VATICAN CITY, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - A Jewish leader said on Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI could put on hold the sainthood process of the Nazi-era Pope Pius XII until Vatican archives into his papacy can be made public.

Following talks with the Pope, Rabbi David Rosen, a leader of a Jewish delegation, said the pontiff was "seriously considering" waiting until the Vatican archives were opened before taking the next step toward conferring sainthood on the controversial World War II figure.

Pius XII, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust and refusing to publicly condemn the atrocities against Jews.

At the October 9 event marking the 50th anniversary of Pius XII's death, Pope Benedict backed his beatification - the last step before sainthood - saying that he "often acted in secret and in silence" to defend Jews during the Holocaust.

Earlier on Thursday, a papal spokesman said that the archives on the actions of the Pius XII during World War II would be not made public for another "six or seven years." Father Federico Lombardi explained that this was due to the time it was taking to catalog the documents.

The Vatican said on October 18 that the Pope wanted to visit Israel "as soon as possible" but could not because of Jewish attitudes toward Pius XII.