On April 22, the newly elected Pope, Benedict XVI, wrote in his message to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni:
As I announce to you my election and the solemn inauguration of my pontificate on Sunday, April 24, I trust in the help of the Most High to continue the dialogue and strengthen the cooperation with the sons and daughters of the Hebrew people.
This friendly note made me feel glad that I was not a Catholic. It's not because I think that Jews are any better than Catholics ? that would be utterly preposterous, of course. It's because, as I was reading the Pope's words, I couldn't help thinking that I, even under the best of circumstances, would have never made a good Pope.
Celibacy or being a woman has nothing to do with it: when a person reaches the age of Benedict XVI, the former is no longer a problem and, therefore, the latter makes no practical difference. Besides, at least one Pope, John VIII, was a woman. The problem is, I can't express myself the way a half-decent Pope should. If I were elected Pope, and the Chief Rabbi of Rome was my friend, and I felt like bragging to him in a nice, friendly way, this is what I would've written to him:
Hey, Ricci, in case you haven't heard, I'm the Pope now! Is it terrific or is it terrific? But, seriously, cross my heart, I hope to God that under my leadership Catholics will finally learn to get along with you people.
I can understand the Pope's reluctance to use the word Jews; like many Gentiles, he may believe that it constitutes an insult, and Jews themselves use it in a self-deprecating way, like American Blacks who sometimes address each other with the N word. But ?sons and daughters of the Hebrew people?? Give me a break! I wouldn't be able to concoct something like that if my life depended on it.
But let's get back to the Pope's letter. Is this good or bad? Let's see. It's good for the Catholics, because it gives them hope that the new Pope may succeed in converting Jews to the true faith and thus finally get rid of us all in that uniquely Catholic, totally bloodless way. It's also good for the Jews, because it gives them hope that the new Pope will fight anti-Semitism. Well, fight may be too strong a word. Let's say, not actively encourage. What? You think this is not enough? That's so typically Jewish!
Listen to me, Jews; this is nothing to sneeze at. You probably know that the newly elected Pope traditionally chooses his new name after a former Pope whom he admires the most and hopes to emulate the closest. We didn't have to guess who was Papa Wojtyla's role model: there was only one Pope John Paul before him. With this Pope, however, it's a bit trickier; 15 Benedicts have sat on St. Peter's throne before him. Go figure which one he likes the best. Hopefully, he is not going to follow in the footsteps of number 14 who wrote on June 14, 1751 in one of the most important encyclicals of his papacy, A Quo Primum ? On Jews and Christians Living in the Same Place, addressed to Polish Catholics:
?Our credible experts in Polish affairs and the citizens of Poland itself who communicated with Us have informed Us that the number of Jews in that country has greatly increased... The Jews have so replaced the Christians that some parishes are about to lose their ministers because their revenue has dwindled so drastically. Because the Jews control businesses selling liquor and even wine, they are therefore allowed to supervise the collection of public revenues. They have also gained control of inns, bankrupt estates, villages and public land by means of which they have subjugated poor Christian farmers... The most serious is that some households of the great have employed a Jew as ?Superintendent-of-the-Household?; in this capacity, they not only administer domestic and economic matters, but they also ceaselessly exhibit and flaunt authority over the Christians they are living with. It is now even commonplace for Christians and Jews to intermingle anywhere. But what is even less comprehensible is that Jews fearlessly keep Christians of both sexes in their houses as their domestics, bound to their service. Furthermore, by means of their particular practice of commerce, they amass a great store of money and then by an exorbitant rate of interest utterly destroy the wealth and inheritance of Christians.?
Sounds familiar? He keeps going for a few more pages about how Jews have practically turned Poland into the West Bank and Gaza with their settlements and how bad it is for all the good people. So if you want to figure out why Poles hate us so much, you may want to read the encyclical. Besides, it may help you appreciate the come-on line that came from Pope Benedict XVI.
Benedict XIV may rest in peace. World War II helped the Poles to get rid of the Jewish yoke. Immediately before the war, a thousand-year-old community of Polish Jews was 3.3 million strong. Combined efforts of Nazi invaders and Polish patriots have led to its disappearance. In 1970's, less than 10,000 Jews still lived in Poland, but the Polish hatred of Jews continues burning undiminished.
As I announce to you my election and the solemn inauguration of my pontificate on Sunday, April 24, I trust in the help of the Most High to continue the dialogue and strengthen the cooperation with the sons and daughters of the Hebrew people.
This friendly note made me feel glad that I was not a Catholic. It's not because I think that Jews are any better than Catholics ? that would be utterly preposterous, of course. It's because, as I was reading the Pope's words, I couldn't help thinking that I, even under the best of circumstances, would have never made a good Pope.
Celibacy or being a woman has nothing to do with it: when a person reaches the age of Benedict XVI, the former is no longer a problem and, therefore, the latter makes no practical difference. Besides, at least one Pope, John VIII, was a woman. The problem is, I can't express myself the way a half-decent Pope should. If I were elected Pope, and the Chief Rabbi of Rome was my friend, and I felt like bragging to him in a nice, friendly way, this is what I would've written to him:
Hey, Ricci, in case you haven't heard, I'm the Pope now! Is it terrific or is it terrific? But, seriously, cross my heart, I hope to God that under my leadership Catholics will finally learn to get along with you people.
I can understand the Pope's reluctance to use the word Jews; like many Gentiles, he may believe that it constitutes an insult, and Jews themselves use it in a self-deprecating way, like American Blacks who sometimes address each other with the N word. But ?sons and daughters of the Hebrew people?? Give me a break! I wouldn't be able to concoct something like that if my life depended on it.
But let's get back to the Pope's letter. Is this good or bad? Let's see. It's good for the Catholics, because it gives them hope that the new Pope may succeed in converting Jews to the true faith and thus finally get rid of us all in that uniquely Catholic, totally bloodless way. It's also good for the Jews, because it gives them hope that the new Pope will fight anti-Semitism. Well, fight may be too strong a word. Let's say, not actively encourage. What? You think this is not enough? That's so typically Jewish!
Listen to me, Jews; this is nothing to sneeze at. You probably know that the newly elected Pope traditionally chooses his new name after a former Pope whom he admires the most and hopes to emulate the closest. We didn't have to guess who was Papa Wojtyla's role model: there was only one Pope John Paul before him. With this Pope, however, it's a bit trickier; 15 Benedicts have sat on St. Peter's throne before him. Go figure which one he likes the best. Hopefully, he is not going to follow in the footsteps of number 14 who wrote on June 14, 1751 in one of the most important encyclicals of his papacy, A Quo Primum ? On Jews and Christians Living in the Same Place, addressed to Polish Catholics:
?Our credible experts in Polish affairs and the citizens of Poland itself who communicated with Us have informed Us that the number of Jews in that country has greatly increased... The Jews have so replaced the Christians that some parishes are about to lose their ministers because their revenue has dwindled so drastically. Because the Jews control businesses selling liquor and even wine, they are therefore allowed to supervise the collection of public revenues. They have also gained control of inns, bankrupt estates, villages and public land by means of which they have subjugated poor Christian farmers... The most serious is that some households of the great have employed a Jew as ?Superintendent-of-the-Household?; in this capacity, they not only administer domestic and economic matters, but they also ceaselessly exhibit and flaunt authority over the Christians they are living with. It is now even commonplace for Christians and Jews to intermingle anywhere. But what is even less comprehensible is that Jews fearlessly keep Christians of both sexes in their houses as their domestics, bound to their service. Furthermore, by means of their particular practice of commerce, they amass a great store of money and then by an exorbitant rate of interest utterly destroy the wealth and inheritance of Christians.?
Sounds familiar? He keeps going for a few more pages about how Jews have practically turned Poland into the West Bank and Gaza with their settlements and how bad it is for all the good people. So if you want to figure out why Poles hate us so much, you may want to read the encyclical. Besides, it may help you appreciate the come-on line that came from Pope Benedict XVI.
Benedict XIV may rest in peace. World War II helped the Poles to get rid of the Jewish yoke. Immediately before the war, a thousand-year-old community of Polish Jews was 3.3 million strong. Combined efforts of Nazi invaders and Polish patriots have led to its disappearance. In 1970's, less than 10,000 Jews still lived in Poland, but the Polish hatred of Jews continues burning undiminished.