Speaking at a symposium devoted to studying Pope Pius XII, Pope Benedict took the opportunity to defend Pius XII's record during World War II, a subject of fierce debate. Critics contend that Pius XII was silent in the face on Nazi atrocities and was at best indifferent to the suffering of the Jews. His defenders point out that Pope Pius worked behind the scenes to save many Italian Jews from deportation to death camps and that while he public words carefully for fear of exacerbating the persecution of Catholics and Jews, he nevertheless had the Nazi's convinced that he was denouncing them.
I love the fact that Pope Benedict himself has now spoken publicly and firmly in defense of his predeccessor. Here is Vatican Information Service's summary of the address, the full text of which, courtesy of VIS, is below the fold: