Pope Francis I passes a Swiss Guard
as he leaves the Paul VI hall after an audience for members of the
media, at the Vatican on March 16. Photo by REUTERS/Paul Hanna
Before immigrating to the United States from Argentina, I was invited
several times on national public holidays to the Metropolitan Cathedral
in Buenos Aires for Catholic Mass celebrated by Cardinal Jorge
Bergoglio, now Pope Francis. As a gesture of inclusiveness, the group of
approximately 25 clergy from various faiths was invited to sit close to
the altar.
In listening to the cardinal's sermons, I appreciated the many times
when he spoke out against injustice, corruption, social inequality,
human trafficking and his commitment to building a better society. As a
rabbi who is very involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue, I followed his
words with great interest.
Argentinians hold varying opinions about the new pope regarding some
controversial issues, but many would agree that during his tenure as
head of the Argentina Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese
of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio always promoted interfaith
dialogue. He enjoys a good relationship with the Jewish community in
Argentina and has been the guest of several synagogues, as well as other
Jewish organizations.
The election of a new pope is an important event for the Roman Catholic
Church. As the largest Christian denomination in the world with an
estimated 1.2 billion members, it is relevant for others, too --
particularly for the Jewish people.
After the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, the Catholic and
Protestant churches realized that something was wrong with their
teachings about Jews and Judaism because the Holocaust did not happen in
Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu countries; it happened in Christian
countries. Consequently, the churches began to re-evaluate their
historically negative position toward Jews and Judaism.
In 1965, during the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI promulgated
the historic Declaration On The Relations of the Church To Non-Christian
Religions Nostra Aetate. The document laid the foundation on which
important declarations, documents and actions were built.
But with the election of a new pope, the question arises in many minds:
Will Pope Francis follow in the steps of his predecessors, John Paul II
and Benedict XVI? I am hopeful he will.
In 2010, Cardinal Bergoglio visited the AMIA, an organization in Buenos
Aires dedicated to fostering the well-being and development of Jewish
life, helping the poor and unemployed, and supporting Jewish education.
The AMIA experienced a devastating terrorist attack in 1994 in which 85
people were killed and hundreds were injured.
During his visit, the cardinal said a prayer in the courtyard in front
of a memorial with the names of the 85 fatalities, then placed a wreath
at the foot of the memorial. Invited to sign the book of illustrious
guests, he wrote -- paraphrasing God's words to Abraham after the test
of the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22:17) -- "As the sands on the seashore
will be your descendants, I thank the Lord that on this day I am
allowed to share part of the way with our older brothers."
Bergoglio also said that AMIA is "an example to imitate of work for the
common good, a house of solidarity, and a place that evokes in us a
history of blood and pain, another link of pain that God's chosen people
has been to throughout history."
The cardinal is well known as a humble man who uses public
transportation in the city and cooks his own meals. He displayed his
modest nature at the end of the visit to the AMIA, when the center's
secretary offered to accompany him to his car. When Cardinal Bergoglio
replied that he did not have a car, he was told that a cab would be
called for him. The cardinal's response was,"No thanks, I will take the
subway."
For several years, B'nai B'rith and the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires
organized a Jewish-Christian commemoration of Kristallnach, "the Night
of Broken Glass" -- the Nazis' state-sanctioned riots against the Jewish
community of Germany in November 1938. The commemorations took place at
various Catholic churches, including twice at the Metropolitan
Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the last time in November 2012.
The commemoration began with the reading of "From Death to Hope:
Liturgical Reflections on the Holocaust,” co-edited by the late Rabbi
Leon Klenicki, a native Argentinian who was director of interfaith
affairs of the Anti-Defamation League, and Eugene Fisher, associate
director and secretary for ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In his speech at the commemoration, the cardinal noted that during
World War II, many pretended not to notice what was happening to the
Jews. Not only did individuals ignore people in the extermination camps,
he said, but entire countries ignored them even though they had the
means to help.
As an example, he cited countries that were capable of accessing the
extermination camps but did not dare to bomb them. He added, "I
apologize for this sin of ignoring our own flesh, which is that of our
brothers."
Pope Francis is particularly close to Rabbi Abraham Skorka, rector of
the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary (the rabbinical seminary of the
Conservative movement) and senior rabbi of the Benei Tikva synagogue in
Buenos Aires. Together they published a book, "On Heaven and Earth,"
which chronicles hundreds of hours of their conversations about God,
fundamentalism, death, women, abortion, education, globalization, the
Holocaust and the Arab-Israeli conflict, among other topics.
The book, as well as others written by Bergoglio, will likely become
best-sellers now. And as a bonus, those who read "On Heaven and Earth"
will be introduced to Jewish perspectives and thus will have the
opportunity to learn about Judaism.
In the book's introduction, Bergoglio offered his point of view regarding interfaith relationships.
"Dialogue is born of an attitude of respect for another person, and a
conviction that the other has something good to say; it assumes to make
room in our hearts for his point of view, for his opinions and his
suggestions," he wrote. "Dialogue involves a warm welcome, not
condemnation. To dialogue, one must lower defenses, open doors and
provide human warmth."
Bergoglio described his friendship with the rabbi and their joint
preparation of the book, saying, "With Skorka I didn't ever have to
compromise my Catholic identity, just as he did not with his Jewish
identity. This was not only because of the respect we have for each
other, but also because this is what we consider interreligious
dialogue."
He added, "I consider Skorka a brother and a friend.”
The two clergy also host a television program for a local Catholic
channel in which they discuss topics from the perspectives of each
religion. Recently, Argentina Catholic University in Buenos Aires
awarded Rabbi Skorka an honorary doctorate, and the cardinal presented
it to him.
Those of us who know Pope Francis are confident that in his new
position, he will continue in the steps of his two predecessors, and the
dialogue and friendship between Catholics and Jews will continue.
Mordechai Levin is the senior rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in Omaha, Neb. |
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