POPE JOHN PAUL II AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE by Rabbi MarvinHier
In terms of reconciliation with the Jews, I believe that Pope JohnPaul II was the greatest Pope in the history of the Vatican with respect to his relationship to the Jewish people. - Rabbi Marvin Hier, CNN's Larry King Live Show, Tuesday, April 4, 2005
As you read this, the funeral of Pope John Paul II is takingplace. For twenty centuries, the Catholic Church has had a turbulent relationship with the Jewish people. Jews were persecuted and held responsiblefor the death of Jesus, and were often the victims of Church-instigated pogroms and antisemitic attacks.
19832003
With the passing of Pope John Paul II, we have lost the strongestadvocate for reconciliation for the Jewish people in the history of the Vatican. This Pope was determined to embark on a new course and leave that shamefulperiod behind. From the very beginning of his papacy, when he first visited his native Poland, there were hints that this Pope was going to break withtradition and not follow the centuries-old script with respect to the Jews.
On his 1979 visit to Auschwitz, when he approached the inscriptionsbearing the names of the countries whose citizens had been murdered there, he said, "I kneel before all the inscriptions bearing the memory of the victimsin their languages. In particular, I pause before the inscription in Hebrew. This inscription awakens the memory of the people whose sons and daughterswere intended for total extermination. It is not permissible for anyone to pass by this inscription with indifference."
The first time I met the Pope was in 1983 when I led a Wiesenthal Centermission to Eastern Europe. There, at a private audience at the Vatican, I expressed my concerns about antisemitism and said, "We come here today hoping tohear from you, the beloved spiritual leader of 700 million Christians, a clear and unequivocal message to all that this scourge in all its manifestationsviolates the basic creed to which all men of faith must aspire."
Obviously, John Paul II understood that very well, but it is importantto place in proper context the considerable obstacles that he had to overcome.
During the height of the Holocaust, when millions of Jews were beinggassed, the Vatican found the time to write letters opposing the creation of a Jewish State. On May 4, 1943, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Magaloni,informed the British government of the Vatican's opposition to a Jewish homeland in Palestine. One day later, the Vatican was informed that of the fourmillion Jews residing in pre-war Poland, only about 100,000 were still alive. Six weeks later, on June 22, 1943, the Vatican's apostolic delegate,Archbishop Cicognani wrote to then U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, again detailing its opposition to a Jewish homeland in Palestine and warning himthat Catholics the world over would be aroused and saying, in part: "It is true that at one time Palestine was inhabited by the Hebrew race, but there isno axiom in history to substantiate the necessity of a people returning to a country they left nineteen centuries before...If a Hebrew home is desired, itwould not be too difficult to find a more fitting territory than Palestine." To imagine then that 62 years later a Polish Pope would have redefined Vaticanthinking regarding the Jewish people is astounding.
Twenty years after our first meeting, on December 3, 2003, together witha small delegation of Center trustees, I returned to the Vatican for another private audience, this time to present the Pope with the Wiesenthal Center'shighest honor, our Humanitarian Award. On that occasion, I recapped his remarkable accomplishments, "As a youngster, you played goalie on the Jewish soccerteam in Wadowice...in 1937, concerned about the safety of Ginka Beer, a Jewish student on her way to Palestine, you personally escorted her to the railroadstation...in 1963, you were one of the major supporters of Nostra Aetate, the historic Vatican document which rejected the collective responsibility of theJewish people for the crucifixion...in 1986, you were the first Pope to ever visit a synagogue...the first to recognize the State of Israel...the first toissue a document that seeks forgiveness for members of the Church for wrongdoing committed against the Jewish people throughout history and to apologizefor Catholics who failed to help Jews during the Nazi period...the first to visit a concentration camp and to institute an official observance of YomHashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Vatican."
I did not always agree with the Pope, especially when he nominated PiusXII for sainthood or when he met with then Austrian President Kurt Waldheim. But one thing is clear - in the two thousand year history of the papacy, noprevious occupant of the throne of St. Peter has had such an interest in seeking reconciliation with the Jewish people.
With his passing, the world has lost a great moral leader and arighteous man and the Jewish people have lost its staunchest advocate in the history of the Church.
A photographic exhibit, "In Recognition of Goodness," a tribute to Pope JohnPaul II's lifelong friendship to the Jewish people, is currently on display at the Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. For moreinformation on the exhibit, phone 310 553-8403.
