A senior B’nai B’rith International leadership delegation raised concerns in a
Thursday meeting with Pope Benedict XVI over the unprecedented upheaval in the
Middle East and ongoing challenges there to Jews and Christians.
Other
issues discussed included the continuing cruel captivity of 24- year-old Gilad
Schalit, Iran’s illicit nuclear program and support of terrorism and the role of
religious and political extremism in preventing regional peace. The
pontiff told the group that “the life and work of all believers...should
embody the conviction that a loving, compassionate Providence guides the final
outcome of history, no matter how difficult and threatening the journey along
the way may sometimes appear.”
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The Pope, the Jews, and the Passion The papal audience, held at the Vatican,
was part of ongoing encounters between B’nai B’rith and successive leaders of
the Roman Catholic Church aimed at advancing positive Catholic-Jewish
relations.
The delegation – led by B’nai B’rith International Interim
President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, and
including some 20 members of the veteran Jewish service organization from the US
and around the world – also met with other senior Vatican officials while in
Rome.
In his remarks to the pope, Jacobs thanked the pontiff for his
important past statements on Israel’s legitimacy and right to self-defense, a
news release from B’nai B’rith reported.
Jacobs also asked the pope to
make clear that the acute scrutiny of Israel at last year’s Special Assembly for
the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops did not reflect the church’s approach to
the Jewish state and that the church will powerfully encourage only fairness and
care in addressing the region’s complexities, while opposing narratives and
measures that target Israel or Israelis.
Jacobs especially noted the
pontiff’s affirmation of Israel’s “legitimate need for security and
self-defense,” and his statement that the Holy See joins in “giving thanks to the
Lord that the aspirations of the Jewish people for a home in the land of their
fathers have been fulfilled.”
The pope expressed his appreciation to the
group for their involvement in Catholic-Jewish dialogue, noting the recent
meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee that marked 40
years for that interchange.
“What has happened in these 40 years must be
seen as a great gift from the Lord and a reason for heartfelt gratitude towards
the One who guides our steps with his infinite and eternal wisdom,” he
said.
Benedict also mentioned the recent meeting between representatives
of the Chief Rabbinate and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations
with the Jews, held in Jerusalem at the end of March, where “stress was laid on
the need to promote a sound understanding of the role of religion in the life of
our present-day societies as a corrective to a purely horizontal, and
consequently truncated, vision of the human person and social coexistence,” and
used a verse from Jeremiah – “For I know the plans I have for you, says the
Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” – to
show the source of his assurance that no matter how difficult the path may seem,
“a loving, compassionate Providence guides the final outcome of
history.”
In discussions with church officials, the B’nai B’rith
delegation noted a number of points of contention in Catholic-Jewish engagement,
such as the Good Friday prayer “for the conversion of the Jews” in the
Latin-language Tridentine Mass, and the still-unopened Vatican archives from the
Holocaust period.
The delegation also praised positive steps made by the
church, such as the pope’s recent reaffirmation of Vatican repudiation of the
centuries- old anti-Jewish “deicide” charge, and noted the beatification this
month of Pope John Paul II, who prioritized friendship with Jews.
“It’s a
great honor to engage directly, and substantively, with Pope Benedict XVI,”
Mariaschin said.
“Discussing points of agreement, as well as issues of
concern, affords a vital opportunity for understanding between two faith
communities of unique importance to each other.”
The delegation also
presented Benedict with a dove-and-olive branch memento symbolizing peace,
crafted by Haitian women from communities devastated by the massive earthquake
there in January 2010.
A B’nai B’rith delegation already met with the
pope some five years ago, and with four of the recent popes.