The long and troubled history between the Catholic Church and the Jews took a positive turn today when Pope Benedict XVI met with "about 60 American Jewish leaders" (which leaders? it wasn't specified) in Vatican City and declared that Holocaust denial is unacceptable and that the Catholic Church was "profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism." The Pope also said that he is planning to visit Israel.
While these sentiments are nothing new, it is important that they be reiterated from time to time, particularly in today's hostile anti-Jewish climate in Europe. The Church still holds a lot of authority in the minds of Catholics worldwide, and hearing the Pope declare again that anti-semitism is unacceptable might help a little bit in countries like Italy, France and Belgium which have large Catholic populations.
Now... what I'm REALLY waiting for is the United Nations to declare that anti-semitism is unacceptable. (Yes, I know, I'll be waiting a long, long, time...)
Yachatz - a broken nation
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Here is a thought I hope to express at the Pesach seder...
Yachatz
Yachatz is a point in the seder that is often overlooked. Many do it "on
the sly" with ...
14 hours ago
3 comments:
I have found that some religious Christians (some Catholics, some Protestants) are quite understanding of Jews these days, as the Muslim threat gets greater.
I think we can work at developing the good relationships.
I thought that the Pope was trying to rekindle a relationship between a group that separated from the Catholic church though.... and the leader of this group is a Holocaust denier... (Unfortunately I'm terrible with remembering details...)
Just about time he said something sensible on the subject!
Jessica, it is not the leader of that group who is a Holocaust denier but one of the 4 being welcomed back into the Catholic church.
What I find hard to believe, and that's an understaement, is that the Pope didn't know Williamson's views on the Holocaust.
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