Pope Francis Calls Christians to Stand United with Jews in Condemning Anti-Semitism

Christian Times ^ | 23 April, 2015 | Monica Cantilero

[Mrs. Don-o]

Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, left, shakes hands with Pope Francis during their meeting in the Vatican on April 20, 2015.

Pope Francis called on Christians to stand united with Jews to defend themselves against discrimination and persecution.

The Pope made the call during a meeting with a 30-member delegation from the Conference of European Rabbis on Monday at the Vatican.

The highest leader of the Catholic Church cited the "troubling" anti-Semitic movements in Europe, in his address to rabbis who met with him in anticipation of the 50th anniversary in October of the "Nostra Aetate," the Second Vatican Council's declaration on relations with the Jews, Muslims and other religions.

"Anti-Semitic trends in Europe these days are troubling, as are certain acts of hatred and violence. Every Christian must be firm in deploring all forms of anti-Semitism, and in showing their solidarity with the Jewish people," said the Pope.

He also said the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, is a reminder that persecution against followers of religions should be denounced.

"Recently we marked the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the concentration camp which has come to be synonymous with the great tragedy of the Shoah. The memory of what took place there, in the heart of Europe, is a warning to present and future generations," th Pope said.

Pope Francis also maintained that Jews and Christians are bound by duty to "preserve the religious sense" amid an increasingly secular and atheist society.

"Today, in Europe, it is more important than ever to emphasize the spiritual and religious dimension of human life," he said. "In a society increasingly marked by secularism and threatened by atheism, we run the risk of living as if God did not exist. People are often tempted to take the place of God, to consider themselves the criterion of all things, to control them, to use everything according to their own will."

"It is so important to remember, however, that our life is a gift from God, and that we must depend on him, confide in him, and turn towards him always," Pope Francis said. "Jews and Christians have the blessing but also the responsibility to help preserve the religious sense of the men and women of today, and that of our society, by our witness to the sanctity of God and human life. God is holy, and the life he has given is holy and inviolable."

The Pope also condemned persecution against the faithful in other regions. "Acts of hatred and violence against Christians and the faithful of other religions must likewise be condemned everywhere," he said.

The chief rabbi of Moscow and the president of the conference, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, said: "We express our deepest sympathy, prayers and support for the Christians in the Middle East."

The chief rabbi said the Jewish community values the Nostra Aetate's "rejection of every persecution against any man," its condemnation of "displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any time and by anyone," as well as its recognition of the spiritual patrimony that Jews and Christians have.

Rabbi Goldschmidt expressed alarm at the rising secularism in Europe. "Who would have thought even 25 years ago that the East will become the defender of traditional religious values while the West has embraced a secularism which moves it away from its Judeo-Christian heritage," he said.

Goldschmidt asked Pope Francis "to help build new bridges and bring the East and the West back from the brink of war, to a unified and peaceful Europe and the world."

[Mrs. Don-o]

"Judeo-Christian heritage"

Remember that?

[Tax-chick]

I may stop by later and see how many people think this is a bad thing because it’s Pope Francis. There sure were a lot who objected to God’s mercy.

[BlueDragon]

Pope Francis Calls Christians to Stand United with Jews in Condemning Anti-Semitism

Well welcome aboard, Pope-baby. The party has been going on for a while...

Who has been the biggest supporters of Israel for the last 60 years or so -- who bigger than American Evangelicals?

If the house is a-rockin'
don't bother knockin'

House is a rockin'
don't bother knockin'

House is a-rockin' don't bother

come on in

[chajin]

I may stop by later and see how many people think this is a bad thing because it’s Pope Francis.

Knoteye. When the head of the largest percentage of the grafted people of God stands with the natural-branch people of God, I stand with him, and so does God.

[kidd]

Myself, I’ve never understood anti-Semitism

There’s nothing in the Bible that changes their status from God’s Chosen People to something else.

If the anti-Semitism stems from the Crucifixion, it seems to me that the Romans (modern Italians) are equally culpable. But anti-Italianism is almost non-existant.

Sure, a large majority of American Jews are liberals or democrats, but that is individual behavior. I know several conservative Jews that make up for some of the liberalism of most Jews.

[af_vet_1981]

"Every Christian must be firm in deploring all forms of anti-Semitism, and in showing their solidarity with the Jewish people," said the Pope.

He also said the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, is a reminder that persecution against followers of religions should be denounced.

"Recently we marked the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the concentration camp which has come to be synonymous with the great tragedy of the Shoah. The memory of what took place there, in the heart of Europe, is a warning to present and future generations," th Pope said.

Pope Francis also maintained that Jews and Christians are bound by duty to "preserve the religious sense" amid an increasingly secular and atheist society.

Thank you for posting this.

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis, Catholic chapter twelve, Protestant verse three,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[Dqban22]

Pope Francis is correct in reiterating The Church condemnation of anti-Semitism maintained during the last centuries.

In 1928 the Holy Office had already condemned anti-Semitism. On September 6, 1938, Pius XI told a group of Belgian pilgrims: “Through Christ and in Christ, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham.” Incontrovertible facts prove the extraordinary efforts that Pius XI, Pius XII, and the Catholic Church made in saving the Jews during the Holocaust.

Pope Pius XII’s first Encyclical, “Summi Pontificatus”, in 1939, attacks Nazism and Communism

Pius XII’s first encyclical on October 27, 1939, “Summi Pontificatus” reiterated the attack on the German regime and the Gestapo was ordered to prevent its distribution. In it, the Pope declared his position “against exacerbated nationalism, the idolatry of the state, totalitarianism, racism, the cult of brutal force, contempt of international agreements”, against all the characteristics of Hitler’s political system; he laid the responsibility for the scourge of the war on these aberrations. The Allies airdropped 88,000 copies of the Encyclical over Germany.

[Jeff Chandler]

I’ve never understood anti-Semitism

The disciples were despised by the Jewish leaders, and the feeling was mutual. The strongest feuds usually being between relatives, the Jews and the Christian Jews bore animosity towards each other that carried over through the ages.

In addition, although European Jews were barred from trade guilds, educated Jews prospered in business and finance, prompting envy among poor gentiles.

And then there is the fact that people are idiots.

[Tax-chick]

I agree with both of you.

[Salvation]

I agree.

[Resettozero]

Pope Francis called on Christians to stand united with Jews to defend themselves against discrimination and persecution.

I join with Francis in his call for Christians to stand with Jews to defend themselves against discrimination and persecution. Does he intend to call for Catholics to do the same?

[Dqban22]

Aren’t Catholics also Christians?

Is not new the solidarity of Catholics with the Jews during their worse travails.

While FDR closed for the Jews the doors of U.S. and Britain closed Palestine for the fleeing Jews from Nazi occupied Europe, Pius XII created agencies to coordinate relief work. American Jews and Cardinal Spellman channeled throughout the Pope generous humanitarian aid for the Jews.

From the first days of the war, Pope Pius XII distributed untold sums to aid the Jews all over Nazi occupied Europe. One of Pius XII’s first steps at the beginning of the War was the creation of two official agencies with pontifical rank to coordinate relief work, the Pontifical Aid Commission and the Office for Information. The first body, in liaison with local organizations, channeled supplies of food, medicine, and clothing, to the needy, to the prisoners of war in particular. It was a task of vast proportions involving 40 countries; financial grants were provided for the repatriation of 630,000 displaced persons; full responsibility was taken for 53,000 victims. Church authorities joined forces with national and international Jewish agencies. American Jews also trusted on the hands of the Pope large sums that were distributed according to the wishes of the donors. Cardinal Spellman also channeled generous humanitarian aid from the U.S. Catholics.

The Vatican Information Office handled over one and a quarter million requests and succeeded in locating over half a million of the displaced persons, mostly Jews, a success ratio of 44 percent, in spite of the non cooperation from the Nazis and little, if at all, cooperation from the Allies. The communication with prisoners of war was another of its important services. Both Agencies were under the direction of Msgr. Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI.

[Resettozero]

Aren’t Catholics also Christians?

If uncertain, it's important that one know for sure.

[caww]

....Rabbi Goldschmidt expressed alarm at the rising secularism in Europe. ....”Who would have thought even 25 years ago that the East will become the defender of traditional religious values while the West has embraced a secularism which moves it away from its Judeo-Christian heritage,” he said.....

I rather liked what the Rabbi said....

[af_vet_1981]

Aren’t Catholics also Christians?

Yes, and yes to the corollary questions, "Are Jews also human beings ? Do Jews also worship the same God of Abraham as Christians worship ? Are the Jews the brethren of the Messiah ?"

I know what some Catholics and Protestants did help Jews during the Holocaust, as well as some governments, and I am grateful for what help was given. There will be a judgment, and the sheep will be separated from the goats.

The Nazi rise to power in Germany was greeted by most Christians in Germany with optimism. They welcomed the new regime and particularly embraced its nationalism, and both the Catholic and Protestant churches there pursued a course of compromise and accommodation with the regime, particularly when conflicts arose over Nazi state interference with church programs. Among European ecumenical leaders, there were worries about the possible anti-Christian repercussions of a fascist ideology and fears of renewed German militarism under Nazism. In 1933 most European and US Christian leaders, however, took a "wait and see" attitude.

Throughout the Christian world, there was little condemnation of the most striking and ominous element of Nazi ideology: its virulent antisemitism and its threat to remove Jews from all aspects of German society. Indeed, many Christian leaders before and throughout the Nazi era cited Christian teachings as a justification for anti-Jewish rhetoric and policies.

Some church leaders, however, did protest against the Nazi treatment of the Jews and attempted to help refugees fleeing Nazism. In the United States, many of these leaders had been involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue and interfaith work before 1933.

This interreligious cooperation arose from the common ground of religious concern on social justice issues, particularly labor issues and civil rights. This engagement, which often began locally, sparked national institutional commitments to interreligious understanding. In 1923 the Federal Council of Churches (the FCC, precursor of today’s National Council of Churches) established a sub-committee, the Commission on International Justice and Goodwill, to reduce anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic, and racial prejudice. This Commission worked throughout the 1920s to promote increased local contacts among the three major faiths. This led to the founding of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) in 1928. The NCCJ promoted a number of initiatives to foster interreligious understanding, ranging from pulpit exchanges to discussion groups where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews explained points of doctrine to one another. Early Christian and Jewish leaders who were involved included FCC president Rev. Samuel Cavert, NCCJ president Rev. Everett Clinchy, Rabbi Stephen Wise, Jonah Wise, and Felix Warburg.

In Europe, those who spoke out included ecumenical Protestant leaders, who helped create a network of small resistance and rescue movements throughout Europe.

Bishop William T. Manning and Rabbi Stephen Wise attend a mass rally. Bishop William T. Manning (lower left) and Rabbi Stephen Wise (center) attend a mass rally at Madison Square Garden. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

By the beginning of April 1933, when 3,000 Jewish refugees had arrived in Switzerland, Swiss Protestant church president Henry Henriod sent a message to the German churches asking for a clear position of protest against Nazi measures. That same month, French Protestant leader Wilfred Monod published an open letter welcoming the Jews coming from Germany to France. In May 1933, British Bishop George Bell wrote Hermann Kapler, president of the German Church Federation, of his concern about actions against the Jews. At the ecumenical World Alliance conference in Sofia, Bularia, in September 1933, the delegates passed a resolution condemning the Nazi actions against the Jews: “We especially deplore the fact that the state measures against the Jews in Germany have had such an effect on public opinion that in some circles the Jewish race is considered a race of inferior status.” These Christian leaders eventually became part of a network, coordinated primarily from the Protestant ecumenical offices in Geneva, that aided Jews throughout Europe.

Thus, there were significant but isolated voices of protest. Many of these statements drew on church teachings about compassion and social justice, as well as church commitments to civil liberties. Yet, they appear to have found little resonance within the broader community of lay Christians at the time. And, although they did lay a foundation for Christians after 1945 to wrestle theologically with the reality of what had happened during the Holocaust, most of them did not yet confront the theological reality revealed in the Holocaust: that centuries of anti-Jewish teachings by the Christian churches had helped to create a culture in which the genocide of millions of Jewish men, women, and children was possible. Only after 1945 would the Christian churches throughout the world begin to confront the deeper theological challenges of the Holocaust for Christian faith and teaching.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Not quite sure what you mean.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I sure have been a long-time appreciator of Evangelical support of Israel.

Have you seen this great YouTube? Hava Nagila Texas Style! Sure to make you smile.

[Mrs. Don-o]

:o)

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks for this info. INteresting!

[tanknetter]

American Evangelical support doesn’t count. They just want a strong Israel to precipitate a nuclear war in the ME that will trigger the return of Christ.

/sarc