The President of CRIF welcomed Benedict XVI “to our country where the Church and the Jews have for a long time been engaged in a dialogue of exceptional quality, marked by a respectful and sincere friendship.” He also referred to the “deeply moving image” of John Paul II inserting a small piece of paper in a slit in the Jerusalem Wall, which “reminds us that fraternity is made of shared memories.”
Richard Prasquier added that: “It is a path that we must follow despite the stumbling blocks… It is a fight against hatred and contempt.” In conclusion, the President of CRIF expressed his pleasure at seeing “our relations deepened and strengthened”.
In a simple and cordial atmosphere, the meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
The President of CRIF said:
“Your Holiness, France’s Jewish community – a community rich with its traditions, its diversity and its attachment to Israel – welcomes you with deep respect. May your prayers during this pilgrimage find their fulfilment in peace.
We welcome you to our country where the Church and the Jews have for a long time committed themselves to a dialogue of exceptional quality, marked by a respectful and sincere friendship, in a country whose secular principles are conducive to a peaceful expression of one’s beliefs.
The ties between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people are a source of hope and a model for humanity torn between the dangers of greed and the dangers of fanaticism, in a world weighed down by the memory of the Holocaust and the question of evil, for which there is no answer other than in oneself.
The deeply moving image of your predecessor John Paul II inserting a small piece of paper in a slit in the Jerusalem Wall, reminds us that fraternity is made of shared memories. It is also a path that we must follow despite the stumbling blocks, it is a fight against the hatred and contempt which seek to demean all our fellow creatures.
This universal fight is the common duty of our traditions. Thank you, Your Holiness, for your determination in undertaking this fight.
On this eve of Sabbath, let us hope that the world of our children and our children’s children will be a world of peace and respect, filled with the blessings of the Lord.”
The Pope responded with the following words:
“To Be Anti-Semitic Also Meant to Be Anti-Christian”
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to receive you this afternoon. It is a happy circumstance that our meeting takes place on the eve of the weekly celebration of “Shabbat”, the day that since time immemorial occupies such an outstanding place in the religious and cultural life of the people of Israel. Every pious Jew sanctifies the “Shabbat” by reading the Scriptures and reciting the psalms. Dear friends, as you know, Jesus’ prayer was also nourished by the psalms. He went regularly to the Temple and to the synagogue. He spoke there on the Sabbath day. He wished to emphasize with what generosity God looks after man, also including the organization of time. Does not the Talmud Yoma (85b) state: “The Sabbath has been given to you, but you have not been given to the Sabbath?” Christ has asked the people of the Covenant to recognize always the unheard of grandeur and love of the Creator of all men. Dear friends, for reasons that unite us and for reasons that separate us, we must live and strengthen our fraternity. And we know that the bonds of fraternity are a continual invitation to know one another better and to respect one another.
By her very nature, the Catholic Church feels called to respect the Covenant established by God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She also places herself, in fact, in the eternal Covenant of the Almighty, who does not repent of his plan and respects the children of the Promise, children of the Covenant, as her beloved brothers in the faith. She repeats forcefully, through my voice, the words of the great Pope Pius XI, my venerated predecessor: “Spiritually, we are Semites” (Address to Belgian pilgrims, Sept. 6, 1938). Hence, the Church is opposed to all forms of anti-Semitism, of which there is no acceptable theological justification. Theologian Henri de Lubac, at a time of “darkness”, as Pius XII said (“Summi Pontificatus”, 20.10.1939), understood that to be anti-Semitic also meant to be anti-Christian (Cf. A new religious front, published in 1942 in: “Israel and the Christian Faith”, p. 136). Once again I feel the duty to render moving homage to those who died unjustly and to those who have taken the trouble to see that the names of the victims remain present in the memory. God does not forget!
On an occasion such as this, I cannot but acknowledge the eminent role played by the Jews of France for the edification of the entire nation and their prestigious contribution to her spiritual patrimony. They have given – and continue to give – great figures to the world of politics, culture and art. I express my respect full of affection for each one of them and invoke fervently on all your families and all your communities a particular Blessing of the Lord of the times and of history, “Shabbat shalom!”
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