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New York (JTA) — When some
two dozen Jewish leaders met
with Pope John Paul II after the
Sabbath ended, it appeared as
though the meeting was more
ceremonial than substantive.
However, the gathering gave
Jewish leaders an opportunity to
relay their concerns personally
to the pontiff.
The post-Shabbat meeting also
was an indication of how highly
the pope values relations with the
Jewish community, given that he
squeezed the gathering into his
hectic four-day trip to the Unit-
ed States. The globe-trotting pope
makes a point of meeting with lo-
cal Jewish leaders wherever he
travels.
When representatives of Jew-
ish groups met with him in New
York at the residence of the city's
archbishop, Cardinal John
O'Connor, they were meeting
with the Catholic leader who has
— more than any other pontiff—
shaped the relationship between
the two communities in a positive
way.
This pope has a "long history
of solidarity with the Jewish peo-
ple," said Rabbi Leon Klenicki,
director of the Anti-Defamation
League's interfaith affairs de-
partment.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, of the
Park East Synagogue in New
York and the founder of the ec-
umenical group Appeal of Con-
science, said he thanked the pope
"for taking a stand on anti-Semi-
tism and remembering the
Shoah."
Rabbi Schneier said, "His re-
ply was, We must always re-
member the lessons of the Shoah,'
using the term `Shoah.' "
Rabbi A. James Rudin, direc-
tor of interreligious affairs for the
American Jewish Committee,
who also attended the event, said
the topic of an encyclical on anti-
Semitism was raised in the meet-
ing.
Jewish groups want the pope
to issue an encyclical — em-
bodying many of the things he
has said previously — that would
condemn anti-Semitism as a sin.
An encyclical is the highest lev-
el of interpretation a pope can is-
sue. John Paul II has issued
about a dozen during the 18 years
of his papacy.
The issuance of the document
would be a "worthy capstone" to
the teachings of this pope, Rabbi
Rudin said.
Although the pope has main-
tained the Catholic Church's tra-
ditional positions on a host of
issues, from contraception to the
ordination of women, he has bro-
ken dramatically with the
church's historical attitudes to-
ward Judaism to reconcile with
the community he has called "our
elder brother in faith."
The relationship has long been
colored by mutual suspicion and
hostility. Today, say many of
those involved with Catholic-Jew-
ish dialogue, it is a relationship
based on mutual respect and for
that they credit, on the Catholic
side, the pope.
Pope John Paul II has done a
great deal to implement the
Catholic document Nostra Ae-
tate, which first articulated the
notion of a "spiritual bond" link-
ing the church to Judaism, they
say. Nostra Aetate, or In Our
Time, was produced by the Sec-
ond Vatican Council and adopt-
ed in October 1965.
• Dozens of times, he has ad-
dressed healing words to, and
about, the Jewish community,
and publicly condemned anti-
Semitism as a sin.
• The first pope to visit a Nazi
death camp, he visited Auschwitz
in 1979, making special reference
Much work remains
to clear all
obstacles.
to "the memory of the people
whose sons and daughters were
intended for total extermination."
• He was the first pope to vis-
it a synagogue. He went to a con-
gregation in Rome in 1986.
• John Paul II was the first
pope to commemorate the Holo-
caust formally, which he did with
a tribute performance by
Britain's Royal Philharmonic at
the Vatican on Holocaust Memo-
rial Day in 1994.
• Under his reign, the Vatican
finally established formal diplo-
matic relations with the State of
Israel, in December 1993.
The tone set by this pope has
had an important trickle-down
effect on the Catholic Church
worldwide, say observers, though
there remains work to be done.
Both the German and Polish
Catholic bishops conferences, for
example, have issued documents
apologizing for the role of
Catholics in creating the horror
of Nazism.
When Nostra Aetate was
adopted 30 years ago, the church
articulated a new approach to-
ward non-Christian religions and
devoted special attention to the
Jews.
But it was not until 1978,
when Pope John Paul II was
elected to lead the Catholic
Church, which has some billion
followers worldwide, that the new
policy began to bear fruit.