Indifference from the Vatican

The current round of hostilities with Iran has featured some compelling sideshows. One of these areas has been the recent spat between President Trump and Pope Leo. The Pope has strongly condemned the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, calling it a "senseless and inhuman violence" fueled by a "delusion of omnipotence" and "idolatry of profit". He has specifically declared that "God does not bless any conflict" and has condemned the use of religious language to justify the war as "unacceptable." One might conclude from these comments that the theology of the Catholic Church condemns conflict, especially towards innocent civilians. That takeaway is not aligned with the historical reality. The era of the Crusades began with a call from Pope Urban II to liberate Jerusalem from the infidels and was declared with the cry of “Deus vult!” or “God wills it!” As the Crusaders traveled to Jerusalem, they especially attacked and killed Jews. The Rhineland massacres of 1096 alone, conducted by the People's Crusade, killed roughly 2,000 to 3,000 Jews in cities like Worms and Mainz. The Rhineland is a beautiful and picturesque area in Germany, and it also has Jewish blood seeped in its soil for nearly a thousand years. The number of unarmed civilians killed in the combined Crusades, while debated by historians, is at least a few million by conservative estimates. In more recent times, as the atrocities of the Holocaust were unfolding, many Jews beseeched the Vatican for the Pope to intervene and at least make a public condemnation. Pope Pius XII largely remained silent as millions of Jews were sent to gas chambers. The Vatican officially maintained a policy of “Neutrality Strategy.” The Vatican believed that maintaining a public stance of neutrality was the best way to keep channels of communication open while acting behind the scenes. Official records from the Vatican archive indicate that the Pope was briefed on the killings of thousands of Jews daily, with specific mention of Auschwitz and Belzec, as early as December 1942 and chose not speak up. ​ Which brings us to the current situation with Iran. For decades, the Iranian regime has declared that Israel must be wiped off the map. This was not just empty rhetoric. The Iranian Regime redirected many resources away from improving its society and invested in a military and nuclear program. It unveiled a Doomsday Clock in Palestine Square in Tehran, showing how much time will be until all 7 million Jews living in Israel are destroyed. The regime engaged and propped up proxies all over the region, from Lebanon to Gaza to Yemen, who were aligned with their worldview of making the Land of Israel into a Judenrein territory. This was the context in which Israel and the United States launched preemptive attacks on Iran. ​ It appeared we had turned a corner on indifference to jewish suffering from the Vatican. In 1986, Pope John Paul II improved Catholic-Jewish relations by fostering unprecedented dialogue, apologizing for past persecution, and condemning anti-Semitism as a sin. He even visited the Great Synagogue in Rome and declared the Jews as his “beloved brothers” and “elder brothers in faith”. The recent statements from Pope Leo are more aligned with much darker times. In times of confusion, people look to leaders of faith for moral clarity. There are 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide who look to the Pope for this guidance. The world can not afford another Pope to blow the moment. ​ Have a Peaceful Shabbos, ​ Rabbi Yaakov Fisch