WHAT DOES KAROL WOJTYLA’S BEATIFICATION MEAN TO JEWS? For “Vatican Insider” By Lisa Palmieri-Billig The figure of John Paul II elicits a wide variety of positive reactions in the Jewish world, ranging from distant respect to warm, very emotional appreciation, depending on the personal life history of each individual Jew. However, it would be difficult to find a Jewish person who does not feel that Karol Wojtyla was a very special, in fact, an extraordinary, human being. The act of beatification, on the other hand, is extraneous to the Jewish mentality, since the concept of sainthood does not exist in Judaism, which teaches veneration for God alone. However, saints serve as moral examples in Catholic education, and Jewish leaders recognize their potentials for a positive or negative influence on inter-religious relations. For example, the sainthoods or proposed sainthoods of Pius XII, Edith Stein, Pius IX, are perceived as problematic role models, each for a different reason. But in the case of John Paul II, only positive feelings emerge, based on a deep appreciation for his proven commitment to safeguarding the destiny of the Jewish People and on the many ways he showed respect for the Jewish religion. 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.” Wojtyla walked with giant steps up the road of reconciliation first paved by his spiritual predecessor, John XXIII. Pope Roncalli was the first Pope to stop in front of the Main Synagogue of Rome and bless Jewish children returning from prayers. He was the first to abolish the term “perfidious Jews” from Good Friday services and he was the Pope who called for the Second Vatican Council which, without his impetus, would not have produced the document, “Nostra Aetate” that was to delegitimize forever the nefarious “deicide” accusation and all associated theological justifications for what used to be a widespread “teaching of contempt” against Jews. That many pre-World War II circles of Catholic leadership and their followers were conditioned by a false and perverse © 2011 La Stampa - LaStampa.it All rights reserved. interpretation of the Gospels, was brought to John XXIII’s attention by the Jewish historian and Holocaust survivor, Jules Isaac. Already sensitized by his own experiences with persecuted Jews as Papal Nuncio during the war, Roncalli immediately accepted the imperative that the disparaging theological and social atmosphere which enabled Nazi anti-Semitism to take root and lead to the tragedy of the Shoah, had to be changed and abolished, once and for all. The Polish Pope elected nearly two decades later, was also a personal witness of the Holocaust. He could not halt the persecution, deportation and decimation of his Jewish classmates, who comprised about one fourth of the entire student body in Wadowice, Karol Wojtyla’s home town. These painful wartime memories, along with his joyful recollections of “Friday afternoons, Sabbath candles in the windows, psalms being sung, children’s voices….” (as he recalled to an AJC delegation in 1990). together with his intimate religious conviction that the Jewish People are “the dearly beloved elder brothers of the ancient covenant never broken and never to be broken” and that the Holocaust was “the worst trauma of the 20 th century, and Christians and Jews must work together to make sure it never happens again” (as he said in 1994 to Rabbi David Rosen and myself during a private audience in Assisi following our participation in an interreligious prayer for the Balkans) constituted the psychic background that compelled John Paul II to move forward with determination, knocking down one barrier after another. His 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 unforgettable act of penance in slipping a prayer into the Western Wall asking 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 public actions aimed at communicating his – and the Catholic Church’s -- commitment to a new relationship between religions and above all, between Catholics and Jews. “Vatican Insider” contacted many Jewish friends in different walks of life to hear their spontaneous reactions to John Paul II’s recent beatification. Their responses were very similar, despite their different levels of familiarity with the history of Catholic-Jewish relations. David Gerbi, an Italian Jewish Jungian psychologist of Libyan origin, said that as a Jew he is unable to conceptualize the religious values attributed to beatification - just as he is unable to understand the religious significance of a Muslim’s pilgrimage to Mecca - but as an Italian citizen he recognizes that John Paul II fully merited international acclaim. “The Jewish world is moved by his © 2011 La Stampa - LaStampa.it All rights reserved. many conciliatory gestures and especially his friendship with Rome’s former Chief Rabbi, Elio Toaff, who received the Pope in the Main Synagogue and who is mentioned in John Paul II’s Testament together with only two other people. John Paul II’s openings to the Jewish People were inclusive and revolutionary. He was the first Pope in history to have travelled the short distance across the Tiber to enter a synagogue.” Ariel Dumont, a French Jewish journalist living in Rome, who also admits the beatification has no personal meaning for her, believes that this ceremony also served a political function in distracting people’s attention from the current problems and scandals plaguing the Catholic Church. However, she too feels that John Paul II was “highly charismatic, a master of communication and that his papacy was 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 Vienna born rabbi, Arthur Schneier, who received John Paul II in his Park East Synagogue in New York in 2008, also stresses the political aspects of the Wojtyla papacy, recalling the joint efforts of Schneier’s Appeal of Conscience Foundation and the Vatican in working towards religious freedom in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. “John Paul II was very sensitive to Jewish suffering related to the Shoah, and made major contributions to Catholic-Jewish relations by recognizing Israel, reconfirming the ‘Nostra Aetate’ guidelines. and being outspoken in condemning anti-Semitism as a Sin against God and Man.” Daria Nahum, who directs the Jewish bookshop near the Rome Synagogue recalls that the commemoration of John Paul II’s beatification organized by the City of Rome in the Auditorium was attended by a substantial delegation of the Jewish Community, headed by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni who spoke in Wojtyla’s honor. “I have no feelings regarding his beatification, but John Paul II was certainly a distinguished, memorable, exceptional human being.” She added as an afterthought “Perhaps if I were Catholic, I would be disturbed about the Church’s cover-ups of the pedophile scandals that took place throughout all the papacies.” Prof. Giacomo Saban, who emigrated to Rome from Istanbul, formerly taught Mathematics at Rome University and served as President of the Rome Jewish Community during John Paul II’s historic visit to the Synagogue in 1986, recalls that “the simple fact – the image itself - of his visit, of his embrace with Chief Rabbi Toaff, shattered an age-old stereotype of Jews being ‘cursed’ and ‘untouchable’. John Paul II had enormous charisma. He made a big impression on the young people in the Synagogue. They were all very impressed by his smile and way of talking. He was very sincere about his wish to improve relations between Catholics and Jews.” © 2011 La Stampa - LaStampa.it All rights reserved. Because beatification is not a Jewish concept, most Jewish leaders observed the beatification event at St. Peter’s last May 1 from a distance, with silent approval. Some, however, wished to openly express their esteem by attending the ceremony. Most notably, the State of Israel sent a delegation accompanied by Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy and led by Minister Yossi Peled, a Holocaust survivor saved by a Belgian Catholic family. The delegation also included Ambassador Bahig Mansour, Director of Israel’s Department of Interreligious Affairs. Minister Peled declared that as a survivor, he found John Paul II’s beatification “particularly significant”. “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.” Referring to the Pope’s trip to Israel, he said, “The image of his encounter with his childhood friends in Poland is still fresh in my mind.” Recalling John Paul II’s prayer for forgiveness at the Western Wall and his decision to initiate diplomatic relations with Israel, Minister Peled said John Paul II “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.