Friday, January 10, 1964—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-34
Israelis Evaluate the Results of Pope's Holy Land Visit
(Continued from Page 32)
was voiced by the Pontiff in
his farewell address here, just
before he left Israel after
spending 12 hours in the Jew-
ish State.
President Zalman Shazar,
flanked by ranking members of
Israel's Cabinet, had just said
farewell to Pope Paul, when the
Pontiff, in his response, surpris-
ingly touched on the contro-
versy caused by the Hochhuth
play.
Pope Paul started his final
remarks on Isr:ael's soil by ex-
pressing gratification over his
visit here, and voicing thanks
for the welcome and hospitality
accorded him. He emphasized
that he had come here as a
representative of "Him Who
bore peace." "There is nothing
in our heart," he said, "but feel-
ings of good will toward all
men and all people. Indeed, the
Church loves everybody in the
same measure." Then he touched
on the Pius controversy, stat-
ing:
"Our great predecessor, Pius
XII, again and again stressed
this forcefully—not once, twice
—midst the last world war. Ev-
erybody knows what he did to
help and defend all those who
had been tried by war's tribu-
lations, without discrimination.
Yet, as you are aware, an at-
tempt has been made to cast
suspicion and, indeed, accusa-
tions have been leveled, against
the memory of this great Pontiff.
We are happy to have the oppor-
tunity to state on this day and
in this place that there is noth-
ing more unjust than this slight
against such a venerated mem-
ory.
"Those who knew this admir-
able man intimately know how
far his sensibility could go, his
compassion for human suffer-
ing, his courage, his delicacy
of heart, the depth of his feel-
ings, his charity and sympathy
vis-a-vis human sufferings, his
spirit and the nobility of his
heart. It is well known that,
after the war, men came to him
with tears in their eyes to thank
him for saving their lives. Truly
following the example of Him
Whom they represent here be-
low, Popes desire nothing but
the well-being of all men."
The Pontiff's statement was
made in a colorful setting at
the Mandelbaum Gate, where an
arch had been erected by Israel
for the farewell ceremonies.
President Shazar, with Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol and other
Cabinet members standing next
to him, and the members of the
diplomatic corps accredited to
Israel present, had just deliv-
ered his farewell address to the
Pope. Speaking in Hebrew, the
Israeli President said to the
Pope that "our hand is stretched
out in a gesture of peace to-
ward neighboring states; our
eyes are lifted in search of true
peace in the world, peace firmly
based on trust and respect
among peoples."
Pope Paul VI in a formal
statement after leaving Israel
quoted the Hebrew prophet
Isaiah on the light that will
come from Jerusalem "when the
earth will be covered with dark-
ness."
* *
Hussein's Message of Hate
Repudiated by Mrs. Meir
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Mrs.
Golda Meir, Israel's Foreign
Minister, denounced King Hus-
sein of Jordan, accusing him of
exploiting for "political propa-
ganda" the visit of Pope Paul
VI to Christianity's Holy Places
in Jordan and Israel.
The exchange was the first dis-
pute between the two countries
on an official level over the
Pope's unprecedented pilgrim-
age. It was touched off by a
statement by King Hussein that
the Papal pilgrimage would not
ISRAEL HONORS POPE PAUL—President Zalman Shazar
(right) of Israel presents a gold medal to Pope Paul VI during
a welcoming ceremony in Megiddo, the Pontiff's crossing point
from Jordan. In center is Israeli Chief of Protocol Avraham
Gilboa.
President Zalman Shazar (right) of Israel presents a gold medal
to Pope Paul VI during a welcoming ceremony in Megiddo. In
the center is Israel Chief of Protocol Avraham Gilboa.
help improve relations between
Jordan and Israel. He said the
existing situation was "almost a
threat of war and has been since
1948. There are still refugee
camps. The feeling in the Arab
world is that Israel, as it stands,
has designs and plans to carry
further the aggresssion and to
expand at our expense."
He called Israel's projected
use of Jordan River water for
irrigation of the Negev "just
an example" and he ruled out
any possibility of the Pope me-
diating in the Arab-Israel dis-
pute, asserting that "these mat-
ters will be decided with other
Arab states." He asked for
Christian support for opposition
to the Jordan River project, de-
claring that "we refuse to be-
lieve that the Christian world
would countenance and acqui-
esce in the diversion and almost
complete obliteration of the
River Jordan with all its pre-
cious historic and religious as-
sociations as Israel seems bent
on doing."
Mrs. Meir replied that "it
might have been assumed"
that the Pope's expressed de-
sire that his pilgrimage be
considered entirely religious
"would be universally re-
spected, in particular by his
hosts. Out of respect for this
most distinguished guest and
for his declared desire, I shall
refrain from answering the vi-
cious and baseless charges."
She reacted to the Jordanian
King's charges on the Jordan
River project and said "all ob-
jective observers" knew that the
irrigation program "does not in-
fringe on the rights of Israel's
Arab neighbors, will not divert
the river, nor affect in any way
its historic or religious' asso-
ciations."
Mrs. Meir expressed surprise
that King Hussein would refer
to the Israeli project in such
terms "when his own govern-
ment is engaged in diverting
the waters" of the main tribu-
tary of the Jordan River, the
Yarmuk.
Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim
adhered to his decision not to
welcome the Pope in person,
but sent him a warm message
of welcome. The Chief Rabbi
provoked a controversy by that
decision. It was understood that
he felt that, as one of the rank-
ing leaders of Judasim, he
should not attend the welcome
without a reciprocal visit from
the Pope.
Addressing the Pope as "the
illp,strious pilgrim," the Chief
Ilmbi prayed, in his messages,
that the Pope "receive bless-
ings out of Zion, God's Holy
mountain, and out of Jerusalem,
the chosen city. May his mission
of prayer on behalf of his faith-
ful be attended by silence which
he wishes for and befits prayer
and meditation.
"His desire to beseech God's
mercy for peace among all men
is timely indeed. The threat of
war, waged by methods of mod-
ern science, calls us to fervent
prayer that guide rulers of the
world in their efforts to estab-
lish just, peaceful order, foster
mutual understanding, reduce
hatred and increase friendship
among nations until the vision
of Israel's prophets is fulfilled:
`And they will beat their swords
into ploughshares and their
spears into pruning forks. Na-
tion shall not lift sword against
nation, neither will they learn
war any more.'
"Prayer for peace is the duty
of all, but even more of reli-
gious leaders who must make
this striving their chief concern
and seek brotherly converse now
to move our hearts toward it.
May the prayers of the illustri-
ous pilgrim, supreme among his
brethren for peace of the world
be answered, and may his corn-
ing and his going be blessed
with peace."
Chief Rabbi Nissim, it was
learned, rejected a Papal in-
vitation to join Eugene Car-
dinal Tisserant, Dean of the
Sacred College of Cardinals,
Sunday night in paying trib-
ute to the millions of Jews
murdered during the Nazi era.
There were reliable reports
that the Chief Rabbi did so
when he learned that 't would
not be the Pope who would join
in the memorial tribute.
While the Pope was touring
the Galilee Sunday, he sent a
message to Israeli authorities
saying he had asked Cardinal
Tisserant to visit the Chamber
of the Martyrs on Mount Zion
and that the Pope hoped the
Chief Rabbi would attend.
The papal invitation was de-
livered by Dr. Warhaftig to
Rabbi Nissim.
When the Cardinal was told
Rabbi Nissim had declined the
invitation, he went on with the
papal group to the Christian
Holy Places in Jerusalem.
Pope's Defense of Pius
Questioned by Newspapers
JERUSALEM — The Israeli
press agreed Tuesday that Pope
Paul's unprecedented visit to
Israel Sunday was an event of
great importance for Israel but
they questioned his defense of
the late Pope Pius XII who has
been accused of failing to speak
out against the Nazi genocide
of European Jewry.
Haaretz said that the visit
confronted Israel with three
tests: organizational, political
and historical, and that the first
was passed "with flying colors."
Politically speaking, the daily
added, the very fact of the visit
to a country which the Vatican
does not recognize was an
achievement of great impor-
tance, adding that the historical
aspect was the hardest to eval-
uate.
Commenting on the refusal
of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nis-
sim to attend the welcoming
ceremonies for the Pontiff,
Haaretz indicated it doubted
that the Chief Rabbi was en-
titled to stay away from any
state function. However, the
daily added, it was possible
that the Chief Rabbi acted
wisely because the faith of
Israel was justified in de-
manding equal, status with ev-
ery Christian church.
Discussing the Pontiff's de-
fense of the late Pope Pius,
Haaretz said: "His is the opinion
of one who is no more than
mortal, and historical research
will not be halted because of
this." The newspaper Hatzofe
asked whether Pope Pius did in-
deed do all that such a reli-
gious leader should have done,
even to the point of endanger-
ing his position.
The Religious party daily
added that the Jewish people
would not jump to overoptimis-
tic conclusions in connection
with the Pope's visit. It said
there were two practical tests of
the ultimate meaning of the
visit: one was that the Catholic
church should actively fight anti-
Semitism in Catholic countries,
and the other that it should
recognize Israel.
Lamerhav noted that the Pope
had said in both Hebrew and
English "Shalom" several times
during his visit and called this
"a clear strong voice of grace
and wisdom which for the mo-
ment spoke louder than the
voices of enmity which have
been sounding around for
years." It added that the very
meeting of the Pope with Is-.
raeli officials was a de facto
recognition of the existence of
Israel."
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