Posted on 10/24/2013 3:31:03 PM PDT by NYer
“Unbelievable, extraordinary, electrifying! I have never seen a Pope with such warmth” said Rabbi Marvin Hier immediately following a Papal Audience of 62 members and friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Thursday, October 24. “Pope Francis stayed around after his remarks. He wouldn’t leave. He sat in our midst and spoke privately to every single individual. This is his great strength: when he talks to an individual nothing else exists in the world.”
Rabbi Marvin Hier is Dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (named after the Austrian Holocaust survivor who sought to bring as many Nazi war criminals to justice as possible) and its Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, now dedicated to combatting racism, intolerance, anti-Semitism and preserving the memory of the Shoah. Though mostly Jews, in the group there were also Christians and a Muslim, from Dubai -- Muhammed Alibar, owner of the world’s largest building.
While Pope Francis’ modest style is often described as modeled on the philosophy of Francis of Assisi, Rabbi Hier compared it to that of “Abraham, the founder of monotheism.”
“Your Holiness, like millions of others I was amazed to see that after being named Pope Francis, you personally went back to your hotel to check yourself out” said Hier in his address. According to Genesis (13:3), “V’yelech Lemasov”, said the Rabbi, Abraham too “ ‘went back to his same lodgings’ … even though he had now become a world leader. In order to emphasize to all that his was a mission based on kindness and good deeds, not on wealth and power.”
Pope Francis, expressed appreciation for the Center’s work. He recalled that “in the past weeks I had occasion to repeatedly stress “the Church’s condemnation of every form of anti-Semitism” adding that he now wanted to focus on the problem of intolerance . “Wherever a minority of any sort is persecuted and discriminated against because of its religious or ethnic convictions, the wellbeing of an entire society is endangered and we must all feel involved” he said. He pointed to the present persecutions of Christians in “various countries of the world.”
From Rome Reports:
October 24, 2013 (Romereports.com) Pope Francis met with a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a U.S.-based Jewish human rights group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, intolerance and racism. The audience took place Thursday inside the Vatican's Clementine Hall.
The Pope denounced the persecution of any minority group “because of their religious convictions or ethnic identity.” He specifically singled out the suffering of many Christians around the world, living under the threat of persecution.
Pope Francis then called for a culture of encounter and respect. He praised the work the Simon Wiesenthal Center carries forward, and urged them to continue.
Pope denounces the persecution of Christians and anti-Semitism - YouTube Video
Ping!
I've had this experience with someone before -- also a priest. When you went to confession to him it was as if you were the only person in the world. I know it couldn't have been just me -- people would line up in droves to go to confession to him.
He had been a priest for over 65 years, and was one of the religious superiors who helped found the Institute on Religious Life with Fr. John Hardon. A very holy priest.
BTTT
Would love to have met your priest. I have a very holy one, as well.
I’ve read some on Fr. John Hardon; in fact Mother Teresa personally suggested reading his words if we wanted more clarity on the Church’s teachings. What was your priest’s name?
Here is the translation of the address given by Pope Francis to a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish organization for the defense of human rights.
* * *
Dear Friends,
I welcome this Delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish organization for the defense of human rights. I am aware that this meeting had been planned some time ago by my predecessor Benedict XVI, whom you asked to visit and who remains in our affectionate thoughts and prayers.
These meetings are a concrete sign of the respect and esteem which you have for the Bishops of Rome, for which I am grateful. They are likewise an expression of the appreciation of the Pope for the task to which you have dedicated yourselves: to combat every form of racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism, to keep alive the memory of the Shoah, and to promote mutual understanding through education and commitment to the good of society.
In these last few weeks, I have reaffirmed on more than one occasion the Churchs condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism. Today I wish to emphasize that the problem of intolerance must be confronted in all its forms: wherever any minority is persecuted and marginalized because of its religious convictions or ethnic identity, the wellbeing of society as a whole is endangered and each one of us must feel affected. With particular sadness I think of the sufferings, the marginalization and the very real persecutions which not a few Christians are undergoing in various countries. Let us combine our efforts in promoting a culture of encounter, respect, understanding and mutual forgiveness.
For the building of such a culture, I would like to highlight especially the importance of education, not only as the transmission of facts, but as the handing on of a living witness. This presupposes the establishment of a communion of life, a covenant with the coming generations, which is always open to truth. To the young, we must be able to convey not only a knowledge of the history of Jewish-Catholic dialogue about past difficulties, but also an awareness of the progress made in recent decades.
Above all we must be able to transmit a passion for meeting and coming to know others, promoting an active and responsible involvement of our young people. It is here that commitment to the service of society and to those most in need acquires a special value. I encourage you to continue to pass on to the young the importance of working together to reject walls and build bridges between our cultures and our faith traditions. May we go forward with trust, courage and hope! Shalom!
Father Hardon was something like a “senior chaplain” for Catholic homeschoolers. I have a lot of his recordings. Such a typical Jesuit lecturer - just like Pope Francis or Father Ho Lung - always making Three Points!
So how many valid covenants do we have floating out there now? Is this new one the Third Covenant?
Why then has the Pope persecuted the priests of the Franciscans of the Immaculate who wish to continue to offer the TLM?
Thanks NYer.
Pope Francis did not persecute them. He just told them to be obedient. I attend the Latin Mass by the way and hope the friars who are unhappy in the order form their own so they can say the old Mass.
He was a Servite, Fr. Louis Cortney.
Persecution and judgment of traditionalists is AOK.
As far as the OP, I’m sure that Francis will be merciful in his continued dialogue with the Jews by making sure they know that they need to convert for salvation.
Beautiful - thanks for sharing his words...
They were obedient to their religious superior. He had given them the option to offer either Mass. It was Pope Francis who stepped in and dismissed the Superior and then countermanded Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum.
What kind of "orthodox rabbi" runs a "Museum of Tolerance?" I don't remember Joshua establishing such an institution.
Your question about the “orthodox” rabbi reminds me of my questions regarding this pope.
He's technically "Orthodox," but Orthodoxy has its share of liberals too. If you only knew what is going on in some of the fringes of Orthodox Judaism today. Apparently the madness of our time is universal.
At any rate, while technically a Theocratic religion in exile, over the past three centuries most "Jewish leaders" have completely thrown this over in favor of being a "minority group" which can only survive if a secular state and society imposes a universal secular ethic. And of course, there is no such thing as a secular ethic. This means they have also adopted the eighteenth century European "enlightenment" language of "rights." I think if you read the Hebrew Bible you won't find any such thing.
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