"He promoted inter-faith understanding and dialogue," Shalom said, "with a willingness to address the past, and a profound determination to build a future of understanding and brotherhood between all faiths."
In 1993, Pope John Paul II formalized relations with Israel, leading to the first exchange of ambassadors between Israel and the Vatican. He is also said to be the first pope to visit a synagogue - he visited the Orthodox Synagogue in Rome in April 1986 – and the first to visit the President of Israel at his residence and the Chief Rabbis of Israel at the Rabbinate.
The OU - the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America - released a statement of "great sadness [at] the passing of Pope John Paul II. The historic and landmark contributions that he made to Catholic-Jewish relations were pioneering and invaluable. The Pope’s denunciation of anti-Semitism as a sin against God, which he made as he traveled around the world, is all the more important in light of the alarming trends we see today."
Associate Premier Shimon Peres stated that he was "extremely saddened by the death of Pope John Paul II... [He] was a true spiritual leader whose leadership extended beyond his traditional flock and believers, embracing the entire human family... His actions and statements transformed relations between the Catholic and Jewish faiths, and made a fundamental impact on the struggle against anti-Semitism."
On the other hand, in February 2000, the Pope and Yasser Arafat issued a joint condemnation of any unilateral decision that would "change the unique character of Jerusalem," terming such a decision "legally and morally invalid." Arafat and the Pope, meeting in the Vatican, called for an international status to be granted to Jerusalem.
In an article on John Paul II's relationship with the Jews, Political Science Prof. Sergio Itzhak Minerbi – Israel's former Ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Belgium, and others, as well as an expert on Catholic-Jewish relations – writes, "No other pope has displayed such a strong interest in... trying to find a common ground between Catholicism and Judaism. But while some people have enthusiastically received the words of this pope as those of a great friend of the Jews, others have remained critical."
"The main criticism against Pope John Paul II," Minerbi writes, "is his constant effort to Christianize the Shoah (Holocaust)." When the Pope visited Auschwitz in June 1979, he compared Auschwitz - where over a million Jews were murdered – to Golgotha, the hill where Jesus was crucified.
"The will of the Pope and the Polish Church to stress the Christian character of the Holocaust is clear," according to Minerbi. "In every former death camp there is today a chapel, a church or a cross, even if all the inmates had been Jews... [It could be that] the Pope wanted to transform the Shoah into a martyrdom of the Catholic Polish nation. As a result, it is feared that the Church will teach Catholics in future generations that the Shoah was mainly a Catholic tragedy, or at the very least, that this is a way to avoid any responsibility for the Shoah, since the Church itself was a 'victim' of the Nazis."
In addition, the date of the beatification of Jewish-born nun Edith Stein, who was murdered in Auschwitz, became "Holocaust Day" for the Catholic Church. Her canonization was done in opposition to many Jewish groups, and John Paul II eulogized her as having died "as a daughter of Israel for the glorification of the holy name of God and at the same time as Nun Teresa Benedicta of the Cross."
The late Pope John Paul II wrote in 1998 that the Shoah "remains an indelible stain on the history of the century that is coming to a close." However, he accepts little blame on behalf of Christianity: "The Shoah was the work of a thoroughly modern, neo-pagan regime. Its anti-Semitism had its roots outside of Christianity." The Pope admits, however, that Nazi persecutions "were made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudice imbedded in some Christian minds and hearts."
Pope John Paul II very often defended Pope Pius XII, who remained silent in the face of the Nazi genocide. "Whatever his reasons," of which there are several, Minerbi wrote about Pius, "it is clear that when he had to chose between the moral duty of denouncing genocide in order to save Jewish lives, and what he deemed to be the supreme interest of the Church, he preferred the latter."
During his historic visit to the Rome synagogue, Pope John Paul II said, "With Judaism, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers."
Minerbi writes, "For centuries, the Church has claimed to be the 'true Israel', thus substituting the Jewish religion. It is therefore important that, in a meeting with the Jewish community in Mainz on 17 November 1980, the Pope announced his respect for "the people of God, of the Old Covenant, which has never been revoked by God."
Minerbi notes that in 1984, the Pope wrote that this respect is "based on the mysterious spiritual link which brings us close together, in Abraham and through Abraham in God, who chose Israel and brought forth the Church from Israel." A year later, the Pope wrote, "An exclusively negative picture of the Pharisees is likely to be inaccurate and unjust." In the same document it was written that, "Christian sinners are more to blame for the death of Christ than those few Jews who brought it about."
Calls from some Jewish groups have been sounded over the years for the Vatican to return the many stolen Jewish books, manuscripts and other property held in the Vatican vaults to the Jewish People.
In 1993, Pope John Paul II formalized relations with Israel, leading to the first exchange of ambassadors between Israel and the Vatican. He is also said to be the first pope to visit a synagogue - he visited the Orthodox Synagogue in Rome in April 1986 – and the first to visit the President of Israel at his residence and the Chief Rabbis of Israel at the Rabbinate.
The OU - the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America - released a statement of "great sadness [at] the passing of Pope John Paul II. The historic and landmark contributions that he made to Catholic-Jewish relations were pioneering and invaluable. The Pope’s denunciation of anti-Semitism as a sin against God, which he made as he traveled around the world, is all the more important in light of the alarming trends we see today."
Associate Premier Shimon Peres stated that he was "extremely saddened by the death of Pope John Paul II... [He] was a true spiritual leader whose leadership extended beyond his traditional flock and believers, embracing the entire human family... His actions and statements transformed relations between the Catholic and Jewish faiths, and made a fundamental impact on the struggle against anti-Semitism."
On the other hand, in February 2000, the Pope and Yasser Arafat issued a joint condemnation of any unilateral decision that would "change the unique character of Jerusalem," terming such a decision "legally and morally invalid." Arafat and the Pope, meeting in the Vatican, called for an international status to be granted to Jerusalem.
In an article on John Paul II's relationship with the Jews, Political Science Prof. Sergio Itzhak Minerbi – Israel's former Ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Belgium, and others, as well as an expert on Catholic-Jewish relations – writes, "No other pope has displayed such a strong interest in... trying to find a common ground between Catholicism and Judaism. But while some people have enthusiastically received the words of this pope as those of a great friend of the Jews, others have remained critical."
"The main criticism against Pope John Paul II," Minerbi writes, "is his constant effort to Christianize the Shoah (Holocaust)." When the Pope visited Auschwitz in June 1979, he compared Auschwitz - where over a million Jews were murdered – to Golgotha, the hill where Jesus was crucified.
"The will of the Pope and the Polish Church to stress the Christian character of the Holocaust is clear," according to Minerbi. "In every former death camp there is today a chapel, a church or a cross, even if all the inmates had been Jews... [It could be that] the Pope wanted to transform the Shoah into a martyrdom of the Catholic Polish nation. As a result, it is feared that the Church will teach Catholics in future generations that the Shoah was mainly a Catholic tragedy, or at the very least, that this is a way to avoid any responsibility for the Shoah, since the Church itself was a 'victim' of the Nazis."
In addition, the date of the beatification of Jewish-born nun Edith Stein, who was murdered in Auschwitz, became "Holocaust Day" for the Catholic Church. Her canonization was done in opposition to many Jewish groups, and John Paul II eulogized her as having died "as a daughter of Israel for the glorification of the holy name of God and at the same time as Nun Teresa Benedicta of the Cross."
The late Pope John Paul II wrote in 1998 that the Shoah "remains an indelible stain on the history of the century that is coming to a close." However, he accepts little blame on behalf of Christianity: "The Shoah was the work of a thoroughly modern, neo-pagan regime. Its anti-Semitism had its roots outside of Christianity." The Pope admits, however, that Nazi persecutions "were made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudice imbedded in some Christian minds and hearts."
Pope John Paul II very often defended Pope Pius XII, who remained silent in the face of the Nazi genocide. "Whatever his reasons," of which there are several, Minerbi wrote about Pius, "it is clear that when he had to chose between the moral duty of denouncing genocide in order to save Jewish lives, and what he deemed to be the supreme interest of the Church, he preferred the latter."
During his historic visit to the Rome synagogue, Pope John Paul II said, "With Judaism, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers."
Minerbi writes, "For centuries, the Church has claimed to be the 'true Israel', thus substituting the Jewish religion. It is therefore important that, in a meeting with the Jewish community in Mainz on 17 November 1980, the Pope announced his respect for "the people of God, of the Old Covenant, which has never been revoked by God."
Minerbi notes that in 1984, the Pope wrote that this respect is "based on the mysterious spiritual link which brings us close together, in Abraham and through Abraham in God, who chose Israel and brought forth the Church from Israel." A year later, the Pope wrote, "An exclusively negative picture of the Pharisees is likely to be inaccurate and unjust." In the same document it was written that, "Christian sinners are more to blame for the death of Christ than those few Jews who brought it about."
Calls from some Jewish groups have been sounded over the years for the Vatican to return the many stolen Jewish books, manuscripts and other property held in the Vatican vaults to the Jewish People.