Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland Writes about the Deceased Pope

Rabbi DavidRosen writes in Ha’aretz about the positive aspects of Pope John Paul II’s relationship with Jews and Israel. He mentions that under this Pope, the Vatican recognized Israel.

…It was Pope John Paul II who was the true hero of Christian-Jewish reconciliation. The late pontiff called for “a new and profound understanding between the Church and Judaism everywhere, in every country, for the benefit of all.” He stated unequivocally that the idea that the Church has replaced the Jewish people in a covenant with God was wrong, and even questioned the attempt to proselytize among Jews.

The two most significant events in terms of Christian-Jewish reconciliation were his visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome in 1986 and his visit to Israel in 2000. The scene of John Paul embracing the chief rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, reached millions of believers who did not choose to or who could not read his writings. He described the visit to the synagogue as the most important event of that year, one that would be remembered for “hundreds of thousands of years” and gave “thanks and praise to Providence” for the occasion.

Full diplomatic relations were inaugurated between the Vatican and Israel in 1993, and then the Pope made an official visit to Israel in 2000, in a clear rejection of the traditional position of the Church that the Jews had been exiled from their land because of their refusal to accept Jesus and were condemned to wander. The visit had a powerful effect, primarily on the Jews of Israel. Most of them, especially traditional and Orthodox Jews, had never met a modern Christian.

This Pope also visited Israel, including Yad VaShem, and Auschwitz. He, a Pole, had Jewish friends as a child and has publicly spoken of Jews as the Christians’ elder brothers.

That’s not to say that everything between Jews and Catholics is all fine and rosy, there are still plenty of divisive issues that divide the two groups. And yet, here was the leader of the world’s Catholics making good faith efforts to heal a deep divide.

There is another worthwhile Ha’Aretz article about this Pope, and includes Sharon’s comments about his passing. It includes an Arik Sharon quote from the day’s Cabinet meeting, where he called the Pope, “a man of peace, a friend of the Jewish people.”

Ynet quotes among others, former Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Lau, as saying about the Pope,

“With the exception of John XXIII, there has never been as pro-Jewish a Pope as John Paul II. In addition to his contribution to the fall of communism and the crumbling of the iron curtain—something that allowed hundreds of thousands of Jews to return to their heritage and even come to Israel – we must remember that the Pope contributed to combating anti-Semitism in 120 countries he visited.”