The Roman Catholic church can't find a politically correct Pius. Since the 1960s, it has synchronized the canonization process of liberal hero Pope John XXIII and conservative favorite Pius XII, but recently Pius' "cause" has stalled. The Vatican won't say why, but Jewish groups' critiques of the Holocaust-era Pope may have played a role.
If so, the church has chosen an odd replacement. On Sept. 3, along with John, it plans to beatify Pope PIUS IX. The earlier Pius had the longest reign in history (1846-78), but he plagued Rome's Jews, repealing civil rights and forcing them back into the ghetto....
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