ROBERT S. WISTRICH
John Paul II on Jews and Judaism
T
HE HISTORY OF RELATIONS
between Catholics and Jews over the
last two thousand years has all too often been a tale of anguish,
suffering, and persecution when viewed from a Jewish perspec–
tive. The beginning of what has been a sea-change in those relations
during the last thirty-five years dates back to the document
Nostra
Aetate (In Our Time),
released by the Vatican in 1965. In fifteen long
Latin sentences, Rome removed the co ll ective burden of deicide from
the Jewish people and deplored "all hatreds, persecutions, displays of
anti-Semitism levelled at any time or from any source against the Jews."
Pope John XXIII, who had inspired Vatican II, was the first Pope in
history-shortly before his untimely death in [963-to ask forgiveness
for "the curse wh ich we unjustly laid on the name of the Jews." He was
the first to begin reversing the long-standing Augustinian theology of
the Church that the Jews would forever bear the mark of Cain for the
crime of rejecting and "crucifying" Jesus.
Of no less importance has been the personal commitment shown by
the current Pope, the first non-Italian to sit in St. Peter's Chair for more
than four hundred years. Since his election in 1978, John Paul
II
has
repeatedly broken new ground in relations with the Jewish community.
His writings, homilies, and speeches on Jewish themes represent a
remarkable contribution to the historic dialogue between Jews and
Catholics today. This "spiritua l pilgrimage" culminated in his becoming
the first Roman pontiff to visit a synagogue in the Eternal City (or else–
where) in 1986-followed seven years later by the establishment of
diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel. Nor has
any previous Pope been as consistent, firm, and unequivocal in his
denunciations of ant i-Semitism as John Paul II. Indeed, an anthology of
texts edited by Eugene
J.
Fischer (representing the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops) and Rabbi Leon Klenicki (of the Anti-Defamation
League) and called
Spiritual Pilgrimage: Texts on Jews and Judaism
1979-1995
concludes with the following resounding ca ll by the Pope in
January 1995 : "Never again anti-Semitism ! Never again the arrogance
of nationalism! Never again genocide ! May the third millennium usher
in a season of peace and mutual respect among peoples."
