It would be difficult to find a Jewish person who does not feel Karol
Wojtyla to have been a very special, in fact, an extraordinary, human
being.
Asked to comment on Pope Wojtyla’s beatification,
Rabbi David Rosen, Director of International Interreligious Relations
for the American Jewish Committee, said, “While beatification is a
Catholic procedure with its own internal character, it is universally
perceived as a moral statement about the person concerned and his/her
record.
Among Blessed John Paul II’s most notable and public
demonstrations, were his unique and historic contributions to
Catholic/Jewish reconciliation. It was in this light that world Jewry
overwhelmingly celebrated his beatification.”
John Paul II’s historic visit to Rome’s Main
Synagogue and lifelong friendship with Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff, his
calling a Summit of world religious leaders to pray for peace in Assisi,
his unconventional personal intervention in the Auschwitz Carmelite
Convent dispute, his decision to open diplomatic relations with Israel,
his pilgrimage to the Jewish State and his poignant, unforgettable act
of penance in slipping a prayer into the Western Wall requesting
forgiveness for the harm done by the “sons and daughters of the Church”
to “the children of Abraham”, his countless visits to Jewish
communities during his travels – are but a small part of the long list
of John Paul II’s deeds aimed at communicating his – and the Catholic
Church’s - commitment to reconciliation and a new relationship between
Catholics and Jews and all other religions.
“Vatican Insider” contacted many Jewish friends in different walks of life to hear their spontaneous reactions to John Paul II’s recent beatification.
David Gerbi, an Italian Jewish Jungian
psychologist of Libyan origin, said that while for him there was no
religious significance to beatification – just as there was none for him
in Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca – he felt the Jewish world was deeply
moved by John Paul II’s many conciliatory gestures, “especially his
friendship with Rome’s former Chief Rabbi, Elio Toaff, who is one of
only three people remembered by John Paul II in his Testament.”
Ariel Dumont, a French journalist living in Rome
confirms that beatification has no personal meaning for her as a Jew,
but that perhaps the ceremony also served to distract people’s attention
from current problems and scandals plaguing the Catholic Church. She
too praises John Paul II as having been “highly charismatic, a master of
communication.” She finds his papacy to have been “of great political
importance. I remember his eyes,” she recalls, “his expression when I saw him during World Youth Day – so warm and engaging.”
The Viennese born rabbi, Arthur Schneier, who
received John Paul II in his synagogue in New York in 2008, also
stresses the political aspects of the Wojtyla papacy, recalling joint
efforts of Schneier’s Appeal of Conscience Foundation and the Vatican in
working for religious freedom in the former Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe. “John Paul II was very sensitive to the Shoah and Jewish
suffering, and he made major contributions to Catholic-Jewish relations
by recognizing Israel, reconfirming the ‘Nostra Aetate’ guidelines. and
in condemning anti-Semitism as a Sin against God and Man.”
Daria Nahum, who directs the Jewish bookshop near
the Rome Synagogue recalls her attendance along with a substantial
number of Jewish friends at the commemoration of John Paul II’s
beatification in the Rome Auditorium, where Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di
Segni spoke in honor of the Pope’s memory. “Apart from his
beatification, about which I have no feelings, I certainly think of John
Paul II as a distinguished, unforgettable, exceptional human being” she
said. As an afterthought she added, “Perhaps, if I were a Catholic, I
would be disturbed by the cover-ups of pedophile scandals throughout all
past papacies….”
Prof. Giacomo Saban, an émigré from Istanbul who
served as President of the Rome Jewish Community during John Paul II’s
historic visit to the Synagogue in 1986, said “the simple fact – the
image - of his visit, of his embrace with Chief Rabbi Toaff, shattered the age-old stereotype of
Jews being ‘cursed’ and ‘untouchable’. John Paul II had enormous
charisma. I remember the young people in the Synagogue being won over
by his smile and way of talking. He was very sincere about his wish to
improve relations between Catholics and Jews.”
Minister Peled declared that as a survivor, he found John Paul II’s beatification “particularly important”.
“This man”, he said, “born in a period of publicly
approved anti-Semitism, stood up and challenged those who wanted to
subjugate the spirit of the human race…the image of his encounter with
his childhood friends in Poland and his slipping a prayer into the
Western Wall are still fresh in my mind. His decision to initiate
diplomatic relations with Israel among many other things, made possible
the start of a new relationship between Christians and Jews. Probably no other man is more fitting to represent the true spirit of Christianity” he concluded.
Others who attended the May 1 event were Prof.
Marco Morselli co-president of the Rome Jewish Christian Friendship
Association, in representation of Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni; myself
as AJC’s Liaison to the Holy See and in representation of Rabbi David
Rosen, AJC’s Director of International Interreligious Affairs; and the
renowned conductor, Sir Gilbert Levine, who was a personal friend of
John Paul II.
“His Holiness John Paul II was the most inspiring, the most generous patron any artist could imagine” said Sir Gilbert. “I
was privileged to create and conduct numerous concerts with his direct
creative and spiritual impetus and support, at the Vatican and in great
cities around the world, for more than 17 years. Intended as concerts to
bring together the world’s diverse religions in peace and harmony, the
most historic were his Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah of 1994
and the Papal Concert of Reconciliation of 2004.”
Pope Wojtyla and he, Sir Gilbert Levine recalls,
“prayed together, conversed together, smiled together, with him teaching
me more about the world than I could ever hope to learn, deepening my
Jewish faith all the while. A relationship that ennobles my art
immeasurably to this day.” The story of this rather unique friendship
can be read in the conductor’s autobiographic book, “The Pope’s
Maestro.”
John Paul II had other close Jewish friends,
such as his childhood classmate, Jerzy Kluger, who lives in Rome and
regularly came to visit him.
As today’s Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni
recalls, there was “a special feeling”, between the Pope and Rome’s
former Chief Rabbi, Elio Toaff, who welcomed him to the Synagogue in 1986.
Toaff who turned 96 on the day of Karol Wojtyla’s beatification,
contributed words of praise in the May 3 issue of “L’Osservatore
Romano.”
“The memory of Karol Wojtyla will remain indelible
in the collective memory of the Jewish People, with his call for
brotherhood and for a spirit of tolerance foreign to all violence…the
heritage of John Paul II endures as one of the few spiritual islands
guaranteeing the survival and spiritual progress of mankind.”
In the same issue there was another tribute by
Rabbi Di Segni . Beginning by stating that “a Jewish View must
necessarily distinguish between the human values demonstrated by this
Pope and any theological considerations that might still separate us”,
hd sai “John Paul II brought about a revolution, breaking down the
thousand year old wall of diffidence against the Jewish world. He conveyed a great sentiment of sympathy.
His visit to the Synagogue of Rome, to Israel, his initiating diplomatic relations with
the Jewish State, were fundamental steps. Obviously, the process of
beatification is totally extraneous to the Jewish mentality, but we must
conceive this great day in Rome in honor of John Paul II as an
important manifestation of religious sentiment--“ He later added , “This Pope was able to break the ice and today we all realize that his gesture has changed the atmosphere of our relations forever.”
Rabbi James Rudin, AJC’s Senior Interreligious
Adviser, commented on the beatification in an article for Religious News
Service with the paradoxical title, “John Paul II, the Jewish Saint”.
“When the Vatican beatifies someone and places
the person just one step away from sainthood, it usually attracts scant
attention among Jews because it is correctly perceived as an internal
church process” wites Rabbi Rudin.
“But the recent
beatification – and likely canonization – of the late Pope John Paul II
is different. The Jewish community remembers the Polish-born Karol
Wojtyla as the best Pope the Jews ever had. As he moves along the path
to sainthood, Jews are among those cheering him on” .
“The tragedy of the Holocaust and a warm personal
relationship with Jews were both etched into the Pope’s head and heart”
Rudin continues.
“During the 27 – year pontificate John Paul’s positive actions earned him an honoured place in Jewish history.”