To The Editor:
I fear that the article entitled "New Book on Wartime Pope's
Antisemitism" by R. E. Gruber in the issue of 28 Tishrei
(October 8) can be terribly misunderstood.
First of all, there is no question that Pope Pius XII was
blatantly antisemitic, believed the Jews were responsible for
their tragedy by rejecting Christianity, and facilitated
Hitler's rise to power. It is also well established that the
Vatican helped high ranking war criminals escape justice
after the war. This is obvious from records that have been
known for many years. Apparently, Pius XII put the Roman
Catholic Church in an uncomfortable position after the war:
to condemn Pius XII would acknowledge that the foundations of
the Church leave much to be desired. To admit the truth about
Pius would put the Catholic Church in a very bad light.
Decent Roman Catholics would also be disgusted that their
religion could tolerate mass genocide. The Church therefore
resorted to rewriting history and claimed that Pius XII saved
many Jews.
Now John Cornwell comes along with his book Hitler's Pope:
The Secret History of Pius XII, and proves from the
Vatican's own archives, including letters, the truth that an
unbiased person already saw years before. To rewrite history
is one thing, but you can't rewrite the Vatican's own
letters. Therefore, they had no choice but to attack
Cornwell.
The basic tenet of the Vatican is that whoever does not
accept J.C. is doomed to suffer forever in Purgatory.
According to them, even people like Moses and King David were
suffering there until J.C. brought them out. According to
them, the Jews, as keepers of the old faith, are a cursed
people doomed to suffer. Obviously, Pius acted the way he
did. Any pope, even the present pope John Paul II, would have
acted the same way.
Gruber's article mentions that "John Paul II has made
improving Catholic-Jewish relations a priority of his papacy.
He is the first pope to have visited a synagogue, he has
visited Holocaust sites, and he has spoken out eloquently and
frequently against antisemitism. He also oversaw the
establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the
Vatican."
John Paul II has the same beliefs that every pope before him
held, only the times have changed the way of expressing those
beliefs. Previously, Roman Catholics showed their brotherly
love by putting the sword to Jewish necks in order to bring
them to their "salvation." John Paul II wants us to recognize
the authority of J.C. by, among other things, visiting a
synagogue and condemning antisemitism (without mentioning
that his church created the antisemitism in the first
place).
The only Holocaust site that I know John Paul II visited is
Auschwitz, where he planted a very large cross in the
Auschwitz compound during a Mass in January 1979. John Paul
II's act symbolizes that the Jews suffered there because they
rejected the cross, and can only be redeemed through the
cross.
I have nothing against the Roman Catholic people. I may
suppose that the majority of them are decent people. You must
keep in mind, however, that all through the centuries the
Vatican has kept its true intentions hidden even from its own
adherents. I assume that just like the vast majority of the
American people would be sickened if they knew of some of the
policies of their CIA, the vast majority of Roman Catholics
would be sickened to know of some of the policies of the
Vatican.
I also have nothing against the present pope. I heard a story
that before he was pope a Catholic couple brought him a
Jewish baby whose parents entrusted him to their care to save
him from the Nazis. This couple wanted the future pope John
Paul II to baptize the baby, and he refused. (This is
certainly a far cry from days gone by when Catholics would
baptize Jewish babies, and the pope ruled the child is
Catholic, whereupon he would be taken away from his parents.)
If this story is true, John Paul II certainly deserves a
great deal of credit. However, it is unreasonable to think he
is like Avrohom Ovinu and has smashed the idols of his
fathers. John Paul thinks the same as his predecessors and
wants to bring us "salvation." Unfortunately, John Paul's
approach has been much more successful than his
predecessors.
"He also oversaw the establishment of diplomatic relations
between Israel and the Vatican." I suppose this is referring
to The Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the
State of Israel. I was told that The Tablet, a Roman
Catholic magazine, in its issue of Jan 13, 1994, states that
in this agreement it was decided, among other things, that
Christians can proselytize in Israel with the full protection
of Israeli Law. Given that the Yated has reported many
times that missionaries are afforded protection by the
Israeli police while anyone who tries to stop them is
harassed by the police, it looks as if The Tablet has
told the truth.
John Paul II truly wants to improve Catholic-Jewish
relations. In his mind that means convincing us to become
Christian. This is a far cry from the Jewish ideal to love
all people because we were all created betzelem Elokim,
in G- d's image.
Sincerely yours,
Pinchos Leitman
