ITALY:ON THE day that a rabbi made history by becoming the first non-Christian to address a session of the Vatican's synod of bishops, the controversial figure of Pope Pius XII continued to ruffle Jewish-Catholic relations.
Speaking to Reuters yesterday morning, Rabbi Shear-Yusev Cohen, who later in the day addressed a session of the synod, expressed his embarrassment that the current synod coincides with ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII. Had he known, said the rabbi, he might have stayed away from Rome. Certain Jewish historians and commentators have always maintained that Pius did not do enough to thwart the Holocaust, failing to use his moral authority to issue a strong condemnation of Hitler's Nazi regime.
Catholic historians, in contrast, have often argued that Pius did everything possible to save the Jewish people, working behind the scenes to help many escape the Nazi concentration camps.
Just last month, Pope Benedict XVI issued a vigorous defence of Pius in which he said that his predecessor had "spared no effort" on behalf of Jews during the second World War. Partly in response to that statement, the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, declined to take part in a week-long, televised Bible reading which has the Vatican's blessing and which started on Sunday with Pope Benedict reading the opening verses of first book of the Old Testament, Genesis.
The Bible reading marathon has been timed to coincide with the current assembly general of the synod which has come together to discuss The Word of God In The Life and Mission Of The Church.
The presence of Rabbi Cohen, along with that of Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I who is scheduled to join Pope Benedict in the celebration of Vespers in the Synod Hall on October 18th, had been intended to strike a positive ecumenical and inter-religious note.
Yesterday, though, Rabbi Cohen was surprisingly outspoken, saying: "He [Pius] may have helped in secrecy many of the victims and many of the refugees but the question is could he have raised his voice and would it have helped or not? We, as the victims, feel yes. I am not empowered by the families of the millions of the deceased to say we forget, we forgive."
Speaking to the synod yesterday evening, Rabbi Cohen appealed to religious leaders to denounce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel. The rabbi said that Jews cannot "forgive or forget" the fact that many leaders, including religious ones, failed to raise their voices against Hitler, adding that he expected them to do so today against President Ahmadinejad.
The pope yesterday referred to the turmoil in world financial markets, saying it was proof that the pursuit of money and success is "pointless" and that, instead, people should base their lives on God's word.