Jewish Reflections on John Paul II

April 8, 2005 
Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

In the Midrash on Ecclesiastes (1:13) it says: "No man leaves the world with half of his desires fulfilled." In this week of homage to Pope John Paul II the life of his papacy is being scrutinized from every perspective. It is an understatement to say, that a man who ruled over approximately one acre of land without an army or air force, whose weapons were words and whose armor was faith, was one of the prime forces to affect human destiny for over a quarter of a century. He wielded the power of his position with delicate skill and guided the Catholic Church during internal controversy amid a contentious world. To me, like most, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow. While the world had its own agenda, we were seeking a Pope that would continue the work of Pope John XXIII. We did not know what to expect of this new Polish Pope. In reflection over the twenty-six years of his reign it would be proper, appropriate and necessary to say, that a better, more divinely chosen individual could not have been selected by the College of Cardinals. I dare say that they didn't know what they had done. Yet like the quote from Ecclesiastes, our view of the man and legacy must be balanced, for only part of our hopes were fulfilled, maybe even more than we could have expected, yet there remain issues for his successor that are unresolved. In contemplation of the wider panorama, we should not lose sight of our continuing agenda, even as we give thanks to God and praise the name of Pope John Paul II.

To properly appreciate the magnitude of these issues that connect Judaism and the Jewish with the Catholic Church we must view the core issue in which Pope John Paul II was a revolutionary. He reinforced, exemplified, spoke consistently and unhesitantly in changing and repudiating the basic belief of the Church in supersessionsism: That the Church had replaced Israel in the covenant with God because of the Crucifixion. All issues between the Catholic Church and Judaism must be seen through this prism. He changed the tenor, tone and substance of the relationship of the Church to the Jewish people and Judaism. While it has been a process begun with Pope John XXIII and it is not completed, yet it has been brought to an extremely high level of fruition by this Pope. For this we give thanks and give praise.

What are key pieces in our unfinished or differing agenda that remains for his successor? Rabbi Leon Klenicki, former director of ADL's Department of Interfaith Affairs, in an article for The Jewish Week of New York indicated the following:

1. Opening the Vatican Archives. The Vatican has granted only partial access to its extensive collections of documents from World War II. While there is much there that is not of strictly Jewish concern, it will cast a more accurate light on Pope Pius XII and his silence over the Holocaust. Perhaps by viewing his silence, by seeing in detail how that silence enabled, abetted, the murder of the Jews of Europe, it might spur the bishops and cardinals of Europe to denounce present anti-Semitism all over Europe and France. This is a subject for our ongoing dialogue. 
   
2. While Pope John Paul II issued a mea culpa for the role of Christians as individuals in the Holocaust, there is lingering resentment that the Church qua Church has not acknowledged its responsibility. According to Rabbi Klenicki, the original draft was written to say that but was edited by the Vatican secretary of State. The Pope let the change stand. 
   
3. The canonization of Edith Stein, the Jewish born nun who died in Auschwitz and of Pope Pius XII to whom I just referred has caused continuing upset. 
   
4. He stayed on the sidelines for a long time concerning the convent built by Carmelite nuns at Auschwitz. Only after considerable upset did he step in. Rabbi Avi Weiss must be credited with keeping this issue high on the agenda.

Like any world leader, the Pope does not work in a vacuum. He is at the center of a political vortex, and no matter what the issue, regardless of his position, is challenged by his own political system.  He has his own factions and competing wings of the Church. Even in these four issues, I believe that he tried to balance his own convictions and competing political counter pressures. There remained one further issue.

1. In 1987 he met with Kurt Waldheim and in 1982 with Yasir Arafat. One was a Nazi with a past and other a murder of terrorist organization. While the Pope met with many people, these two rankled and upset the relationship that he so ardently worked to create and enhance.

With the list of issues that might seem minor yet in their time and with their consequences loomed major, for the follow reasons of substance, Pope John Paul II will be remembered with fondness, respect and esteem: 

On June 7th, 1979 at his visit to Auschwitz, only sixty miles from his center in Krakow, he declared that no one can look on the Nazi genocide of Jews with indifference.

1. On April 13th, 1986 in Rome, he is the first Pope to visit a synagogue in the history of Catholic Church, he call us "our elder brothers."
2. On December 30th, 1993 in Rome and Jerusalem, diplomatic relations are established between the Vatican and the State of Israel.
3. On March 12th, 2000 in Rome he prays publicly to God for forgiveness of Christian sins against the Jews during the past millennium. This statement is far-reaching for while it refers to the Holocaust it truly extends throughout the history of the Church, particularly the Crusades.
4. On March 26th, 2000 in Jerusalem, he prays at the Kotel, formally committing the Catholic Church "to genuine fellowship with the people of the Covenant."

The world is larger than just us and has many more issues than ours. Yet it is clear that Pope John Paul II made a revolution in the Catholic Church in its posture and core teachings about Judaism, about Jews, about our history and about our destiny. While it has not eradicated anti-Semitism and not everyone necessarily embraces what he taught, it is now part of Church doctrine and teaching that would be hard if not impossible to remove or alter. For this we give thanks and we give praise to his memory.

Perhaps it is the last point that I cited his prayer at the Kotel, which encapsulates the essential matter. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, its supreme leader acknowledged the validity and ongoing existence of the Covenant made between God and the Jewish people, that covenant which is at the core of Judaism and being a Jew; that the Covenant which Christianity believes that is has with God did not supersede or eliminate or invalidate ours; and that the tension between the two should be filled with respect; that the tension is never the basis for hatred, anti-Semitism or persecution. No leader has ever been so bold. No leader has ever rewritten its core theology as Pope John Paul II. For this we give eternal thanks and highest praise.


In brevity I cite a few of his most important statements.

"Jews are the people of God of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God…the present-day people of the Covenant concluded with Moses."

"Through myself, the Church, in the words of the well-known Declaration Nostra Aetate, "deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and by anyone;" I repeat: "by any one."

"The Jewish religion is not 'extrinsic' to us, but in a certain way is 'intrinsic' to our own religion. With Judaism therefore we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers."

"It will continue to be an explicit and very important part of my mission to repeat and emphasize that our attitude to the Jewish religion should be one of the greatest respect, since the Catholic faith is rooted in the eternal truths contained in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the irrevocable covenant made with Abraham. We, too, gratefully hold these same truths of the Jewish heritage and look upon you as our brothers and sisters in the Lord. For the Jewish people themselves, Catholics should have not only respect but also great fraternal love for it is the teaching of both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures that the Jews are beloved of God, who has called them with an irrevocable calling. No valid theological justification could ever be found for acts of discrimination or persecution against Jews. In fact, such acts must be held to be sinful."

"In April of this year (1980), the bishops of the Federal Republic of Germany stated: 'Whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism.' I would like to make these words mine as well."

And lastly, his prayer at the Western Wall:
"God of our fathers,
You chose Abraham and his descendants to ring Your name to the nations: 
We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of Yours to suffer
And asking Your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine fellowship with the people of the Covenant."

I post script this brief story. When the Pope met the leaders of American Jewry in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, in the center of the room was a table with Hebrew and Latin copies of the Bible. Just the Jewish Scriptures and not the New Testament. The chairs were placed in a circle. While the Pope's chair would normally have been elevated he gave specific instructions that he would sit on the same chair as everyone else, and at the same height. One should dwell at length on the meaning and import of that scene.

We as a congregation join with the Jewish people in mourning the death of an extraordinary man, and exceptional leader, a friend and a visionary. We give thanks for his religious pioneering efforts in the dramatic reconciliation between the Catholic Church and Judaism, between Christians and Jews. The world we live in could not be what it is without his efforts. We praise his courage and extend deep condolences to the Catholic community, locally and world wide.

Rabbi Kook, who was the first chief Rabbi of the Jewish community, in then called Palestine, wrote these words which so clearly apply to Pope John Paul II:

The purely righteous do not complain about evil, but they add justice;

They do not complain about heresy, but they add faith;

They do not complain about ignorance but they add wisdom.

May the soul of Pope John Paul II be received with love into God's sheltering presence and for all his labors be blessed with eternal peace. Amen.