The relations between Pope Benedict XVI and Judaism remained fairly good, although concerns were raised by Jewish leaders over the political impact of Traditionalists in the Church during the papacy of Benedict.
When Benedict ascended to the Papacy his election was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League who noted "his great sensitivity to Jewish history and the Holocaust". [1] However, his election received a more reserved response from the United Kingdom's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who hoped that Benedict would "continue along the path of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II in working to enhance relations with the Jewish people and the State of Israel." [2] The Foreign Minister of Israel also offered more tentative praise, though the Minister believed that "this Pope, considering his historical experience, will be especially committed to an uncompromising fight against anti-Semitism." [2]
Shortly after his election the Pontiff visited the Cologne synagogue where, speaking to Jewish leaders, he condemned Nazi ideology as "insane" and committed to strengthening ties of "friendship" between the Catholic Church and Jews. [3] However, despite much praise from Jewish leaders across Europe, Benedict received criticism from Israel for not "singling out the Jewish state as a victim of terrorism." [4]
In 2006 Pope Benedict visited Auschwitz where he recounted the vital historical tie between Christianity and Judaism. The Pope said the Nazis' aim was "By destroying Israel, they ultimately wanted to tear up the tap root of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention". [5] [6] While the visit was received as a warm gesture, one Rabbi noted "Will it make any difference to Jewish-Catholic relations?...No, because Jewish-Catholic relations anyway are no longer based upon our view of the past but on the nature of relations in the present, and from that perspective Benedict XVI is as good as it gets." [7]
According to rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, the "first 100 days" in the papacy of Benedict XVI were good for the Jews. Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor wrote that the facts on the ground are all that's needed to show that the improvement of relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jews—begun 40 years ago with the Second Vatican Council and a major legacy of Pope John Paul II—would continue during the tenure of the new pontiff. [8]
Rabbi Jacob Neusner has written a number of works exploring the relationship of Judaism to other religions. His A Rabbi Talks with Jesus (Philadelphia, 1993; translated into German, Italian, and Swedish) attempts to establish a religiously sound framework for Judaic-Christian interchange. Neusner has earned the praise of Pope Benedict XVI and the nickname of "Pope's Favorite Rabbi". [9] In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict refers to it as "by far the most important book for the Jewish-Christian dialogue in the last decade."
Despite deteriorating relations the Vatican claimed it was still dedicated to dialogue with the Jewish faith, and in what was called an "unprecedented outreach effort" [10] Benedict visited Park East Synagogue in New York City, the United States, on the eve of Passover 2008. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the leader of Park East, stated that the Pope's visit was a "tangible expression of his [the Pope] outreach to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. ...The very clear message is that Jews and Catholics and Christians, we are in the same boat, we have common concerns for humanity." [11]
However, shortly after the Pope's visit to America speculation arose that the Pontiff intended to accelerate the canonization process of World War II pope Pius XII. Pius XII's role in the Second World War had been an underlying issue in Catholic-Jewish relations throughout Benedict's papacy, and indeed that of John Paul II. Many believe that Pius turned a blind eye to the Holocaust and did not confront Hitler's policies. [11] Jewish groups across the world began to condemn Pius XII and any attempts to canonize him. [12] [13] Despite Jewish opposition Benedict maintained support for Pius XII, saying that the wartime pontiff "acted in a secret and silent way because, given the realities of that complex historical moment, he realised that it was only in this way that he could avoid the worst and save the greatest possible number of Jews." [14]
Catholic-Jewish relations suffered a setback when, in January 2009, Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The SSPX has rejected all inter-religious dialogue with Judaism and is opposed to dual-covenant theology. The society was reported to have perpetuated the Jewish deicide and Jewish world domination plot canards in its official newsletters and on several of its websites internationally (although the offending websites have been removed since the controversy surrounding the bishops' reinstatement). [15]
One of the bishops whose excommunication was lifted was Richard Williamson, a bishop who believes that there were no gas chambers used in any concentration camp. [16] From this much anger has arisen from Jewish communities, [17] The Jewish Agency for Israel, Yad Vashem, Elie Wiesel (Nobel prize laureate and Holocaust survivor) and the Central Council of Jews in Germany have all condemned the decision to lift the excommunication [11] [18] [19] and the chief Rabbinate of Israel decided to cut ties with the Vatican. The controversy also attracted attention from outside the Jewish community with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling on Benedict to issue a "very clear" rejection of Holocaust denial.
The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that "the condemnation of statements that deny the Holocaust could not have been clearer [20] and that the pope had made his position crystal clear in the past, e.g. in Cologne [3] and Auschwitz. [5] [6] The British newspaper The Guardian reported in February 2009 that as a result of the events surrounding Williamson, Pope Benedict's judgment and ability were now being called into question by numerous voices both within and outside the Roman Catholic Church. [21]
The Vatican officially responded to the row when Father Lombardi, the Pope's press secretary, denied that the lifting of the excommunication endorsed Williamson's stance. He stated that the repeal had "nothing to do with the highly criticisable statements of an individual." [22] [23] [24] Also defending the Pope's actions was Monsignor Robert Wister, professor of church history at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He pointed out that "To deny the Holocaust is not a heresy even though it is a lie ...The excommunication can be lifted because he [Williamson] is not a heretic, but he remains a liar." [25] As the coverage of the controversy escalated the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reaffirmed that Pope Benedict XVI deplored all forms of anti-Semitism and that he called upon all Roman Catholics to follow suit. [26] Benedict later personally declared "full and indisputable solidarity" with Jews, [20] [27] while the Vatican denied that they had any knowledge of Williamson's Holocaust denial. [27]
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev said: “When the highest moral authority of the Church states that Holocaust denial is unacceptable, that is a vital message for the entire world”. [28]
In 2007, Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum which is widely seen as an attempt to heal the rift with the SSPX. [29] [30] The decree allowed for wider use of the Tridentine Mass which includes a Good Friday prayer:
The Anti-Defamation league described Benedict's decision as "a body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations". [32] Some Jewish leaders "feared revival of the prayer would undo four decades of progress following Nostra aetate , the 1965 document that absolved the Jews of the killing of Jesus and marked a new period of Jewish-Catholic relations." [10]
In response to these concerns, Pope Benedict revised the prayer and eliminated all references to the "blindness" and "darkness" of the Jews. David Rosen, chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, told the Jerusalem Post that the removal of references to the “darkness” and the “blindness” of the Jews for refusing to recognize Jesus as the messiah was a sign Pope Benedict was "deeply committed to advancing the relationship with the Jewish Community." [33]
Cardinal Renato Martino had been critical of the 2008-2009 war in Gaza, describing the Strip as a "big concentration camp". This caused a short-lived crisis in Vatican-Israel relations. The Yad Vashem Museum has also continued to display a very negative caption on Pope Pius XII, which has been strongly criticized by the Holy See. The Fundamental Accord of 1993 remains unsettled because of disputes over property rights and tax exemptions.
However, amid claims that the Pope was ruining Jewish-Catholic relations, [34] the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See stated that "the climate is good" and said he believed there was "a lot of potential for the cooperation" between the Vatican and Israel. In May 2009, Pope Benedict XVI visited Israel to stress the shared roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. [35] He said that his pilgrimage to the Middle East was a reminder of the "inseparable bond" between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. He spoke from Mount Nebo, the wind-swept hill overlooking the Jordan valley from where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land. The sun broke through the morning mist just before he arrived at the site. [36]
The Government of Israel also inaugurated a special website dedicated to the Pope’s pilgrimage to Israel. The website, Pope Benedict XVI in Israel, presented in eight languages (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, German and Hebrew), contains information and updates on the Papal pilgrimage, Israel-Vatican relations, Christian communities in Israel and Christian holy sites throughout the country. [37]
The Pope made a speech at Yad Vashem, one of the world's foremost Holocaust museums. The speech expressed "deep compassion" for the "millions of Jews killed," but did not implicate any Catholic guilt for the Holocaust, nor use the words "German", "Nazi", or "murder", nor did he discuss his own personal wartime experience in which he was "registered in the Hitler Youth". It was widely criticized for its banality and its omissions, including by the director of Yad Vashem. The Pope also refused to go inside the museum because the museum paints an unflattering picture of Pius XII, the pope during the Holocaust, "for not doing enough to help save Jews." [38]
Benedict later denounced the "brutal extermination" [39] of Jews by "a godless regime" as he wrapped up his trip to Israel, although once again he didn't explicitly mention the name of that regime (the Nazis or Germans) or any possible guilt on the part of the Church. [40]
According to journalist Richard Boudreaux, Benedict's farewell remarks from the tarmac at Tel Aviv's airport pleased both Israelis and Palestinians, many of whom had initially viewed him with skepticism. Some said later they felt vindication from portions of his carefully worded statements and a measure of respect for his moral authority. [41] The World Jewish Congress subsequently praised the visit, calling it a milestone for understanding between Christians and Jews. [42]
In October 2009, Benedict XVI indicated that he would celebrate the following day of Judaism in 2010 by paying a visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome, which has been similarly visited by Pope John Paul II during his pontificate. [43]
In his 2011 book Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, Pope Benedict exonerated Jews of allegations they were responsible for Jesus Christ’s death, with details and a close comparison of various New Testament accounts of Jesus’ condemnation to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. [44] He concluded that the “real group of accusers” were the Temple authorities and not all Jews of the time, and he wrote that Jesus' death wasn't about punishment, but rather salvation. Jesus' blood, he said, "does not cry out for vengeance and punishment, it brings reconciliation. It is not poured out against anyone, it is poured out for many, for all." [45]
Christian−Jewish reconciliation refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding and acceptance between Christians and Jews. There has been significant progress in reconciliation in recent years, in particular by the Catholic Church, but also by other Christian groups.
Richard Nelson Williamson is a British independent Traditionalist Catholic bishop who opposes the changes in the Church brought about by the Second Vatican Council.
The Catholic Church and Judaism have a long and complex history of cooperation and conflict, and have had a strained relationship throughout history, with periods of persecution, violence and discrimination directed towards Jews by Christians, particularly during the Middle Ages.
Bernard Fellay is a Swiss bishop and former superior general of the Traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). In 1988, Pope John Paul II announced that Fellay and three others were automatically excommunicated for being consecrated as bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, an act that the Holy See described as "unlawful" and "schismatic". Archbishop Lefebvre, and Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer who co-consecrated these four bishops, were also said to be automatically excommunicated. At that time, he was the youngest bishop of the Roman Catholic Church at 30 years old.
The Écône consecrations were Catholic episcopal consecrations in Écône, Switzerland, on 30 June 1988 performed by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer. The bishops consecrated were four priests of Lefebvre's Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The consecrations, performed against the explicit orders of Pope John Paul II, represented a milestone in the troubled relationship of Lefebvre and the SSPX with the Church leadership. The Holy See's Congregation for Bishops issued a decree signed by its Prefect Cardinal Bernardin Gantin declaring that Lefebvre and De Castro Mayer had incurred automatic excommunication by consecrating the bishops without papal consent, thus putting himself and his followers in schism.
Diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of Israel, as well as a concordat defining the status and fiscal and property rights of the Catholic Church and related entities within Israel. Formal diplomatic relations between the two states were established after the adoption of the Fundamental Agreement by the two States on 30 December 1993. A Vatican Nunciature in Israel and an Israeli embassy in Rome were simultaneously opened on 19 January 1994. From the Vatican's point of view, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states is part of the Christian–Jewish reconciliation; and from the Israeli point of view, the normalization of diplomatic relations. Prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations, the interests of the Catholic Church in Israel were looked after by the Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custodian of the Holy Land, all of which continue to function.
Rabbi León Klenicki was an advocate for interfaith relations, particularly between Jews and Catholics. He served as interfaith director of the Anti-Defamation League. He also served as director of the Latin American office of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF) headed by Gary Krupp is a non-sectarian organization whose mission is to identify and eliminate non-theological obstacles between religions. The organization is dedicated to achieving peace by addressing intolerance, furthering education, and practical relations between religions through cultural, technological, and intellectual exchanges. PTWF strives to eliminate the use of religion as a tool to justify conflict.
The Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews is a pontifical commission in the Roman Curia tasked with maintaining positive theological ties with Jews and Judaism. Established on 22 October 1974, it works alongside the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Pope John Paul II worked to improve relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism. He built solid ties with the Jewish community in the hope of promoting Christian–Jewish reconciliation.
The relations between Pope Pius XII and Judaism have long been controversial, especially those questions that surround Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust. Other issues involve Pius's Jewish friendships and his attitude towards the new state of Israel.
The Jewish orphans controversy involved the custody of thousands of Jewish children after the end of World War II. Some Jewish children had been baptized while in the care of Catholic institutions or individual Catholics during the war. Such baptisms allowed children to be identified as Catholics to avoid deportation and incarceration in concentration camps, and likely death in the Holocaust. After the end of hostilities, Catholic Church officials, either Pope Pius XII or other prelates, issued instructions for the treatment and disposition of such Jewish children, some, but not all, of whom were now orphans. The rules they established, the authority that issued those rules, and their application in specific cases is the subject of investigations by journalists and historians.
The papacy of Pius XII began on 2 March 1939 and continued to 9 October 1958, covering the period of the Second World War and the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were murdered by Adolf Hitler's Germany. Before becoming pope, Cardinal Pacelli served as a Vatican diplomat in Germany and as Vatican Secretary of State under Pius XI. His role during the Nazi period has been closely scrutinised and criticised. His supporters argue that Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing his Church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Pius maintained links to the German Resistance, and shared intelligence with the Allies. His strongest public condemnation of genocide was, however, considered inadequate by the Allied Powers, while the Nazis viewed him as an Allied sympathizer who had dishonoured his policy of Vatican neutrality.
The relations between Pope John XXIII and Judaism are generally thought to have been among the best in the bi-millennial history of Christianity. The Pope initiated a policy of Christian–Jewish reconciliation after his election to the papacy in 1959, which focused on the Second Vatican Council producing a document on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jews. During his earlier career in the diplomatic service, especially during World War II, he had taken a series of actions that demonstrated his solidarity with victims of anti-Semitism.
Yad Vashem, the state of Israel's official Holocaust memorial, has generally been critical of Pope Pius XII, the pope during The Holocaust. For decades, Pius XII has been nominated unsuccessfully for recognition as Righteous Among the Nations, an honor Yad Vashem confers on non-Jews who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust altruistically and at risk to their own lives.
Sister Margherita Marchione was an American Roman Catholic sister, writer, teacher and apologeticist, who dedicated herself in her later years to the defense of Pope Pius XII.
The canonization process of Pope Pius XII dates to shortly after his death in 1958. He was declared a servant of God in 1990 and venerable in 2009. Father Peter Gumpel was the relator of Pius XII's cause for canonization. The potential beatification of Pius XII has raised concern, especially by Jewish organisations, because of his controversial record during the Holocaust. The objections especially arise because of the refusal by the Vatican to allow independent access to the Vatican's archives for the period of Pius XII's papacy.
Richard Prasquier is a French cardiologist and Jewish leader. He served as president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) from 2007 to 2013.
The Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah (Holocaust) was the first official Vatican commemoration of the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. It took place in the Sala Nervi at the Vatican on April 7, 1994. The concert was conceived and created at the direct behest of Pope John Paul II by the American conductor Gilbert Levine, who had first met the Pope after he was appointed artistic director and conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic, in December 1987. Pope John Paul II, Rav Elio Toaff, the Chief Rabbi of Italy, and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, President of Italy jointly presided over the event, and viewed it from positions of equal honor.
During the Holocaust, the Catholic Church played a role in the rescue of hundreds of thousands of Jews from being murdered by the Nazis. Members of the Church, through lobbying of Axis officials, provision of false documents, and the hiding of people in monasteries, convents, schools, among families and the institutions of the Vatican itself, saved hundreds of thousands of Jews. The Israeli diplomat and historian Pinchas Lapide estimated the figure at between 700,000 and 860,000, although the figure is contested.
{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022 | ||
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