Warsaw Archbishop Adrian Galbas and Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, took part in the service, where both invoked John Paul’s role in reshaping Catholic-Jewish relations.
“The power of this simple statement by John Paul II, that ‘whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism,’ changed our world”, Schudrich said.
Referring to the pope’s 1986 remarks describing Jews as “our beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said, our elder brothers”, Schudrich said the phrase prompted many Jews to rethink their relationship with Christianity and Christians.
“These two simple words, ‘elder brothers,’ moved many Jews to reconsider their relationship with Christianity and Christians”, he said.
Schudrich said John Paul led not only through words but through personal example. “My task is not so much to convince another person to think as I do, but to find in them that spark of holiness and touch it in their soul”, he said, recalling a personal meeting with the pope in 2004.
He also said he had been struck by the crowds who came to pray for John Paul in a synagogue after the pope’s death, something that “10 or 20 years earlier would have been unthinkable”.
Galbas said John Paul’s contribution to reconciliation between Catholics and Jews stemmed not only from the Second Vatican Council, but also from his life experience. He recalled the pope’s rejection of claims that Jews had been “rejected or cursed”, calling such interpretations baseless.
He also cited John Paul’s condemnation of “acts of hatred, persecution and displays of anti-Semitism, whenever and by whoever directed against Jews”.
Galbas said the pope’s words on peace in the Holy Land remained relevant today, quoting his prayer that hostility should no longer plunge into hatred those who look to Abraham as father — “Jews, Christians, and Muslims” — and should instead give way to awareness of their shared bonds and responsibilities.
“I thank everyone who understands these words, who listens to them and who tries to put them into practice”, Galbas said. “May we seek what can bring us closer, what is common to us”.
The archbishop also appealed for divisions to be overcome.
“Let us not lend the devil an ear. He will keep tempting us toward wars and hatred”, Galbas said. He warned against “every ‘anti,’ including anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, anti-humanism and anti-Christianity”, and called instead for shared prayer and “words of peace”.
John Paul became the first pope to enter a synagogue on April 13, 1986, in a visit widely seen as a breakthrough in Catholic-Jewish relations.
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Source: PAP