Read Online The Life and Legacy of Pope John Paul II by Wyatt North - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Wyatt North
Tags: Religion & Spirituality, Biographies & Memoirs, Religious, Leaders & Notable People, Christian Books & Bibles, Catholicism, Popes & the Vatican
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the two religions, but he also emphasized the need to renounce violence as a means for resolving any differences.
John Paul preached respect for the rights of Muslims to practice their faith, but he lamented that Christians did not have this right in countries like Saudi Arabia, where even the possession of a Bible is a crime. He was deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians in parts of Africa and Asia under Islamic religious law or influence, and he called for mutual respect and religious freedom in predominantly Muslim countries.
John Paul II and the Jewish People
The effort to improve and maintain Catholic–Jewish relations was a hallmark of John Paul’s pontificate. The realization of the loss of Poland’s Jewish community, including people who had been close to him, seemed to haunt John Paul.
The pope once referred to the Jews of Poland as having “lived arm in arm with us for generations” ( Jasna Gora Meditation , September 26, 1990). Indeed, this was true. The Jews in Poland dated back to at least as early as the 10 th century. Prior to World War II, Poland held the largest Jewish community in Europe, with 3.3 million Jews. Only 11% survived the war, approximately 369,000 people. A number of those who survived either did not return to Poland or managed to flee as refugees. By 1948, only 100,000 Jews remained in Poland. These, like the Catholics of Poland, had to cope with an anti-religious Communist regime.
During the Stalinist years, Jewish culture and religion were brutally suppressed. After Stalin’s death in 1953, there was the beginning of a Jewish cultural revival, and in the years 1958-59, Jews were permitted to emigrate to Israel but nowhere else. Fifty thousand availed themselves of the opportunity. The 1967 Six-Day War in Israel brought another round of suppression in Poland. Today, there are estimated to be only 5,000 to 10,000 Jews in Poland.
As a priest in Poland, Father Wojtila had counseled young Poles to visit and care for the abandoned Jewish cemeteries of Krakow, using it as an opportunity to educate them about the historic presence of the Jews now largely missing from Polish society. As Archbishop of Krakow, he maintained close relations with the surviving Jewish community of Krakow. As pope, however, John Paul was able to paint on a broader canvas.
While Archbishop Wojtila was in Rome participating in the Second Vatican Council, he was able to renew his friendship with his old friend Jerzy Kluger, who he found had survived the war after all, having joined the Polish army in exile. Jerzy had participated in the liberation of Italy from the Nazis and by coincidence was now living in Rome. (His grandmother, mother, and sister—well-known to young Karol Wojtila—had all been killed in the death camps. His father had also survived as an officer in the Polish army, ironically stationed in British-mandate Palestine.) It may be that becoming reacquainted with Jerzy drew interreligious issues back to the forefront of the pontiff’s thoughts, but they had never altogether left the concerns of this deep-thinking and compassionate man.
John Paul became the first pope to visit a Nazi death camp (Auschwitz in 1979), although he had done so earlier, in 1973, as a cardinal. He was the first pope since Saint Peter to visit a synagogue, the Great Synagogue of Rome, which occurred in 1986. In his speech at the Great Synagogue, he affirmed that Christianity had a uniquely close relationship with Judaism, calling Jews “dearly beloved brothers” and “elder brothers” (the latter reference citing the great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, a favorite of the pope’s). In addition, he cited “the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, no. 16 , referring to Saint Paul in the Letter to the Romans (11:28-29), that the Jews are beloved of God, who has called them with an irrevocable calling.”
In 1987, the pope met with the Jewish leadership of Poland, where he called
John Paul preached respect for the rights of Muslims to practice their faith, but he lamented that Christians did not have this right in countries like Saudi Arabia, where even the possession of a Bible is a crime. He was deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians in parts of Africa and Asia under Islamic religious law or influence, and he called for mutual respect and religious freedom in predominantly Muslim countries.
John Paul II and the Jewish People
The effort to improve and maintain Catholic–Jewish relations was a hallmark of John Paul’s pontificate. The realization of the loss of Poland’s Jewish community, including people who had been close to him, seemed to haunt John Paul.
The pope once referred to the Jews of Poland as having “lived arm in arm with us for generations” ( Jasna Gora Meditation , September 26, 1990). Indeed, this was true. The Jews in Poland dated back to at least as early as the 10 th century. Prior to World War II, Poland held the largest Jewish community in Europe, with 3.3 million Jews. Only 11% survived the war, approximately 369,000 people. A number of those who survived either did not return to Poland or managed to flee as refugees. By 1948, only 100,000 Jews remained in Poland. These, like the Catholics of Poland, had to cope with an anti-religious Communist regime.
During the Stalinist years, Jewish culture and religion were brutally suppressed. After Stalin’s death in 1953, there was the beginning of a Jewish cultural revival, and in the years 1958-59, Jews were permitted to emigrate to Israel but nowhere else. Fifty thousand availed themselves of the opportunity. The 1967 Six-Day War in Israel brought another round of suppression in Poland. Today, there are estimated to be only 5,000 to 10,000 Jews in Poland.
As a priest in Poland, Father Wojtila had counseled young Poles to visit and care for the abandoned Jewish cemeteries of Krakow, using it as an opportunity to educate them about the historic presence of the Jews now largely missing from Polish society. As Archbishop of Krakow, he maintained close relations with the surviving Jewish community of Krakow. As pope, however, John Paul was able to paint on a broader canvas.
While Archbishop Wojtila was in Rome participating in the Second Vatican Council, he was able to renew his friendship with his old friend Jerzy Kluger, who he found had survived the war after all, having joined the Polish army in exile. Jerzy had participated in the liberation of Italy from the Nazis and by coincidence was now living in Rome. (His grandmother, mother, and sister—well-known to young Karol Wojtila—had all been killed in the death camps. His father had also survived as an officer in the Polish army, ironically stationed in British-mandate Palestine.) It may be that becoming reacquainted with Jerzy drew interreligious issues back to the forefront of the pontiff’s thoughts, but they had never altogether left the concerns of this deep-thinking and compassionate man.
John Paul became the first pope to visit a Nazi death camp (Auschwitz in 1979), although he had done so earlier, in 1973, as a cardinal. He was the first pope since Saint Peter to visit a synagogue, the Great Synagogue of Rome, which occurred in 1986. In his speech at the Great Synagogue, he affirmed that Christianity had a uniquely close relationship with Judaism, calling Jews “dearly beloved brothers” and “elder brothers” (the latter reference citing the great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, a favorite of the pope’s). In addition, he cited “the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, no. 16 , referring to Saint Paul in the Letter to the Romans (11:28-29), that the Jews are beloved of God, who has called them with an irrevocable calling.”
In 1987, the pope met with the Jewish leadership of Poland, where he called
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