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At a press conference on March 16, 1998, Cardinal
Cassidy, President of the Holy See's Commission For Religious
Relations With the Jews, presented for publication the document,
We Remember: A Reflection On The Shoah. Joining him in the presentation
were Bishop Pierre Duprey, Vice President of the Commission, and
Father Remi Hoeckmann, O.P., its Secretary.
We publish here Cardinal Cassidy's presentation of the document,
along with Pope John Paul II's letter to the Cardinal about the
document, and the text itself.
Presentation by Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy
The Holy See has to date published, through its Commission for
Religious Relations with the Jews, two significant documents intended
for the application of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration
Nostra Aetate, n. 4: the 1974 Guidelines and Suggestions; and
the 1985 Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism
in Preaching and Catechesis in the Catholic Church.
Today it publishes another document, which the Holy See's Commission
for Religious Relations with the Jews has prepared at the express
request of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. This document, which
contains a reflection on the Shoah, is another step on the path
marked out by the Second Vatican Council in our relations with
the Jewish people. In the words which His Holiness wrote in his
letter to me as President of the Commission, it is our fervent
hope "that the document [...] will help to heal the wounds
of past misunderstandings and injustices".1
It is addressed to the Catholic faithful throughout the world,
not only in Europe where the Shoah took place, hoping that all
Christians will join their Catholic brothers and sisters in meditating
on the catastrophe which befell the Jewish people, on its causes,
and on the moral imperative to ensure that never again such a
tragedy will happen. At the same time it asks our Jewish friends
to hear us with an open heart.
On the occasion of a meeting in Rome on 31 August 1987 of representatives
of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the
Jews and of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious
Consultations, the then President of the Holy See's Commission
for Religious Relations with the Jews, Cardinal Johannes Willebrands,
announced the intention of the Commission to prepare an official
Catholic document on the Shoah. The following day, 1 September
1987, the participants in this meeting were received at Castel
Gandolfo by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who affirmed the importance
of the proposed document for the Church and for the world. His
Holiness spoke of his personal experience in his native country
and his memories of living close to a Jewish community now destroyed.
He recalled a recent address to the Jewish community in Warsaw,
in which he spoke of the Jewish people as a force of conscience
in the world today and of the Jewish memory of the Shoah as "a
warning, a witness, and a silent cry" to all humanity. Citing
the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt as a paradigm and a
continuing source of hope, His Holiness expressed his deep conviction
that, with God's help, evil can be overcome in history, even the
awesome evil of the Shoah.
We can read in the Joint Press Communiqué which was released
at that time, that the Jewish delegation warmly welcomed the initiative
of an official Catholic document on the Shoah, and expressed the
conviction that such a document will contribute significantly
to combating attempts to revise and to deny the reality of the
Shoah and to trivialize its religious significance for Christians,
Jews, and humanity.
In the years following the announcement, the Holy See's Commission
for Religious Relations with the Jews engaged in a process of
consciousness raising and of reflection on several levels in the
Catholic Church, and in different places.
In the Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar
Declaration Nostra Aetate, n. 4, published on 1 December 1974,
the Holy See's Commission recalled that "the step taken by
the Council finds its historical setting in circumstances deeply
affected by the memory of the persecution and massacre of Jews
which took place in Europe just before and during the Second World
War". Yet, as the Guidelines pointed out, "the problem
of Jewish- Christian relations concerns the Church as such, since
it is when "pondering her own mystery" (Nostra Aetate,
n. 4) that she encounters the mystery of Israel. Therefore, even
in areas where no Jewish communities exist, this remains an important
problem".
Pope John Paul II himself has repeatedly called upon us to see
where we stand with regard to our relations with the Jewish people.
In doing so, "we must remember how much the balance [of these
relations] over two thousand years has been negative".2 This
long period "which", in the words of Pope John Paul
II, awe must not tire of reflecting upon in order to draw from
it the appropriate lessonsÓ3 has been marked by many manifestations
of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism, and, in this century, by the
horrifying events of the Shoah.
Therefore, the Catholic Church wants all Catholics, and indeed
all people, everywhere, to know about this. It does so also with
the hope that it will help Catholics and Jews towards the realization
of those universal goals that are found in their common roots.
In fact, whenever there has been guilt on the part of Christians,
this burden should be a call to repentance. As His Holiness has
put it on one occasion, "guilt must always be the point of
departure for conversion".
We are confident that all the Catholic faithful in every part
of the world will be helped by this document to discover in their
relationship with the Jewish people "the boldness of brotherhood".4
***
1 The letter of His Holiness is dated 12 March 1998.
2 Cf. Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism
in Preaching and Catechesis in the Catholic Church (24 June 1985).
3 Speech delivered on the occasion of the visit of His Holiness
to the Synagogue of Rome (13 April 1986), 4: AAS 78 (1986), 1120.
4 Pope John Paul II in his address to the Diplomatic Corps on
15 January 1994.
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LETTER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
To my Venerable Brother
CARDINAL EDWARD IDRIS CASSIDY
On numerous occasions during my Pontificate I have recalled with
a sense of deep sorrow the sufferings of the Jewish people during
the Second World War. The crime which has become known as the
Shoah remains an indelible stain on the history of the century
that is coming to a close.
As we prepare for the beginning of the Third Millennium of Christianity,
the Church is aware that the joy of a Jubilee is above all the
joy that is based on the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation
with God and neighbour. Therefore she encourages her sons and
daughters to purify their hearts, through repentance of past errors
and infidelities. She calls them to place themselves humbly before
the Lord and examine themselves on the responsibility which they
too have for the evils of our time.
It is my fervent hope that the document: We Remember: A Reflection
on the Shoah, which the Commission for Religious Relations with
the Jews has prepared under your direction, will indeed help to
heal the wounds of past misunderstandings and injustices. May
it enable memory to play its necessary part in the process of
shaping a future in which the unspeakable iniquity of the Shoah
will never again be possible. May the Lord of history guide the
efforts of Catholics and Jews and all men and women of good will
as they work together for a world of true respect for the life
and dignity of every human being, for all have been created in
the image and likeness of God.
From the Vatican, 12 March 1998.
JOHN PAUL II
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COMMISSION FOR RELIGIOUS RELATIONS WITH THE JEWS
WE REMEMBER: A REFLECTION ON THE SHOAH
I. The tragedy of the Shoah and the duty of remembrance
The twentieth century is fast coming to a close and a new Millennium
of the Christian era is about to dawn. The 2000th anniversary
of the Birth of Jesus Christ calls all Christians, and indeed
invites all men and women, to seek to discern in the passage of
history the signs of divine Providence at work, as well as the
ways in which the image of the Creator in man has been offended
and disfigured.
This reflection concerns one of the main areas in which Catholics
can seriously take to heart the summons which Pope John Paul II
has addressed to them in his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio
Adveniente: "It is appropriate that, as the Second Millennium
of Christianity draws to a close, the Church should become more
fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all
those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ
and his Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness
of a life inspired by the values of faith, indulged in ways of
thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness
and scandal".(1)
This century has witnessed an unspeakable tragedy, which can
never be forgotten: the attempt by the Nazi regime to exterminate
the Jewish people, with the consequent killing of millions of
Jews. Women and men, old and young, children and infants, for
the sole reason of their Jewish origin, were persecuted and deported.
Some were killed immediately, while others were degraded, illtreated,
tortured and utterly robbed of their human dignity, and then murdered.
Very few of those who entered the Camps survived, and those who
did remained scarred for life. This was the Shoah. It is a major
fact of the history of this century, a fact which still concerns
us today.
Before this horrible genocide, which the leaders of nations and
Jewish communities themselves found hard to believe at the very
moment when it was being mercilessly put into effect, no one can
remain indifferent, least of all the Church, by reason of her
very close bonds of spiritual kinship with the Jewish people and
her remembrance of the injustices of the past. The Church's relationship
to the Jewish people is unlike the one she shares with any other
religion.(2) However, it is not only a question of recalling the
past. The common future of Jews and Christians demands that we
remember, for "there is no future without memory".(3)
History itself is memoria futuri.
In addressing this reflection to our brothers and sisters of
the Catholic Church throughout the world, we ask all Christians
to join us in meditating on the catastrophe which befell the Jewish
people, and on the moral imperative to ensure that never again
will selfishness and hatred grow to the point of sowing such suffering
and death.(4) Most especially, we ask our Jewish friends, "whose
terrible fate has become a symbol of the aberrations of which
man is capable when he turns against God",(5) to hear us
with open hearts.
II. What we must remember
While bearing their unique witness to the Holy One of Israel
and to the Torah, the Jewish people have suffered much at different
times and in many places. But the Shoah was certainly the worst
suffering of all. The inhumanity with which the Jews were persecuted
and massacred during this century is beyond the capacity of words
to convey. All this was done to them for the sole reason that
they were Jews.
The very magnitude of the crime raises many questions. Historians,
sociologists, political philosophers, psychologists and theologians
are all trying to learn more about the reality of the Shoah and
its causes. Much scholarly study still remains to be done. But
such an event cannot be fully measured by the ordinary criteria
of historical research alone. It calls for a "moral and religious
memory" and, particularly among Christians, a very serious
reflection on what gave rise to it.
The fact that the Shoah took place in Europe, that is, in countries
of long-standing Christian civilization, raises the question of
the relation between the Nazi persecution and the attitudes down
the centuries of Christians towards the Jews.
III. Relations between Jews and Christians
The history of relations between Jews and Christians is a tormented
one. His Holiness Pope John Paul II has recognized this fact in
his repeated appeals to Catholics to see where we stand with regard
to our relations with the Jewish people.(6) In effect, the balance
of these relations over two thousand years has been quite negative.(7)
At the dawn of Christianity, after the crucifixion of Jesus,
there arose disputes between the early Church and the Jewish leaders
and people who, in their devotion to the Law, on occasion violently
opposed the preachers of the Gospel and the first Christians.
In the pagan Roman Empire, Jews were legally protected by the
privileges granted by the Emperor and the authorities at first
made no distinction between Jewish and Christian communities.
Soon however, Christians incurred the persecution of the State.
Later, when the Emperors themselves converted to Christianity,
they at first continued to guarantee Jewish privileges. But Christian
mobs who attacked pagan temples sometimes did the same to synagogues,
not without being influenced by certain interpretations of the
New Testament regarding the Jewish people as a whole. "In
the Christian world—I do not say on the part of the Church
as such—erroneous and unjust interpretations of the New
Testament regarding the Jewish people and their alleged culpability
have circulated for too long, engendering feelings of hostility
towards this people".(8) Such interpretations of the New
Testament have been totally and definitively rejected by the Second
Vatican Council.(9)
Despite the Christian preaching of love for all, even for one's
enemies, the prevailing mentality down the centuries penalized
minorities and those who were in any way "different".
Sentiments of anti-Judaism in some Christian quarters, and the
gap which existed between the Church and the Jewish people, led
to a generalized discrimination, which ended at times in expulsions
or attempts at forced conversions. In a large part of the "Christian"
world, until the end of the 18th century, those who were not Christian
did not always enjoy a fully guaranteed juridical status. Despite
that fact, Jews throughout Christendom held on to their religious
traditions and communal customs. They were therefore looked upon
with a certain suspicion and mistrust. In times of crisis such
as famine, war, pestilence or social tensions, the Jewish minority
was sometimes taken as a scapegoat and became the victim of violence,
looting, even massacres.
By the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th
century, Jews generally had achieved an equal standing with other
citizens in most States and a certain number of them held influential
positions in society. But in that same historical context, notably
in the 19th century, a false and exacerbated nationalism took
hold. In a climate of eventful social change, Jews were often
accused of exercising an influence disproportionate to their numbers.
Thus there began to spread in varying degrees throughout most
of Europe an anti-Judaism that was essentially more sociological
and political than religious.
At the same time, theories began to appear which denied the unity
of the human race, affirming an original diversity of races. In
the 20th century, National Socialism in Germany used these ideas
as a pseudo-scientific basis for a distinction between so called
Nordic-Aryan races and supposedly inferior races. Furthermore,
an extremist form of nationalism was heightened in Germany by
the defeat of 1918 and the demanding conditions imposed by the
victors, with the consequence that many saw in National Socialism
a solution to their country's problems and cooperated politically
with this movement.
The Church in Germany replied by condemning racism. The condemnation
first appeared in the preaching of some of the clergy, in the
public teaching of the Catholic Bishops, and in the writings of
lay Catholic journalists. Already in February and March 1931,
Cardinal Bertram of Breslau, Cardinal Faulhaber and the Bishops
of Bavaria, the Bishops of the Province of Cologne and those of
the Province of Freiburg published pastoral letters condemning
National Socialism, with its idolatry of race and of the State.(10)
The well-known Advent sermons of Cardinal Faulhaber in 1933, the
very year in which National Socialism came to power, at which
not just Catholics but also Protestants and Jews were present,
clearly expressed rejection of the Nazi anti-semitic propaganda.(11)
In the wake of the Kristallnacht, Bernhard Lichtenberg, Provost
of Berlin Cathedral, offered public prayers for the Jews. He was
later to die at Dachau and has been declared Blessed.
Pope Pius XI too condemned Nazi racism in a solemn way in his
Encyclical Letter Mit brennender Sorge,(12) which was read in
German churches on Passion Sunday 1937, a step which resulted
in attacks and sanctions against members of the clergy. Addressing
a group of Belgian pilgrims on 6 September 1938, Pius XI asserted:
"Anti-Semitism is unacceptable. Spiritually, we are all Semites".(13)
Pius XII, in his very first Encyclical, Summi Pontificatus,(14)
of 20 October 1939, warned against theories which denied the unity
of the human race and against the deification of the State, all
of which he saw as leading to a real "hour of darkness".(15)
IV. Nazi anti-Semitism and the Shoah
Thus we cannot ignore the difference which exists between anti-Semitism,
based on theories contrary to the constant teaching of the Church
on the unity of the human race and on the equal dignity of all
races and peoples, and the long-standing sentiments of mistrust
and hostility that we call anti-Judaism, of which, unfortunately,
Christians also have been guilty.
The National Socialist ideology went even further, in the sense
that it refused to acknowledge any transcendent reality as the
source of life and the criterion of moral good. Consequently,
a human group, and the State with which it was identified, arrogated
to itself an absolute status and determined to remove the very
existence of the Jewish people, a people called to witness to
the one God and the Law of the Covenant. At the level of theological
reflection we cannot ignore the fact that not a few in the Nazi
Party not only showed aversion to the idea of divine Providence
at work in human affairs, but gave proof of a definite hatred
directed at God himself. Logically, such an attitude also led
to a rejection of Christianity, and a desire to see the Church
destroyed or at least subjected to the interests of the Nazi State.
It was this extreme ideology which became the basis of the measures
taken, first to drive the Jews from their homes and then to exterminate
them. The Shoah was the work of a thoroughly modern neo-pagan
regime. Its anti-Semitism had its roots outside of Christianity
and, in pursuing its aims, it did not hesitate to oppose the Church
and persecute her members also.
But it may be asked whether the Nazi persecution of the Jews
was not made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudices imbedded in
some Christian minds and hearts. Did anti-Jewish sentiment among
Christians make them less sensitive, or even indifferent, to the
persecutions launched against the Jews by National Socialism when
it reached power?
Any response to this question must take into account that we
are dealing with the history of people's attitudes and ways of
thinking, subject to multiple influences. Moreover, many people
were altogether unaware of the "final solution" that
was being put into effect against a whole people; others were
afraid for themselves and those near to them; some took advantage
of the situation; and still others were moved by envy. A response
would need to be given case by case. To do this, however, it is
necessary to know what precisely motivated people in a particular
situation.
At first the leaders of the Third Reich sought to expel the Jews.
Unfortunately, the governments of some Western countries of Christian
tradition, including some in North and South America, were more
than hesitant to open their borders to the persecuted Jews. Although
they could not foresee how far the Nazi hierarchs would go in
their criminal intentions, the leaders of those nations were aware
of the hardships and dangers to which Jews living in the territories
of the Third Reich were exposed. The closing of borders to Jewish
emigration in those circumstances, whether due to anti-Jewish
hostility or suspicion, political cowardice or shortsightedness,
or national selfishness, lays a heavy burden of conscience on
the authorities in question.
In the lands where the Nazis undertook mass deportations, the
brutality which surrounded these forced movements of helpless
people should have led to suspect the worst. Did Christians give
every possible assistance to those being persecuted, and in particular
to the persecuted Jews?
Many did, but others did not. Those who did help to save Jewish
lives as much as was in their power, even to the point of placing
their own lives in danger, must not be forgotten. During and after
the war, Jewish communities and Jewish leaders expressed their
thanks for all that had been done for them, including what Pope
Pius XII did personally or through his representatives to save
hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives.(16) Many Catholic bishops,
priests, religious and laity have been honoured for this reason
by the State of Israel.
Nevertheless, as Pope John Paul II has recognized, alongside
such courageous men and women, the spiritual resistance and concrete
action of other Christians was not that which might have been
expected from Christ's followers. We cannot know how many Christians
in countries occupied or ruled by the Nazi powers or their allies
were horrified at the disappearance of their Jewish neighbours
and yet were not strong enough to raise their voices in protest.
For Christians, this heavy burden of conscience of their brothers
and sisters during the Second World War must be a call to penitence.(17)
We deeply regret the errors and failures of those sons and daughters
of the Church. We make our own what is said in the Second Vatican
Council's Declaration Nostra Aetate, which unequivocally affirms:
"The Church ... mindful of her common patrimony with the
Jews, and motivated by the Gospel's spiritual love and by no political
considerations, deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays
of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and from
any source".(18)
We recall and abide by what Pope John Paul II, addressing the
leaders of the Jewish community in Strasbourg in 1988,stated:
"I repeat again with you the strongest condemnation of anti-Semitism
and racism, which are opposed to the principles of Christianity".(19)
The Catholic Church therefore repudiates every persecution against
a people or human group anywhere, at any time. She absolutely
condemns all forms of genocide, as well as the racist ideologies
which give rise to them. Looking back over this century, we are
deeply saddened by the violence that has enveloped whole groups
of peoples and nations. We recall in particular the massacre of
the Armenians, the countless victims in Ukraine in the 1930s,
the genocide of the Gypsies, which was also the result of racist
ideas, and similar tragedies which have occurred in America, Africa
and the Balkans. Nor do we forget the millions of victims of totalitarian
ideology in the Soviet Union, in China, Cambodia and elsewhere.
Nor can we forget the drama of the Middle East, the elements of
which are well known. Even as we make this reflection, "many
human beings are still their brothers' victims".(20)
V. Looking together to a common future
Looking to the future of relations between Jews and Christians,
in the first place we appeal to our Catholic brothers and sisters
to renew the awareness of the Hebrew roots of their faith. We
ask them to keep in mind that Jesus was a descendant of David;
that the Virgin Mary and the Apostles belonged to the Jewish people;
that the Church draws sustenance from the root of that good olive
tree on to which have been grafted the wild olive branches of
the Gentiles (cf. Rom 11:17-24); that the Jews are our dearly
beloved brothers, indeed in a certain sense they are "our
elder brothers".(21)
At the end of this Millennium the Catholic Church desires to
express her deep sorrow for the failures of her sons and daughters
in every age. This is an act of repentance (teshuva), since, as
members of the Church, we are linked to the sins as well as the
merits of all her children. The Church approaches with deep respect
and great compassion the experience of extermination, the Shoah,
suffered by the Jewish people during World War II. It is not a
matter of mere words, but indeed of binding commitment. "We
would risk causing the victims of the most atrocious deaths to
die again if we do not have an ardent desire for justice, if we
do not commit ourselves to ensure that evil does not prevail over
good as it did for millions of the children of the Jewish people
... Humanity cannot permit all that to happen again".(22)
We pray that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people
has suffered in our century will lead to a new relationship with
the Jewish people. We wish to turn awareness of past sins into
a firm resolve to build a new future in which there will be no
more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian sentiment
among Jews, but rather a shared mutual respect, as befits those
who adore the one Creator and Lord and have a common father in
faith, Abraham.
Finally, we invite all men and women of good will to reflect
deeply on the significance of the Shoah. The victims from their
graves, and the survivors through the vivid testimony of what
they have suffered, have become a loud voice calling the attention
of all of humanity. To remember this terrible experience is to
become fully conscious of the salutary warning it entails: the
spoiled seeds of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism must never again
be allowed to take root in any human heart.
16 March 1998.
Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy
President
The Most Reverend Pierre Duprey
Vice-President
The Reverend Remi Hoeckman, O.P.
Secretary
TYPIS VATICANIS MCMXCVIII
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(1) Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente,
10 November 1994, 33: AAS 87 (1995), 25.
(2) Cf. Pope John Paul II, Speech at the Synagogue of Rome, 13
April 1986, 4: AAS 78 (1986), 1120.
(3) Pope John Paul II, Angelus Prayer, 11 June 1995: Insegnamenti
181, 1995, 1712.
(4) Cf. Pope John Paul II, Address to Jewish Leaders in Budapest,
18 August 1991, 4: Insegnamenti 142, 1991, 349.
(5) Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 1
May 1991, 17: AAS 83 (1991), 814-815.
(6) Cf. Pope John Paul II, Address to Delegates of Episcopal
Conferences for Catholic-Jewish relations, 6 March 1982: Insegnamenti,
51, 1982, 743-747.
(7) Cf. Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the
Jews, Notes on the correct way to present the Jews and Judaism
in preaching and catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church, 24 June
1985, VI, 1: Ench. Vat. 9, 1656.
(8) Cf. Pope John Paul II, Speech to Symposium on the roots of
anti-Judaism, 31 October 1997, 1: L'Osservatore Romano, 1 November
1997, p. 6.
(9) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Nostra Aetate, 4.
(10) Cf. B. Statiewski (Ed.), Akten deutscher Bischöfe über
die Lage der Kirche, 1933-1945, vol. I, 1933-1934 (Mainz 1968),
Appendix.
(11) Cf. L. Volk, Der Bayerische Episkopat und der Nationalsozialismus
1930-1934 (Mainz 1966), pp. 170-174.
(12) The Encyclical is dated 14 March 1937: AAS 29 (1937), 145-167.
(13) La Documentation Catholique, 29 (1938), col. 1460.
(14) AAS 31 (1939), 413-453.
(15) Ibid., 449.
(16) The wisdom of Pope Pius XII's diplomacy was publicly acknowledged
on a number of occasions by representative Jewish Organizations
and personalities. For example, on 7 September 1945, Dr. Joseph
Nathan, who represented the Italian Hebrew Commission, stated:
"Above all, we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff and the religious
men and women who, executing the directives of the Holy Father,
recognized the persecuted as their brothers and, with effort and
abnegation, hastened to help us, disregarding the terrible dangers
to which they were exposed" (L'Osservatore Romano, 8 September
1945, p. 2). On 21 September of that same year, Pius XII received
in audience Dr. A. Leo Kubowitzki, Secretary General of the World
Jewish Congress who came to present "to the Holy Father,
in the name of the Union of Israelitic Communities, warmest thanks
for the efforts of the Catholic Church on behalf of Jews throughout
Europe during the War" (L'Osservatore Romano, 23 September
1945, p. 1). On Thursday, 29 November 1945, the Pope met about
80 representatives of Jewish refugees from various concentration
camps in Germany, who expressed "their great honour at being
able to thank the Holy Father personally for his generosity towards
those persecuted during the Nazi-Fascist period" (L'Osservatore
Romano, 30 November 1945, p. 1). In 1958, at the death of Pope
Pius XII, Golda Meir sent an eloquent message: "We share
in the grief of humanity. When fearful martyrdom came to our people,
the voice of the Pope was raised for its victims. The life of
our times was enriched by a voice speaking out about great moral
truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant
of peace".
(17) Cf. Pope John Paul II, Address to the New Ambassador of
the Federal Republic of Germany to the Holy See, 8 November 1990,
2: AAS 83 (1991), 587-588.
(18) Loc. cit., no. 4.
(19) Address to Jewish Leaders, Strasbourg, 9 October 1988, no.
8: Insegnamenti 113, 1988, 1134.
(20) Pope John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps, 15 January
1994, 9: AAS 86 (1994), 816.
(21) Pope John Paul II, Speech at the Synagogue of Rome, 13 April
1986, 4: AAS 78 (1986), 1120.
(22) Pope John Paul II, Address on the occasion of a commemoration
of the Shoah, 7 April 1994, 3: Insegnamenti 171, 1994, 897 and
893.
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Other Statements
LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE LATIN-RITE DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM
The Holy Father wrote a Letter to the Latin-rite Diocese of Jerusalem
to mark the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX's reorganization
of that see. The Pope called on Catholics to prepare in every
way to celebrate the coming Holy Year. Here is a translation of
those paragraphs of his letter pertaining to relations with the
Jews.
É By its presence in the same territory as the Islamic
and Jewish communities and through the exchanges it has with them,
the Latin community has been prepared over time to understand
the importance of interreligious dialogue in the spirit desired
and recommended by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Daily
life presupposes continuous contact with believers of other religious
traditions, for the human, spiritual and moral development of
peoples. It is obvious that respectful dialogue and joint, fraternal
collaboration among all society's members can be a vigorous appeal
for this same understanding to be achieved in other countries.
É Regarding the ties with those who belong to the Jewish
religion, it should be recalled that Jews and Christians have
a common heritage which links them spiritually (cf. Nostra aetate,
n. 4). Both are a blessing for the world (cf. Gn 12:2-3), to the
extent that they work together so that peace and justice prevail
among all people and all individuals and do so in fullness and
in depth, according to the divine plan and in the spirit of sacrifice
which this noble project can demand.
They are all called to be conscious of this sacred duty and to
fulfil it, through honest and friendly dialogue and by collaboration
for the benefit of man and society; I am certain that this readiness
to do God's will for the world will also be a blessing for our
different communities and enable us to cry out with the psalmist:
"Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness
and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from
the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky"
(Ps 85 [84]: 10-11).
November 28, 1997
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General Audience
January 14, 1998
To the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors the Holy Father
said:
I welcome the members of the Bsnai Bsrith Anti-Defamation League,
and I express the hope that your visit will help to strengthen
the co-operation of recent years.
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Pastoral visit to Cuba
January 21-26, 1998
Address OF JOHN PAUL II
to the Jewish Community
January 25, 1998
On the morning of Sunday, January 25, the Holy Father met representatives
of the Cuban Council of Churches at the Apostolic Nunciature in
Havana. During the course of his address, the Pope also specifically
spoke to the Jewish community.
1. On this memorable day, I am very pleased to meet you, the
representatives of the Cuban Council of Churches and of various
other Christian communities, accompanied by members of the Jewish
community in Cuba, which participates in the Council as an observer.
I greet all of you with great affection and I assure you of my
happiness at this meeting with those with whom we share faith
in the living and true God. This auspicious occasion prompts us
to say before all else: "How good and pleasant it is when
brothers live together in unity" (Ps 132:1).
4. I also wish to address a particular greeting to the Jewish
community represented here. Your presence is an eloquent expression
of the fraternal dialogue aimed at a better understanding between
Jews and Catholics, and which, promoted by the Second Vatican
Council, continues to be ever more widespread. With you we share
a common spiritual patrimony, firmly rooted in the Sacred Scriptures.
May God, the Creator and Saviour, sustain our efforts to walk
together and, encouraged by the divine word, may we grow in worship
and fervent love of him. May all of this ever find expression
in effective action for the benefit of each and every person.
5. To conclude, I wish to thank each one of you for your presence
at this meeting, and I ask God to bless you and your communities
and to keep you in his ways so that you may proclaim his name
to the brethren. May he show you his face in the midst of the
society which you serve, and may he grant you peace in all your
undertakings.
Havana, 25 January 1998
Feast of the Conversion of St Paul
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