Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 8, 1987 Page: 16 of 20
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76 TEXAS IEWISH POST THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1987 FORT WORTH
On Meeting With Pope John Paul II
Continued From Page i
relations on many levels
including official visits
to the Holy See by
Israeli leaders.
Pope john Paul in his
welcoming comments
made a pertinent state-
ment when he
welcomed our leaders
as the representatives of
the Jewish people to
whom the existence of
Israel is central. We
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tend to forget how far
we have come. There
was a time not too long
ago when the word
Israel would not cross
the lips of a Vatican
spokesman. As a case in
point some years back
the Israel Symphony
Orchestra gave a per-
formance in the presen-
ce of the Pope, and the
Vatican's official news-
paper reported that "a
group of Jewish refugee
musicians played."
Perhaps most impor-
tant of all, Cardinal
Willebrand announced
the intention of the
Vatican to prepare an
official Catholic
document on the Shoah.
It will be a theological
statement addressed to
the Church Universal
which will explore the
religious roots of
modern anti-Semitism
as well as the Vatican's
role during this period
of our history. Jewish
scholars are to be in-
volved in the evolution
of this document. There
is little doubt in Rabbi
Schindler's mind that
such a statement will
significantly strengthen
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our efforts to combat
those who would deny
the reality of the Shoah
and trivialize the
tragedy. Rabbi Schin-
dler summed up his
report by saying that the
agreements are sub-
stantial. Their potential
is even greater if we are
wise enough to exploit
it. At the very least, rup-
ture was avoided with
Jewish dignity fully
preserved and the
dialogue continues.
Earlier I referred to
the Second Vatican
Council's landmark
document Nostra
Aetate issued 23 years
ago. It irrevocably
altered the relationship
between Catholics and
Jews. Ancient walls of
separation were broken
down. Suspicion and
distress based on
stereotype misunder-
standings of each other
were swept aside.
Nostra Aetate
repudiated the charge
of deicide against the
Jews (we were not
blamed for the death of
Jesus) and presented
Cod's covenant with the
Jews as irrevocable. It
called for Jewish-
Catholic dialogue and
for the Church to
develop a warm
relationship with the
Jewish community. It is
perhaps a cliche, but
nonetheless true, that
more progress has been
made in Catholic-Jewish
relations in the past two
decades than in the
previous 2,000 years.
At this point I would
like to give some of my
personal impressions
related to the Miami
visit. Almost a month in
advance of the Pope's
trip a detailed security
questionnaire had to be
completed and mailed
for evaluation before
any delegate received
an official invitation.
Later on it was
suggested that we come
to Miami on the 9th of
September, the day
before the Pope arrived,
as the downtown area
would be cordoned
while the Pope was in
the city. On the 10th,
11th and 12th, vehicular
traffic was extremely
limited and that being
mostly police and other
official cars. As
delegates we were given
identification badges
which we were told to
wear at all times. They
were specially color-
coded to indicate what
activities we were to at-
tend. Our rooms were
assigned on the top four
floors of the Omni Inter-
national Hotel with
each floor being guar-
ded full-time by mem-
bers of the U S. Secret
Service, the Florida
State Security people,
and a limited number of
Miami police. Our trips
on the elevator both up
and down were accom-
panied by one or more
of these types as well.
The hotel seemed
alive with top leaders of
the nine Jewish delega-
tions present. Only one
delegation, that being
the Orthodox move-
ment, boycotted the
meeting. Reportedly
from other delegations,
there were individuals,
including several of our
own Reform invitees,
who opted not to show.
The UAHC was allo-
cated a total of 17
delegates including the
top echelon of our
professional staff as
well as a limited num-
ber of current and past
elected officers.
On Thursday evening
there was a reception
and dinner with Car-
dinal Willebrand for
some 300 to 400 persons
including delegates,
spouses and invited
members from the
greater Miami Jewish
community. As a point
of interest, the cardinal
spoke from a podium
that was flanked by the
US and the Israeli flags.
The cardinal said that
in Catholic-Jewish
relations each side must
strive to tolerate
mistakes that occur
along the way. In an ob-
vious reference to the
Pope's audience with
Austrian President
Waldheim, he said "we
shall forgive each other
when there are missed
occasions or some faux
pas."
He said that Catholics
and Jews have for too
long been "separated by
hostile events." Recon-
ciliation, he said,
"does not come au-
tomatically,. but you
will see growth that like
a biological process will
be slow but constant."
At the end of the 78-
year-old Dutch-born
cardinal's remarks, he
wished the audience
"Shana Tova." He was
rewarded with a stand-
ing ovation.
On Friday morning
we were roused out of
bed at 5:00 and had
breakfast from 5:30 to
6:00 The next half-hour
included close security
checks and briefings by
the Secret Service and
the Florida security
people. We were then
carefully counted and
ushered aboard special
buses and went to the
Miami Center for the
Fine Arts where we
arrived at 6:45. From
then unJ,il.&:T5rwe were
confined to the room
where we were to meet
with Pope John Paul.
Besides the general
seating for our
delegates, there were 13
chairs on each side of
the abbreviated stage.
Twelve cardinals in
their scarlet attire plus a
Secret Service man next
to the Pope was on the
left and twelve Jewish
leaders with a Secret
Service man on the
right. Some other
Catholic leaders were
intermingled with our
delegations. Im-
mediately behind the
podium were two
chairs, one for the Pope
and one for Conserva-
tive Rabbi Mordecai
Waxman, spokesman
for the Jewish officials.
All of this was
covered by a host of TV
cameras, still
photographers, and
reporters.
Rabbi Waxman spoke
first and praised the
recent progress toward
enhanced Catholic-
Jewish brotherhood and
understanding, but he
also noted the Jewish
group's simmering
grievances over the
Vatican's 40-year
refusal to exchange
ambassadors with Israel
and with the Pope's
recent meeting with
Waldheim. He spoke for
18 minutes with all of
his remarks directed to
the Pope. He expressed
hope that the Pope's
strong condemnations
of anti-Semitism would
continue to be im-
plemented in the
schools, the parishes,
teaching materials and
liturgy and reflected the
attitudes and behavior
of Catholics throughout
the world. He made a
strong statement
relative to the
Holocaust and that it
was the culmination of
centuries of anti-
Semitism in European
culture for which
Christian teachings bear
a heavy responsibility.
Waxman discussed
the re-establishment of
Jewish sovereignty in
the land of Israel and
that it takes a
paramount place in
Jewish self-
understanding. He ex-
pressed concern that
there is an absence of
full diplomatic relations
between the Holy See
and the State of Israel.
He also pointed out that
recent statements from
the Vatican leaders
declared that there was
no theological reason
existing in Catholic doc-
trine to inhibit such
relations and he
strongly urged that full
and formal diplomatic
relations he established.
The Pope's response
took 23 minutes. He did
not mention the
Waldheim affair and
perhaps felt that it had
been adequately ad-
dressed the night before
in Cardinal Willebrand's
"faux pas" comment.
His answer regarding
recognition of Israel
was that the Catholics
recognize among the
elements of the Jewish
experience that Jews
have a religious at-
tachment to the land
which finds its roots in
biblical tradition. He
said they have a right to
a homeland as does any
civil nation according to
international law and
deserve secure borders.
This was followed by
the statement that what
had been said about the
right to a homeland also
applied to the
Palestinian people with
their homeless and
refugees. He said he
earnestly prayed for
peace and just
solutions.
The Pope's most mov-
ing comments focused
on the catastrophic
events of the Holocaust
and the millions of vic-
tims who were exter-
minated only because
they were Jews. All
things considered, the
Church experiences
ever more deeply her
common bond with the
Jewish people and with
their treasures of spir-
itual riches. He felt it
was fitting to recall
what he felt were the
strong efforts of the
Popes against anti-
Semitism and Nazis at
the height of the per-
secution against the
Jews and particularly
referred to the 1935
Declaration of Pius XI
that anti-Semitism can-
not be admitted. He fur-
thered this portion with
his hope that common
educational programs
on historical and
religious relations
which are well-
developed would ap-
proach mutual respect
and teach future
generations about the
Holocaust so that never
again will such a horror
be possible. He then
clenched his fist and
said with extraordinary
emphasis, "Never
again." Everyone in the
audience, Christian and
Jew, stood up and ap-
plauded mightily.
To me perhaps the
most interesting of his
comments was that we,
meaning the Jews and
the Catholics, were all
brothers and sisters and
perhaps the Jews the
elder brothers. He said
we all trace our roots to
Abraham, though we
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 8, 1987, newspaper, October 8, 1987; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth755718/m1/16/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .