The Pope, the Church, and the Jews
The death of Pope John Paul II on April 2 has closed a remarkable chapter in the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people. He did more to make this relationship amicable than any of his predecessors, with the possible exception of Pope John XXIII. He sparked the fall of communism in Europe, which has also benefited both European Jewry and the State of Israel. Unlike Pius XII, who avoided confrontation with the greatest evil of his time, John Paul II effectively opposed the great evil of his.
All this is even more impressive when viewed in the historical context from which he came.
Centuries of Persecution
According to Catholic teaching, the Kohane Gadol and Jewish religious establishment instigated the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus of Nazareth (0-33 CE), and Jewish mobs clamored for his blood. (1)
The Church has held that Jews of later generations continued to bear the stain of guilt for the Jewish role in the crucifixion, except for those who converted to Catholicism.
Catholic theology holds that "there is no salvation outside the Church". so that drastic measures employed to coerce people into accepting Catholicism were really for the ultimate benefit of their souls. Accordingly, the Church supported the use of torture, expulsions, and pogroms against the Jews of Europe. In Spain, even those who did convert were subjected to a violent Inquisition to determine if their conversions were sincere.
Facing Modern Totalitarian Regimes
In the Twentieth Century the Catholic Church was challenged by the rise of two forms of tyranny: communism and fascism. Since communism denied the very basis of Christian faith, the Church clearly and courageously opposed the Marxist doctrine.
Although fascism placed allegiance to the State above all else (including the Church), its ideology was compatible with Christianity. The Church reached an accomodation with the fascists, first in Italy, then in Germany and other European countries. In the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) the Catholic Church was clearly allied with Gen. Franco, who won with fascist support. During the later 1930's fascist movements in France, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and other European countries were formed with massive Catholic support. In the United States, Father Charles Coughlin, a Detroit priest, used radio broadcasts to establish the National Union for Social Justice, a fascist anti-Semitic organization.
The Holocaust
Pius XII became Pope in 1939. During the next six years, while the Nazis and their supporters killed six million Jews, the Pope did not issue a single encyclical specifically denouncing the massacre. Millions of Catholics, in the German Army and in fascist forces in France, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, and Slovakia, participated in these crimes.
If Pope Pius believed these acts were morally wrong, why did he not urge Catholics to oppose them? Without Catholic complicity, the scale of the Holocaust would have been drastically reduced.
Nowhere was local collaboration with Nazism worse than in Poland, where Jews were killed even after the German Army was driven out of the country.
It is significant that in two Protestant countries occupied by German forces (Denmark and Norway), most of the Jews survived.
Vatican Two: The Church Makes Amends
The death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 and his replacement by John XXIII was a major turning-point in Catholic attitudes toward the Jews. In 1962 Pope John convened an Ecumenical Council, known as Vatican II, to reconsider and revise Church doctrines. Karol Wojtyla, then Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, urged that the Church change its position on Jewish guilt for the Crucifixion. The Council adopted a statement that limited this guilt to those who actually instigated the Crucifixion, but absolved the Jews of subsequent generations. Pope John also changed Catholic liturgy to eliminate a reference to "perfidious Jews."
Cardinal Wojtyla was elected Pope in October, 1978, and adopted the title John Paul II.
On April 18, 1986, he became the first pope to visit a synagogue. Throughout his term of office, he met with rabbis and made many statements expressing contrition for Catholic anti-Semitism in the past, even noting that it made the Holocaust possible. On the other hand, he favored sainthood for Pius XII, despite his appalling lack of moral leadership at that time.
The Vatican and Israel
Although minuscule in size and population, Vatican City has the status of an independent nation, and maintains a considerable diplomatic service. Vatican policy regarding Israel was originally limited to securing the rights of the Catholic Church to certain sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Although Pope Paul VI met with Prime Minister Golda Meir and visited Israel, the Vatican did not officially recognize the State. In diplomacy, the Vatican usually sided with Arab views, especially in supporting the internationalization of Jerusalem.
On September 15, 1982, Pope John Paul embraced PLO leader Yasser Arafat after a private audience, despite Arafat's known responsibility for the murders of many innocent people.
During the following decade, the Pope must have concluded that reconciliation with the Jewish people would not be possible without explicit recognition of the bond between the people and the State of Israel. In October, 1994, the Vatican established formal diplomatic relations with Israel, over 46 years after its creation.
Liberation of Poland and the Fall of Communism
Pope John Paul's triumphant visit to Poland in June, 1979, sparked the creation of the first non-communist labor union in the Soviet sphere. The union, called Solidarity (Solidarnosc) and led by Lech Walesa, received strong support from the Pope and the Polish Catholic Church. The American CIA help fund the union through a Catholic charity (2). Poland's communist leaders imposed martial law in 1981, but did not take the drastic steps that would have been necessary to crush the popular movement. In previous times, such a challenge to Soviet domination would have been met by the Red Army, but Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was then seeking reform and good relations with the West. The Soviet Union stood by as Solidarity won the 1989 elections, and Poland withdrew from the Warsaw Pact.
People in other captive nations, such as Lithuania and East Germany, also began to demand independence from Soviet rule .
With two years, communist rule collapsed throughout Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union disbanded. Jews in those countries were then free to practice their religion and emigrate. The Arab world lost an important source of arms and diplomatic leverage as Russia and its former sattelites renewed relations with Israel. (President Putin will visit Israel soon.)
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin once asked how many divisions the pope controlled. Fifty years later, the answer is: enough to free Poland and all of Eastern Europe from communist rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Mark, 14-15
(2) VEIL: The Secret Wars of the CIA,, 1981-1987, by Bob Woodward, page 428.
All this is even more impressive when viewed in the historical context from which he came.
Centuries of Persecution
According to Catholic teaching, the Kohane Gadol and Jewish religious establishment instigated the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus of Nazareth (0-33 CE), and Jewish mobs clamored for his blood. (1)
The Church has held that Jews of later generations continued to bear the stain of guilt for the Jewish role in the crucifixion, except for those who converted to Catholicism.
Catholic theology holds that "there is no salvation outside the Church". so that drastic measures employed to coerce people into accepting Catholicism were really for the ultimate benefit of their souls. Accordingly, the Church supported the use of torture, expulsions, and pogroms against the Jews of Europe. In Spain, even those who did convert were subjected to a violent Inquisition to determine if their conversions were sincere.
Facing Modern Totalitarian Regimes
In the Twentieth Century the Catholic Church was challenged by the rise of two forms of tyranny: communism and fascism. Since communism denied the very basis of Christian faith, the Church clearly and courageously opposed the Marxist doctrine.
Although fascism placed allegiance to the State above all else (including the Church), its ideology was compatible with Christianity. The Church reached an accomodation with the fascists, first in Italy, then in Germany and other European countries. In the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) the Catholic Church was clearly allied with Gen. Franco, who won with fascist support. During the later 1930's fascist movements in France, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and other European countries were formed with massive Catholic support. In the United States, Father Charles Coughlin, a Detroit priest, used radio broadcasts to establish the National Union for Social Justice, a fascist anti-Semitic organization.
The Holocaust
Pius XII became Pope in 1939. During the next six years, while the Nazis and their supporters killed six million Jews, the Pope did not issue a single encyclical specifically denouncing the massacre. Millions of Catholics, in the German Army and in fascist forces in France, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, and Slovakia, participated in these crimes.
If Pope Pius believed these acts were morally wrong, why did he not urge Catholics to oppose them? Without Catholic complicity, the scale of the Holocaust would have been drastically reduced.
Nowhere was local collaboration with Nazism worse than in Poland, where Jews were killed even after the German Army was driven out of the country.
It is significant that in two Protestant countries occupied by German forces (Denmark and Norway), most of the Jews survived.
Vatican Two: The Church Makes Amends
The death of Pope Pius XII in 1958 and his replacement by John XXIII was a major turning-point in Catholic attitudes toward the Jews. In 1962 Pope John convened an Ecumenical Council, known as Vatican II, to reconsider and revise Church doctrines. Karol Wojtyla, then Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, urged that the Church change its position on Jewish guilt for the Crucifixion. The Council adopted a statement that limited this guilt to those who actually instigated the Crucifixion, but absolved the Jews of subsequent generations. Pope John also changed Catholic liturgy to eliminate a reference to "perfidious Jews."
Cardinal Wojtyla was elected Pope in October, 1978, and adopted the title John Paul II.
On April 18, 1986, he became the first pope to visit a synagogue. Throughout his term of office, he met with rabbis and made many statements expressing contrition for Catholic anti-Semitism in the past, even noting that it made the Holocaust possible. On the other hand, he favored sainthood for Pius XII, despite his appalling lack of moral leadership at that time.
The Vatican and Israel
Although minuscule in size and population, Vatican City has the status of an independent nation, and maintains a considerable diplomatic service. Vatican policy regarding Israel was originally limited to securing the rights of the Catholic Church to certain sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Although Pope Paul VI met with Prime Minister Golda Meir and visited Israel, the Vatican did not officially recognize the State. In diplomacy, the Vatican usually sided with Arab views, especially in supporting the internationalization of Jerusalem.
On September 15, 1982, Pope John Paul embraced PLO leader Yasser Arafat after a private audience, despite Arafat's known responsibility for the murders of many innocent people.
During the following decade, the Pope must have concluded that reconciliation with the Jewish people would not be possible without explicit recognition of the bond between the people and the State of Israel. In October, 1994, the Vatican established formal diplomatic relations with Israel, over 46 years after its creation.
Liberation of Poland and the Fall of Communism
Pope John Paul's triumphant visit to Poland in June, 1979, sparked the creation of the first non-communist labor union in the Soviet sphere. The union, called Solidarity (Solidarnosc) and led by Lech Walesa, received strong support from the Pope and the Polish Catholic Church. The American CIA help fund the union through a Catholic charity (2). Poland's communist leaders imposed martial law in 1981, but did not take the drastic steps that would have been necessary to crush the popular movement. In previous times, such a challenge to Soviet domination would have been met by the Red Army, but Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was then seeking reform and good relations with the West. The Soviet Union stood by as Solidarity won the 1989 elections, and Poland withdrew from the Warsaw Pact.
People in other captive nations, such as Lithuania and East Germany, also began to demand independence from Soviet rule .
With two years, communist rule collapsed throughout Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union disbanded. Jews in those countries were then free to practice their religion and emigrate. The Arab world lost an important source of arms and diplomatic leverage as Russia and its former sattelites renewed relations with Israel. (President Putin will visit Israel soon.)
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin once asked how many divisions the pope controlled. Fifty years later, the answer is: enough to free Poland and all of Eastern Europe from communist rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Mark, 14-15
(2) VEIL: The Secret Wars of the CIA,, 1981-1987, by Bob Woodward, page 428.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 11:15 AM
1 Comments:
Here via bloghead. My own thoughts are here. Do you suppose that the Church opposed Communism but not, more recently, Ba'athism due to the same cold political calculus you mention? Was it the possibility of "going along to get along" with the Pan-Arabists that allowed JP2 to be so accepting of Tariq Azziz and Yasir Arafat despite the blood on their hands?
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