The beatification of Pope Pius XII will not take place in the near future, according to Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See's press office.
Speaking on Tuesday at a presentation of events to mark the 50th anniversary of Pius XII's death in November, Father Lombardi said that ''the beatifications of Pius XII, as well as John Paul II, remain in the kingdom of the future''.
''In other words, it is not possible to say with any certainty when they will be celebrated,'' he explained.
Beatification is the penultimate stage before sainthood. It means that someone can be called 'Blessed' and that the person can be venerated by Catholics in the place where he or she lived.
Earlier this year the Vatican formally denied that plans to bestow sainthood on the controversial wartime pope were on the backburner.
Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church between 1939 and 1958, is often criticised for his reluctance to speak out publicly against Hitler and the Holocaust, and efforts to canonise him have proceeded slowly since they got under way in 1967.
Cardinals voted in May last year to recognise Pius XII's ''heroic virtues'' - the key requirement for beatification.
However, Pope Benedict XVI has yet to give a green light to the beatification, leading some observers to believe Pius XII's reputation is still standing in his way.
Jewish circles are particularly outspoken in their criticism of Pius, but the pope's defenders argue that his silence was calculated to avoid stirring up a Nazi backlash.
In June of last year Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, said that the view that Pius XII was indulgent towards Hitler ''is now so firmly rooted that people just ignore evidence to the contrary''.
''He is falsely painted as indulgent with Nazism and insensitive to the fate of their victims... whereas many documents and witnesses show this idea is totally groundless','' Cardinal Bertone said.
Critics, among them many Jewish associations, argue that a firm, public stance from the pope could have changed the course of the war and stopped Hitler earlier.
They also question his decision to shelve a document fiercely critical of Nazism which had been prepared by his predecessor, Pius XII.
''He remains a controversial figure. We believe that more could have been done,'' said Rome's chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni a few hours after Bertone's defence of Pius.
According to the Vatican secretary of state, Pius XII was cautious about publicly denouncing Hitler and the Holocaust because he believed this would have made the Nazi regime intensify its persecution of Jews.
His supporters have also pointed out that, under the pope's orders, convents, monasteries and other Catholic institutions threw open their doors to Jews who were hidden and protected there. Many were also hidden in the Vatican.
Bertone complained that the ''unjustified accusations'' had obscured Pius's ''extraordinary teaching''.
Aside from Pius XII, efforts are under way to have John Paul II and his predecessor, John Paul I, the so-called 'smiling pope', proclaimed saints.
Although some believe Benedict has stalled on Pius XII being beatified, the pope has lent a hand to speeding up the process for his predecessor by waiving a rule that says the process cannot begin until at least five years have passed after the candidate's death.
John Paul II's 'cause' was opened three months after his death.
According to a report last month by the Catholic news agency SIR , John Paul II could be beatified as early as spring of 2009.
Some supporters of his sainthood had hoped this could have taken place in October of this year, which would have coincided with the 30th anniversary of John Paul II's election as Wartime pope remains at the cenetr of controversy
After beatification, a miracle is required before someone can be declared a saint, and officially venerated by Catholics everywhere.
New reports of miracles attributed to John Paul II's heavenly intervention are said to arrive in Rome every week.
