Church officials' however remain skeptical.

Maria Esposito was ready to give up. Wasted away at 42 kilos, she couldn't bear another dose of chemotherapy to fight the Stage IV Burkitt's lymphoma that had invaded her body while she was pregnant with her second child.

But as she and her family had done since she was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive form of cancer in July 2005, Esposito prayed to the man who had appeared to her husband in a dream as the only person who could save her: Pope Pius XII.

Esposito's case, which the 42-year-old teacher recounted to The Associated Press in her first media interview, has been proposed to the Vatican as the possible miracle needed to beatify Pius, one of the most controversial sainthood causes under way, given that many Jews say he failed to speak out enough to stop the Holocaust.

Pius' main biographer, American Sister Margherita Marchione, has championed Esposito's miracle case and personally presented it to the Vatican's No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Pope Benedict XVI moved Pius one step closer to possible sainthood in December 2009 when he confirmed that Pius lived a life of "heroic" Christian virtue. All that is needed now is for the Vatican to determine a "miracle" occurred.

"I'm certain that inside of me there was the hand of God operating, thanks to the intercession of Pope Pius XII," Esposito said during a recent interview in her cheery dining room in the seaside town of Castellammare di Stabia on the Amalfi coast. "I'm convinced of it."

Other doctors and church officials aren't so sure.

Esposito's local bishop, Monsignor Felice Cece, summoned Esposito earlier this year to testify about her recovery to determine if indeed it was medically inexplicable, one of the key thresholds required by the Vatican to determine if a miracle occurred.

After consulting two outside doctors, Cece determined that Esposito could have been cured by even a single cycle of chemo and essentially closed the case.

Sources

• Stuff

On Sunday he "backed off" the comment, saying his analysis was "premature" and that it was a personal judgement.

Lewy's initial comments were made at a ceremeony on Thursday night to honour an Italian priest who helped Jews. During the course of his speech he mentioned that Catholic convents and monasteries had opened their doors to save Jews in the days following a Nazi sweep of Rome's Ghetto on October 16, 1943.

"There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on," he said in a speech.

"So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews. To the contrary, the opposite is true," he said.

Thursday's comments were the warmest ever made by a Jewish official about Pius XII.

Afterwards, however, Lewy was quickly assailed by a group of Holocaust survivors.

Three days later the ambassador cooled his comments, saying they were premature as the matter was still being researched.

"Given the fact that this context is still under the subject of ongoing and future research, passing my personal historical judgment on it was premature," the statement said.

Some Jewish groups labelled Lewy's comments as "morally wrong", "historically inaccurate" and "hurtful" to Holocaust survivors.

Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors said he appreciated Lewy's clarification.

"It takes courage to admit a mistake," he said.

The question of what Pius did or did not do to help Jews has tormented Catholic-Jewish relations for decades and it is very rare for a leading Jewish or Israeli leader to praise Pius.

Many Jews have accused Pope Pius XII of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust, whereas the Vatican says Pius worked behind the scenes because speaking out would have led to Nazi reprisals against Catholics and Jews in Europe.

Sources

• Reuters
• Press Association
• Image: Boston Chronicle