The Pope Francis effect has even spread to Forward’s
50 top American Jews list for this year.
Forward magazine, the historic
voice of American liberal Judaism, decided to add Bergoglio to the 2013
edition of Forward 50, its annual list of top Jewish-American
figures.
The reason for this “endorsement” is party due to an umpteenth
attempt to launch an attack on Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI.
As he is not Jewish, Francis has been added to the
magazine’s “PLUS” list. The accompanying note included in the Pope’s
profile explains the reason why he was chosen: “After eight months as
head of the world’s 1 billion Roman Catholics (not to mention 10 million
Twitter followers), the new pontiff — the first from outside Europe —
has made improving relations with the Jewish world a key goal.”
The
magazine adds that “the only book he has penned is an extraordinary
dialogue with a rabbi who had become fast friends with then-Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio in their native Argentina.”
But amidst all this praise, Forward 50 adds
that “It wouldn’t be tough to improve on the tone set by his
predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who refused all access to the Holocaust
archives and fast-tracked sainthood for the controversial Pope Pius XII,
who many accuse of staying silent in the face of Hitler’s slaughter.”
In doing so the magazine fuels the stereotypical contrast drawn between
Poep Francis and Benedict XVI, with this statement on Ratzinger’s
relationship with Judaism, which seems discredited by the obvious
prejudice shown. The usual reference to Pius XII’s controversial
beatification is not missing either.
Forward also
makes a completely false statement regarding the Vatican archives: When
he was Pope, Benedict XVI opened up the archives making available all
material relating to the pontificate of Pius XI and therefore the year
1939 – a crucial period in terms of the Nazi persecution of Jews.
Pacelli was Vatican Secretary of State at the time. Ratzinger’s attitude
towards the documents on Pius XII’s pontificate was the same as
Wojtyla’s. He said the documents would be made public once the
cataloguing process was complete.
In a public statement made during the
prtesentation of the Lux in Arcana exhibition, Tarcisio Bertone,
who was Secretary of State at the time (in February 2012, when Benedict
XVI was still Pope) estimated the waiting period to be a couple of
years. This means that even without Francis’ election, the time of the
opening of the Pius XII archives was very near anyway.
So the basis of Forward’s
accusations against Benedict XVI – who is put across as the obstacle to
the opening of the Vatican archives dating back to the Holocaust period
- remains unclear.
Another point that should be born in mind, is that
the magazine does not quote Benedict XVI’s specific theological
pronouncements on the subject. It simply expresses the hope that
Francis’ attitude will influence the way in which all Christians view
Jews.
Many Jewish observers recognise that Ratzinger went further than
any other Pope in this field.
The speeches he gave in Cologne Synagogue
in 2005 and in the Great Synagogue of Rome in 2010 are proof of this.