Some christians do have problems with the Christian connection with Jews

Mainly American Christians do show their disgust with Judaism. Doing so they forget that Jeshua, Jesus Christ, the man who they are supposed to follow was a very devout Jew, belonging to the Jewish sect of the Essenes.

Many Americans say the Jews killed Jesus, but it would be the same as Europeans saying the Americans killed our compatriots in World War II or they killed the Afghanistan and the Iraqis and the Iranians and the Vietnamese and the Koreans and so on. It were some Jews and other people present in Jerusalem at that time who were agitated by the Pharisees and certain Jewish leaders, but not by all the Jews, who also saw in Jesus one of their own.

Also the new Pope is aware it would be better if more Christians started to investigate the Jewish roots of Christianity and the Christian flowering of Judaism.
Francis said.

 “I understand it is a challenge, a hot potato, but it is possible to live as brothers.”

Francis’ statement seems to go further than his predecessor, St. John Paul II, who made headlines in 1986 as the first pope to visit Rome’s main synagogue and declared Jews to be the “elder brothers” of the Christian faith.

“Every day, I pray with the Psalms of David. My prayer is Jewish, then I have the Eucharist, which is Christian,”

the Argentine pontiff added.

Too many Christians do not use the Old Testament, but it was the main part of Jesus his teaching. At that time there was only the Old Testament which was brought to the beleivers in the One God, which was the Divine Creator, God of Adam, God of Abraham and the God of Israel, God His people.

Those Jews are still God His people, we may never forget that.

Certain  right-wing Christians in their denial of the Jewish connection even go so far to deny the Christians would not have killed many of those people of God. A denial of the Holocaust the pope criticizes as “madness.”

Deutsch: Pius XII., Glückwunschschreiben zum 100. Jubiläum des Pilger in Speyer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Francis I also defended the record of Pope Pius XII, who led the Roman Catholic Church during World War II. Francis will soon have to decide whether to advance the sainthood cause for the controversial wartime pope, who is accused of failing to speak out publicly against the mass murder of Jews. For years, Jewish leaders and Nazi hunters have demanded the Vatican open up its secret wartime files.


Some Jews have accused Pius, who ruled from 1939 to 1958, of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. The controversy has put a strain on Catholic-Jewish relations for decades.


Francis said he was concerned about

 “everything which has been thrown at poor Pius XII,”

while stressing that he sheltered Jews in the convents of Rome and other Italian cities, as well as the popes’ summer residence in Castel Gadolfo. Strange though that the Catholic Church did not come sooner with proof of such actions. We do know about nuns and priests who took all possibilities to bring Jews in safety. Many also told lies to the German soldiers to protect others. Their concious may have got very harsh times. but how was the concious of pope Pius XII?

The Vatican says Pius worked behind the scenes to save thousands of Jews and did not speak out more forcefully for fear that his words could have led to more deaths of both Jews and Christians at the hands of the Nazis


Pope Francis warns us to be careful, all being able to make mistakes.

"I don't want to say that Pius XII did not make any mistakes - I myself make many - but he has to be seen in the context of that era. For example, was it better for him not to speak out so that more Jews were not killed, or that he speak out?"

he said and added that Pius XII ordered the Church to hide many Jews in the convents of Rome and other Italian cities, that he sheltered Jews in the papal summer residence south of Rome and that 42 children of Jews and other refugees were born in his apartments there.



Francis added that he breaks out in an “existential rash” when he hears people speak against Pius and the church’s wartime record while ignoring inaction by the Allies fighting against Nazi Germany or forgetting the responsibility of the great wartime powers.

“Did you know that they knew perfectly well the rail network used by the Nazis to take the Jews to the concentration camps? They had photographs,”

 “But they did not bomb these rail lines. Why? It would be nice if we spoke a little bit about everything.”

Already in the 1930ies English and Americans did know about certain plans of the Germans, but they did not find it appropriate to react then, when there was still time to prtect further escalation.


Last month, Francis visited the Yad Vashem memorial to Holocaust victims in Jerusalem. The Yad Vashem's website, addressing the issue of the allies' activity during the war, says:

 "In practice, no military initiatives were taken to prevent or delay the extermination."

While some historians have argued those train lines should have been bombed, other historians note the allies were losing planes and airmen at such a high rate, and the lasting effects of the bombing of those train lines would have been so slight, that bombing them made no military or humanitarian sense.


Jewish groups have asked Francis and his predecessors to freeze the process that could lead to sainthood for Pius until the all the World War Two era archives are opened to historians, saying Catholic-Jewish relations could be harmed if the process moved ahead.

Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from Jerusalem last month, Francis said the sainthood cause for Pius was stalled because he had not been credited with performing a miracle, which Church rules require, suggesting it was not stalled because of any outside pressure.

Francis also used that interview to condemn anti-Semitism. He reportedly said it is a continuing problem that was primarily seen in right-wing European political parties which still continue to try to bring a screen in front of the people by ignoring the facts of history like the holocaust.

Francis confirmed that he intends to open the Vatican archives wartime collection.

"They will shed a lot of light,"

 the Pope said.


During Friday’s interview with the Barcelona daily, Francis was also asked about his own security, saying he refused to travel in a bulletproof “sardine can” vehicle because he wants to mingle with ordinary people.

“It is true that anything can happen, but let’s face it, at my age I have nothing to lose,”

the 77-year-old pontiff said. The way he can  now be in contact with young and old is much more important. Such a personal contact can do the Catholic Church some good to reboost it again.

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• Pope To Open Vatican WW2 Archives, Insists Wartime Pope Did Not Ignore Plight Of Jews (failedmessiah.typepad.com)
  "was it better for him not to speak out so that more Jews were not killed, or that he speak out?" Francis reportedly said, adding that the wartime pope’s critics "have dumped all kinds of things on poor Pius XII.”
  +The current Pope needs to read John Cornwell's book "Hitler's Pope." The book was written as part of an exercise to determine WHETHER Pius ignored the plight of the Jews. In conclusion the Pope was not so much an anti-Semite as "a deeply flawed man" who ignored the plight of Jews and Catholics. Professor Cornwell studied at Jesus College (not YU, BMG or Gush). Later, with the pressure on him, the author retracted.
  +
  
  Pius XI (according to David Kertzer's new book) spent most of his papacy collaborating with Mussolini, who agreed to restore much Papal power that had been stripped by the democratization of Italy (including antisemitic laws... up to what Church law had permitted before.) Both, though for very different reasons, loathed Communism and both had contempt for democracy. Only towards the end of his papacy did Pius XI realize his error in getting in bed with Mussolini; he tried to reverse course but faced opposition in the Vatican, which was heavily penetrated by Mussolini's agents and sympathizers.
  So Pius XII, by inclination and training, a diplomat, had about four years in office (in a divided and antisemitic Vatican) before the Nazis took over Northern Italy and installed their own racial laws.
  The "Hitler's Pope" meme may have originated, and at any rate was spread, as part of a Communist disinformation campaign.
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  reading Gershom Gorenberg’s fantastic account of the Pope’s visit, something doesn’t sit right. At Yad Vashem, Pope Francis kissed the hands of elderly survivors. He was gracious. He said many things one might expect a religious leader to say in that place on that occasion.  His comments would have been pitch-perfect, had he been visiting (say) Gandhi’s tomb far to the east.  But that wasn’t where he was….
  What he did not do was to acknowledge his special responsibilities as the leader of the Catholic Church. He was not there—could not be there– as an individual righteous pilgrim offering comfort and good will to both sides in a tragic dispute. He was visiting in his capacity as the leader of an institution with a complicated and troubled history to precisely the events mourned at that memorial.
  
• The Things This Man Will Do For Publicity (sbyvl.wordpress.com)
  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  Roman Catholicism and Talmudic Judaism do not share common roots.  Talmudic Judaism is a man-made religion, and the sworn enemy of Holy Mother Church.  It has sought for 2,000 years to destroy her, and after centuries of conspiring, they all but succeeded in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.  To recognize this fact is not Antisemitic.  It is interesting, however, that Francis has never spoken about Muslims who are actually Anti-Semitic (i.e. willing to kill someone simply because he is a Jew).
• Sainthood of two kosher Popes (rehmat1.com)
  The organized Jewry couldn’t hide its joy over the announcement that Pope Francis is formally conducting the canonization ceremony for two Crypto-Jewish Popes, John XXIII and John Paul II on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah), April 27, 2014.
  The Vatican’s selection of these two popes to be declared ‘Saint of Roman Catholic’ church, is not based on what they did for 1.1 billion Catholic sheep, but for embedding respect for Jews and Talmudism in official Catholic beliefs.
  “These two popes transformed not just the Church, but made bigger impact on the outside world – and on us. As a Jew, my life, and the safety and security of Jews, have been improved by the actions of these two individuals,” said Rabbi Garry Bretton-Granatoor, vice-president of the World Union of Progressive Judaism.
  
• Pope Francis Stands Up against False Historians Who Slander The Catholic Church, And Shows The Truth As To How The Catholic Church Saved Jews (shoebat.com)
  Pope Francis stood up against false historians who continuously slander Pope Pius XII, and showed how Pius XII saved Jews from Nazi persecution.
  +
  I have written several articles critical of Francis, but I do not do so out of hatred, but discernment and love. In this case Francis is doing very well in pointing out the historical inaccuracies that commonly are used to libel and tarnish the reputation of one of the greatest heroes for God and His people in history.
  We have written an article documenting what feats of heroism Pope Pius XII did to save hundreds of thousands of Jews. Click here to read it
  Just as Pope Pius XII saved Jews during the Holocaust, so must we save Christians who are currently being persecuted by the Muslims.
• Sainthood may be the only way to end Pius XII controversy; also, an interview with Vatican's "sexy bombshell" (bostonglobe.com)
  From a purely political point of view, however, there’s a strong case for a highly counterintuitive conclusion: the best thing for Catholic-Jewish ties would be to canonize Pius XII tomorrow.
  Perhaps no Catholic figure of the 20th century has been the object of more heated debate than Eugenio Pacelli, the given name of the pontiff who reigned from 1939 to 1958. The vast literature makes up what wags call the “Pius Wars,” referring to polemical exchanges between the pope’s critics and his defenders.
  The former argue that Pius stayed silent because he preferred to protect the Church’s institutional interests. Defenders say the pope was discreet in public in order not to make things worse, but behind the scenes he saved scores of Jewish lives.
  A sainthood cause for Pius began shortly after his death. In the meantime, three pontiffs who came later have leapfrogged past him: John XXIII and John Paul II are now saints, and Paul VI will be beatified in October.
  
• Pope slams Allies over WWII actions (warhistoryonline.com)
  Pope Francis has criticised Allied forces for failing to bomb the railway lines that led to concentration camps in World War II. He also defended pope Pius XII, who has long been accused of remaining silent in the face of the Nazi Holocaust and the mass murder of millions of Jews. ‘I don’t know why everyone picks on Pius XII and the Church, but no one talks about the Allied Forces,’ Francis said in a wide-ranging interview published on Friday in the Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia.
• Should the Pope push through the canonisation of Pius XII? (catholicherald.co.uk)
  Fr Rutler’s book is keenly relevant on this subject – not least because of an article written on June 14 by the veteran Vatican-watcher and journalist, John L Allen, of the Boston Globe. In it he suggests that “the best thing for Catholic Jewish ties right now might be to canonise Pius XII tomorrow and get it over with.” As is well known, the cause for Pius’s canonisation has been bogged down for years over the controversy surrounding his wartime record: could he or could he not have done more to help the plight of the Jews in Europe who were being at first persecuted and finally exterminated by the Nazis?
  +
  If Pius XII had spoken more frankly and showed less “self-restraint” it might have helped his later legacy – but it would certainly have also occasioned more savage reprisals by the Nazis. Rutler’s book brings together some additional proofs, if they are needed, and from Jewish sources, of the very real “charitable, financial and moral assistance” of the wartime pope. Perhaps, as John Allen suggests, there is now a case for simply getting on with the process of his canonisation.
• Becoming saints: Two popes who revolutionized Jewish-Catholic relations (jta.org)
  These two post-Holocaust pontiffs revolutionized relations between Catholics and Jews, fostering interfaith dialogue and embedding respect for Jews and Judaism in official Catholic dogma.
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• Pope Francis leads Catholic Church in pro-Jewish direction (theuglytruth.wordpress.com)
  
  
  

  

  I strongly disagree with Caroline Glick’s conclusion in her May 27 article that Pope Francis “is leading the Catholic Church in a distressingly anti-Jewish direction.” I can understand Caroline’s distress at some of the pope’s actions and words but it is important to have balance and not draw wrong conclusions.

  Pope Francis is totally committed to reconciliation between the Church and Israel. I would like to demonstrate this under five headings: 1. State of Israel Pope Francis in his first Encyclical in November 2013 affirmed God’s everlasting covenant with the Jews: “We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked, for ‘the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29).”

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation promotes Pope John XXIII

This Monday June the 3°, the church marked a half-century since the death of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli – Blessed Pope John XXIII.  In the Catholic liturgical year he is remembered on October 11,the day that the Second Vatican Council began. He was beatified (made a saint) on September 3, 2000.In the Anglican calendar he is remember on his death day, June .
Within minutes after the Pope’s death Vatican Radio announced:
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the death of our beloved Pope John XXIII. His Holiness, whose kindness and humility have won the admiration and affection of all mankind, died peacefully and serenely in his apartment in the Vatican apostolic palace at 7:49 p.m. this evening, the third of June 1963.
Pentecost, Monday, June 3, was a day which the church would never forget for it marked the day when one of the most beloved popes of all times died.
Never before had a pope’s final agony been followed so closely and with such deep and sincere sorrow, not only by Catholics but by men of every creed and circumstance on the face of the earth.




The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation has been working relentlessly to honor Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli,  and to spread his magnificent legacy.

Roncalli was a remarkable man who epitomized courage, passion for justice and a strong spirit of reform. His record as Pope John XXIII is well documented and widely known. In 1961, he commissioned the drafting of the revolutionary Decretum de Judaeis (“Decree on the Jews”) which served as a basis to Nostra Aetate (Our Age), a declaration of the relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, which was promulgated in 1965 by his successor, Pope Paul VI, after Roncalli’s death.

Many other anecdotes surrounding his Papacy clearly show his innermost feelings towards Jews. One of them relates to his famous statement: “I’m Joseph, your brother”, referring to his middle name “Giuseppe” (Joseph, in Italian), in clear Biblical allusion of what Joseph said to his brothers in Egypt.

Before his papacy he also demonstrated his unconditional love for the Jewish people and for the State of Israel. Back in the 1940′s, during the dark days of the Holocaust, Angelo Roncalli served as Apostolic Delegate in Istanbul and in this position he went out of his way to save as many Jews as possible. His door was always open to the Jewish Yishuv leaders involved in the rescue efforts, especially Haim Barlas, who documented the aid he got from Roncalli.

 The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation promoted the naming of streets, schools and a kindergarten after him, the erection of busts and monuments, the creation of educational programs and so forth.
Back in 2011, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation submitted a massive file (the Roncalli Dossier) to Yad Vashem, with a strong petition and recommendation to bestow upon him the title of Righteous among the Nations. 

The foundation has some good news:

A few weeks ago we learned that the city of Ashdod was favorably considering the possibility of naming a street after him and we continue our campaign with other cities and have asked Minister Gilad Erdan to contemplate the possibility of a special stamp issue bearing Roncalli’s semblance.

We are very happy that one of our first members, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (better known nowadays as Pope Francis), who has always been very supportive of our mission to keep alive the legacies of the rescuers, is likely to follow the same path set by Angelo Roncalli, fostering a brotherly dialog between Christian and Jews.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was a remarkable human being – a role model to whom we all owe a debt of eternal gratitude.

+++

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Paus Johannes XXIII Rechtvaardige onder de naties

Monument aux justes des Nations, Yad Vashem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bij Yad Vashem, het herdenkingsmonument voor de Holocaust, werd een aanvraag ingediend om paus Johannes XXIII (1958-1963) als ‘Rechtvaardige onder de naties’ te erkennen. De titel wordt door Israël toegekend aan mensen die op gevaar van eigen leven probeerden joden te redden. Het is de hoogste onderscheiding van Israël voor niet-joden. De aanvraag werd ingediend naar aanleiding van de 50ste verjaardag van het overlijden van de paus, die op 3 juni 1963 op 81-jarige leeftijd overleed. Voorlopig is er nog geen positieve beslissing, meldt de Raoul Wallenbergstichting in de ‘Times of Israel’.

Van de paus is bekend dat hij een belangrijke rol speelde bij de bevordering van de relaties tussen joden en christenen. Minder bekend is dat hij tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog als diplomaat van de Heilige Stoel probeerde om joden te redden en zijn diplomatieke relaties benutte om joden uit de Balkan te helpen vluchten. Volgens Baruch Tenembaum van de Wallenbergstichting schreef hij ook doopcertificaten om joden het leven te redden.

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