Ultra-traditionalist
Roman Catholics have openly challenged Pope Francis by disrupting one
of his favorite events, an interfaith ceremony in the Metropolitan
Cathedral meant to promote religious harmony on the anniversary of the
beginning of the Holocaust.
The annual gathering of Catholics, Jews and Protestants marks
Kristallnacht, the Nazi-led mob violence in 1938 when about 1,000 Jewish
synagogues were burned and thousands of Jews were forced into
concentration camps, launching the genocide that killed 6 million Jews.
Before he assumed the papacy, Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario
Bergoglio and his good friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka led the ceremony
every year.
A small group disrupted Tuesday night’s ceremony by shouting
the rosary and the “Our Father” prayer, and spreading pamphlets saying
that “followers of false gods must be kept out of the sacred temple.”
Buenos
Aires Archbishop Mario Poli, named by Francis to replace him as
Argentina’s top church official, appealed for calm as others in the
audience rose up to repudiate the protesters, who were soon escorted out
by police.
“Let there be peace. Shalom,” Poli then said, urging everyone to take their seats.
“Dear Jewish brothers, please feel at home, because that’s the way
Christians want it, despite these signs of intolerance,” Poli said.
“Your presence here doesn’t desecrate a temple of God. We will continue
in peace this encounter that Pope Francis always promoted, valued and
appreciated so much.”
Skorka, who co-wrote a book of dialogues
with Bergoglio seeking common ground between Judaism and Catholicism,
described the incident in an interview with Radio 10 on Wednesday.
“The cathedral was full, with people standing, prepared for a profound
act of introspection, when a group of about 40 people began to recite
from the Christian liturgy, the ‘Our Father,’ and began to hand out
little pieces of paper saying that Jews were blaspheming the place,”
Skorka said.
Skorka said protesters made cutting comments like
“the Jews killed Jesus.” He said one Jew confronted them, saying, “My
grandmother died in Auschwitz,” to which an activist replied, “Do you
belive that lie?”
The Rev. Christian Bouchacourt, the South
America leader of the Society of Saint Pius X, said Wednesday that the
protesters belong to his organization and that they have a right to feel
outraged when rabbis preside over a ceremony in a cathedral.
“I recognize the authority of the pope, but he is not infallible and in
this case does things we cannot accept,” Bouchacourt said in an
interview with Radio La Red.
“This wasn’t a desire to make a
rebellion, but to show our love to the Catholic Church, which was made
for the Catholic faith,” Bouchacourt said. “A Mass isn’t celebrated in a
synagogue, nor in a mosque. The Muslims don’t accept it. In the same
way, we who are Catholics cannot accept the presence of another faith in
our church.”
The Vatican spokesman declined to comment, saying the issue was outside his normal area of jurisdiction.
The
Society of St. Pius X is a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics
who are attached to the old Latin Mass and follow the late Archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre, who founded the Swiss-based society in 1969 in
opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
The
Vatican II meetings made a point of reaching out to Jews and people of
other faiths.
Lefebvre and four of his bishops were excommunicated
after he consecrated them without papal consent in a schismatic act.
The excommunications were lifted in 2009 but the group still has no
legal standing in the church.
Pope Benedict made reconciling with
the society a priority, but Pope Francis has made clear he has little
interest in courting the traditionalists.
The same society was in
the news in October when one of its Italian priests offered to celebrate
the funeral of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke after the Rome
archdiocese refused to allow him a church funeral.
The society’s funeral
service was later called off at the last minute because protesters and
Priebke’s supporters clashed outside.