Jewish Rabbi Abraham Skorka, a longtime friend of Pope Francis and co-author of the book “On Heaven and Earth” with the Pope, shared his thoughts and wishes for the decade.
C. Rubini CTC, Vatican News
He began by recalling the Pope’s relationship with the city’s Jewish community when he was Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. There, the Pope deepened his dialogue and loving relationship with rabbis, community leaders and individuals. He recalled that he was one of those who was able to establish such a blessed loving relationship with Papa.
On Heaven and Earth was a summary of their 31 discussions on the archdiocese’s television channel. The Pope also gave messages in many synagogues. Abraham Skorka recalled that Cardinal Bergoglio was a constant source of support during the 1994 bombing of a community center in Buenos Aires.
He said that Cardinal Bergoglio was asked to write the preface to the Pope’s biography for France because of his sincere dedication to his connections and friendship with the Jews.
He described how even after he became pope in 2013, he kept in touch with his Jewish friends through e-mail and phone, asking about their health and family.
Apostolic Exhortation The gospel of joy Underlining the importance given to the dialogue between peoples and religious traditions, the rabbi pointed out that it shares very important insights about the relationship between the church and the Jewish people.
Rabbi Abraham pointed to his visit to the Holy Land in 2014, his visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau where the Jews were killed in 2006 and the fact that the Pope was speechless in front of the atrocities there, and the fact that he laid flowers at the grave of Theodore Herzl, the father of political Zionism in Jerusalem, as a sign of friendship for the Jews.
He said that praying near the wall separating Israel and Palestine to highlight Pope Francis’ focus on human rights was not just a political event, it was a prayer to bless Israel and Palestine with peace. It was a call to remove all walls of separation and hatred and replace them with bonds of mutual understanding and dialogue.
Visiting the Deishe refugee camp reminded us that we cannot live in the evil chains of the past and that we must change the foundations of our views and find a path to develop together with dignity. It was a reflection of this when he held a conference for peace in the gardens of the Vatican, bringing together the presidents of Israel and Palestine and planting a symbolic peace olive with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Pope Francis has condemned all kinds of attacks on Jews simply because they are Jews. Abraham Skorka said that the Pius XII archive opened in 2020 and the Pope’s commitment to the truth, which repeats “You must know the truth”, and that without such a commitment, a deep relationship cannot be built.
He wished that Pope Francis’s love for the Jews was a genuine affection and that this mutual love would be a model for the mutual contacts between Catholics and Jews for generations to come.