly half of all member states have declared a state of emergency, whereas Sweden, in contrast, has kept restrictions to a bare minimum. In Germany, meanwhile, there is no universal approach among its 16 federal states to fighting the virus outbreak. In the state of Bavaria, for instance, all DIY stores have been closed to help contain the virus, while in neighboring Baden-Württemberg they're free to stay open.

Revised with caution

The bloc's heads of the states and governments had prompted Ursula von der Leyen to draw up an exit strategy for the bloc. She had been ready to unveil her road map last week, yet was called back by concerned governments demanding she revise the paper.

The amended paper now has a more cautious wording, and makes suggestions, instead of demands. It appeals to all states to gradually reactivate the common market and ease travel restrictions. EU members states, meanwhile, are still to reign supreme with regard to managing public health and disease control.

EU plans economic stimulus package

At the end of the document, Ursula von der Leyen pledges to draw up a plan to kick start the bloc's economy, which was been hit hard by the coronavirus. She says demand and production must be stimulated, and taxes possibly lowered. The paper states that "the Commission will develop a recovery strategy that builds on a new medium-term budget plan, and a reworked 2020 action plan."

Next week, the EU's heads of state and government will discuss the possibility of creating a European "Marshall Plan" to stimulate the bloc's economy recovery. Commission President von der Leyen plans to pump hundreds of billions of euros into into the recovery effort.

Millions watch Andrea Bocelli sing in empty Milan cathedral

Yahoo – AFP, April 13, 2020

The video of Andrea Bocelli performing a solo Easter concert from an empty
cathedral in Milan has been viewed millions of times (AFP Photo/Piero Cruciatti)

Milan (AFP) - Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performed a solo Easter concert from an empty Milan Cathedral streamed live to millions of people around the world in coronavirus lockdown.

The "Music for Hope" performance, which was streamed on YouTube from Milan's Duomo cathedral, has been watched more than 22 million times so far.

Accompanied by an organist, Bocelli sang four songs inside the magnificent Gothic building and ended with a rendition of "Amazing Grace" from the cathedral steps with a montage of images showing the empty streets of Paris, London and New York.

"On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I'm honoured and happy to answer 'Si' to the invitation of the City and the Duomo of Milan," the visually impaired star said in a message played before the short concert.

"Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth's pulsing heart," he said.

The Lombardy region, of which Milan is the capital, has been the hardest hit in Italy's coronavirus crisis, with more than 9,000 deaths.

"Andrea Bocelli is a true gift from God. This was beautiful and just what I needed to see and feel right now. Thank you Mr. Bocelli for sharing your gift of your voice and music with us," wrote YouTube viewer Peggy Young.

Churches in Italy remain closed and even prayers given by Pope Francis on Easter Sunday were livestreamed.

Dublin deserted as coronavirus dampens St. Patrick's Day

Yahoo – AFP, Joe STENSON, March 17, 2020

St Patrick's Day celebrations were cancelled over the virus (AFP Photo/Paul Faith)

Dublin (AFP) - Pubs were shuttered and pints left unpoured on St. Patrick's Day in Dublin Tuesday, as the Irish capital swapped its annual riot of celebration for "social distancing" designed to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The cobbled streets of Temple Bar -- usually the epicentre of celebrations -- were deserted.

"This place would be just swarming with people, the whole town would be," said Dubliner Anthony Whyte.

"It's like a ghost town. It's like armageddon," the 49-year-old told AFP.

Last week, Ireland's government cancelled St Patrick's parades nationwide, asked pubs to close and curbed gatherings of more than 100 individuals until March 29.

"Social distancing" -- remaining apart from others in public -- has also been strongly advised.

"On a day like St. Patrick's Day, you can really feel it," said Justin Sinnott, 44, strolling through abandoned streets with his young son on his shoulders.

Two people have died from coronavirus in Ireland, which has 223 confirmed cases so far.

Prime minister Leo Varadkar said he expected 15,000 cases in the country by the end of March.

Lost jobs

In central Dublin, St Patrick's Day decorations featuring brimming pints of Guinness, leprechauns and pots of gold found no customers to tempt.

In one open corner shop, staff wore face masks.

"Coronavirus/COVID-19 -- we are closed. Government + HSE (health service) advice," read a handwritten sign on one of the area's most popular drinking spots.

While most Irish citizens have lost a night on the town, others have felt the blow more dearly.

State broadcaster RTE estimated 140,000 hospitality and childcare workers have been laid off over government coronavirus measures.

"We're preparing for the worst," said tourism transport worker John Gately, cycling through central Dublin wearing protective blue rubber gloves.

The 30-year-old has not yet joined those laid off as a result of the coronavirus.

"It's a case of just battening down the hatches and trying to recover," he said. "This is totally unprecedented in my lifetime.

"I'm kind of fascinated and terrified at the same time -- it's like being in a horror movie and we're just waiting to see what happens next week."

Tourist attraction

Last year an estimated 500,000 people attended Dublin's St Patrick's festival. Irish media reported around 100,000 attendees were overseas visitors.

But with pubs closed and various foreign governments banning flights from European nations, many tourists had already begun to filter home.

Some US travellers had brought forward their flights home before Washington's travel ban on European countries was extended to include Ireland and the UK from 0400 GMT Tuesday.

"It just escalated so quickly in the last several days," Travis Mino told AFP at Dublin Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Washington.

Others were determined to soldier on with efforts to celebrate Ireland's patron saint on Tuesday.

"Strange times," said cheerful Russian tourist Aleksei Vishtibeev, sporting a shamrock green novelty leprechaun hat and a fake ginger beard.

"No parade, no holiday. But a holiday is in the head and in the heart, not only in the street."

"I'm ready and going on my single parade," the 45-year old said before setting off on a solo route around the eerie streets of the capital.

Spanish king distances himself from scandal-hit father

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2020

Juan Carlos handed over power to his son, Felipe in 2014 (AFP Photo/Juanjo Martín)

Madrid (AFP) - King Felipe VI of Spain moved Sunday to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Reported Saudi payments to ex-king

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, $65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

Netherlands cuts pope flower display over coronavirus

Yahoo – AFP, March 11, 2020

For the past 35 years, Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican has been decked out
with tulips, daffodils, roses or orchids donated by the Netherlands (AFP Photo/
Vincenzo PINTO)

The Hague (AFP) - The Netherlands will this year break a long tradition of supplying the flowers for the pope's Easter address because of the coronavirus outbreak, if it goes ahead at all, organisers said Wednesday.

For the past 35 years, Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican has been decked out with tulips, daffodils, roses or orchids donated by the Netherlands, one of the world's biggest hubs for cut flowers.

"The developments around coronavirus in Italy are very serious. In consultation with all concerned parties, it has been decided to cancel the floral decorations for Saint Peter's Square this year," Paul Deckers, the florist in charge of the project, said on Twitter.

Last year, the Easter Sunday address by Pope Francis drew some 70,000 people to the Vatican, which is in the centre of the Italian capital Rome.

However, Italy is now under national lockdown after becoming the epicentre of the European virus outbreak with 631 deaths so far.

"It's the first time we haven't done it," Deckers told NOS public radio, adding that it was possible the address could be cancelled altogether.

Greta Thunberg tells EU to stop 'pretending' on climate

Yahoo – AFP, March 4, 2020

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU
was hoping its climate plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has
ever faced" (AFP Photo/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD)

Brussels (AFP) - Teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg branded the EU's grand plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 inadequate on Wednesday and said Europe is falsely claiming to lead the world on climate.

The European Union must stop "pretending that you can be a climate leader and still go on building and subsidising new fossil fuel infrastructure," the Swedish activist told a committee hearing at the European Parliament.

Thunberg was addressing MEPs as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new draft law that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight climate change.

The 17-year-old said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU was hoping its plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C) announced a new draft law 

that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight 

climate change (AFP Photo/JOHN THYS)

"This must come to an end," she said.

Earlier, Thunberg had been a guest at a meeting of top EU officials that approved a proposal to enshrine into law the EU's ambition of net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.

This would bind the EU's 27 member states to balance polluting emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases -- such as by using carbon capture technology or reforestation -- within the next 30 years.

The law, once ratified, would also give the EU executive new powers to impose emission targets on member state governments.

"When your house is on fire, you don't wait a few more years to start putting it out," said Thunberg.

"When the EU presents this climate law and net zero by 2050 you indirectly admit surrender, that you are giving up," she said.

Germany's under-fire Catholic Church seeks new leader

Yahoo – AFP, Isabelle LE PAGE, March 2, 2020

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, says he will not seek another term
as head of the German Bishops' Conference (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Berlin (AFP) - German bishops began key talks on Monday to choose a new leader to steer the country's Catholic Church through a controversial reforms process and settle compensation demands from sexual abuse victims.

The four-day episcopal gathering in the western city of Mainz comes at a time of fierce debate about how to modernise Germany's Catholic Church, pitting conservative bishops against more progressive ones.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a driving force behind efforts to renew the under-fire Church, last month unexpectedly announced he would not seek another six-year term as head of the German Bishops' Conference, saying he was too old at 66.

The several dozen bishops attending the annual general assembly will choose his successor in a secret vote on Tuesday, although no clear frontrunner has emerged.

Besides confronting calls to relax the rules on priestly celibacy and the roles of women in the clergy, the new chairman will have to deal with the Church's sexual abuse baggage.

Stephan Ackermann, the bishop charged with addressing the historic child abuse scandal, recently said he expected a decision "in the coming months" about financial compensation for survivors.

In his opening address in Mainz, Marx said he saw an opportunity for "a very concrete proposal" to be put forward at the Bishops' Conference.

'Damage done'

More than a decade after the first abuse revelations emerged in Germany, victims are losing patience.

"There's no reason to wait any longer," the Eckiger Tisch victims' group said, calling for a resolution this year.

The group has proposed a one-off sum of around 300,000 euros ($330,000) per person, or the creation of a fund paid for by the Church but run by independent overseers.

Franz-Josef Overbeck, Bishop of Essen, is seen as a potential successor to take 

over from Reinhard Marx (AFP Photo/FRIEDRICH STARK)

Several high-ranking Church officials have rejected the proposals as too costly.

A study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference and released in 2018 showed that 1,670 clergymen had committed some form of sexual attack against 3,677 minors, mostly boys, between 1946 and 2014.

The revelations, which mirror paedophile scandals in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, prompted Cardinal Marx to apologise on behalf of the German Catholic Church.

The Church currently pays victims an average sum of 5,000 euros "in recognition of their suffering", as well as covering their therapy fees.

"It's not about recognition. It's about compensation for the damage that's been done to the lives of thousands of people," said Matthias Katsch from Eckiger Tisch.

Celibacy, women

At 23 million followers, the Catholic Church remains Germany's biggest religious community. But its pews are increasingly empty on Sundays and it struggles to recruit new priests.

Hoping to renew itself and regain the public's trust, the German Church recently embarked on two years of discussions tackling the institution's most controversial themes, including the child abuse crisis.

The project, known as the synodal path, will also debate whether to end celibacy and allow priests to marry, and whether women should be ordained.

Traditionalists within the Church have already voiced opposition to such changes, chief among them the influential Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne.

Critics of the reform push also say such decisions should come from the Vatican, and not from Catholic leaders in Germany.

Pope Francis last month disappointed progressives by rejecting a proposal to allow married men to become priests in remote Amazon regions, a plan meant to counter a shortage of clerics.

He also stopped short of allowing women to be ordained as deacons in the region.

Representatives from Catholic women's associations presented the bishops in Mainz on Monday with a petition calling for more gender equality in the clergy, signed by 130,000 supporters.

"We're not trying to divide the Church. We are the core of the Church," said Mechthild Heil of the Catholic Women's Association of Germany (KFD).

One of the candidates tipped as the next leader of Germany's Catholics, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, urged the 2,000-year-old Church in a recent sermon to choose "a fresh start".

The limitations placed on women in the Church are "increasingly unacceptable" to many people, he warned, while "quite a few priests" find celibacy "a heavy burden".

Vatican opens archives on history's most controversial pope

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, March 1, 2020

The mountain of documents took 14 years for Holy See archivists to prepare
for release (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Vatican City (AFP) - The Vatican unseals the archives of history's most contentious popes on Monday, potentially shedding light on why Pius XII stayed silent during the extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Two hundred researchers have already requested access to the mountain of documents, made available after an inventory that took more than 14 years for Holy See archivists to complete.

Award-winning German religious historian Hubert Wolf will be in Rome on Monday, armed with six assistants and two years of funding to start exploring documents from the "private secretariat" of the late pope.

Wolf, a specialist on the relationship of Pius XII with the Nazis, is anxious to discover the notes of the his 70 ambassadors -- the pontiff's eyes and ears during his time as head of the Catholic Church between 1939 and his death in 1958.

There should also be records of urgent appeals for help from Jewish organisations, as well as his communications with the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The unsealed archives additionally cover a post-World War II era in which writers were censored and some priests hounded for suspected communist sympathies.

The Vatican first published the essentials covering the Holocaust four decades ago, an 11 volume work compiled by Jesuits.

But some crucial pieces are still missing, including the pope's replies to notes and letters -- for example, those about Nazi horrors.

The entrance of the Vatican Apostolic Secret Archive (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

The Jesuits already published "documents the pope received about the concentration camps, but we never got to see his replies," Wolf said in an interview.

"Either they do not exist, or they are in the Vatican," he told AFP.

Historians have already examined the 12 German years of Eugenio Pacelli, the future pope's real name which he used while posted there as the Holy See ambassador in 1917-1929

There, he witnessed the rise of Nazism, then returned to Rome to become the right-hand man of his predecessor Pius XI, elected in 1922.

Past archives have revealed exchanges in which he was alerted about the extermination of European Jews once he himself became the pope.

"There is no doubt that the pope was aware of the murder of Jews," Wolf said.

"What really interests us is when he learned about it for the first time, and when he believed that information."

Cryptic Christmas message

On December 24, 1942, Pius XII delivered one of history's most debated Christmas radio messages.

Buried in its long text was a reference to "hundreds of thousands of people who, without any fault of their own and sometimes for the sole reason of their nationality or race, were doomed to death or gradual extermination".

Experts expect to see records of urgent appeals for help from Jewish 

organisations in the files (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Was his message -- delivered in Italian and aired just once, and which never explicitly mentioned either the Jews or Nazis -- heard and understood by German Catholics?

"The only ones who heard it were the Nazis," said Wolf, noting that the radio waves were scrambled and that the pope could have spoken German -- if he had really wanted to reach the German faithful.

"After the war, Pius XII told a British ambassador: 'I was very clear.' And the ambassador will say in reply: 'I did not understand you'," the historian said.

Those who rise to the pope's defence note that Pius XII was a former diplomat who was trained in prudence, anxious to remain neutral in time of war, and concerned about being able to shield Catholics from the unfolding devastation.

He simply could not be any more explicit, Pius XII's supporters say. Historians estimate the Church hid around 4,000 Jews in its Roman institutions during the war.

"Quite a few Jews were saved in convents," David Kertzer, an American historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for a book about the era, told AFP.

"But why were they murdered by people viewing themselves as Christians?"

For Kertzer, the reasons behind the "silence of the pope" are key.

"He wasn't happy about mass murder. He seemed upset. He knew by 1941," said Kertzer.

And yet "never uttered the word Jew".

Wolf, the German historian, added that Pius XII "remained very withdrawn after the war, saying nothing about the Holocaust".

He also never recognised the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

"Why?" Wolf asks.