Vatican to decide on Nazi-era pope

By Phil Stewart

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict must be left alone to decide on whether to promote a controversial Nazi-era pontiff towards sainthood, the Vatican said on Friday, rejecting apparent pressure from within the Church to move ahead.

Pope Pius XII has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust during World War Two, a charge his supporters and the Vatican deny.

The Vatican issued an unusually strong statement hours after Italian media quoted Rev. Peter Gumpel, the chief Vatican judge investigating Pius' sainthood cause, as suggesting Benedict had not yet acted out of fear it would harm relations with Jews.

The Vatican, citing news reports, said the Pope's decision on whether to sign beatification decrees "is the exclusive competence of the Pope, who should be left completely free in his evaluations and decisions".

"If the Pope thinks that study and reflection on Pius XII's cause should be further extended, his position must be respected without interference or unjustified and inopportune declarations," the Vatican's press office said.

Some say Pius did not do enough to save Jews. The Vatican and his Jewish defenders say he worked behind the scenes to help because direct intervention would have worsened the situation.

"HEROIC VIRTUES"

The Vatican's saint-making department in 2007 voted in favour of a decree recognising Pius' "heroic virtues", a step in a long process towards possible sainthood that began in 1967.