Belated announcement on Blessed Gojdic

Jerusalem, Jan. 29, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem has accorded the title of "Righteous among the Nations" to Blessed Pavol Gojdic, A Byzantine bishop who served in Slovakia from 1926 to 1960.

The rabbi of Kosice, Slovakia, Jossi Steiner, and a Jewish woman whose life was saved by Bishop Gojdic initiated the process to grant the honorary title to the Catholic prelate, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

The honor granted to Bishop Gojdic, who suffered imprisonment under the Communist regime, has special significance as Jewish people have sometimes accused Catholics in Slovakia of actively assisting the Holocaust.