JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) - After the papal nuncio to Israel defended Pope Pius XII on Israeli television on Saturday, some Israelis called for a boycott of the papal pilgrimage to the country in March.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi told an interviewer for Israel's Channel 1 that Pope Pius XII did not publicly denounce the Nazi conduct toward the Jews in World War II because he was convinced that it would only result in more deaths and because he was unaware of the full extent of Holocaust. "I am convinced that a great strong condemnation would have increased the persecution of Hitler against the Jews," Archbishop Sambi said. The archbishop also cited the great risks that the Pope and many Catholics took to secretly save many Jews from the death camps.
Television interviewer Yaacov Ahimeir said "I'm a little stunned. In a way you justify the conduct of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust." The archbishop replied, "I justify totally what he did to save many Jews."
Some ultra-nationalist Jews and some ultra-Orthodox Jews have criticized Israel's chief rabbis for planning a meeting with Pope John Paul II, saying the March 20-26 visit might spur Christian missionary activity. Slogans like "Don't meet the pope" and "No to blasphemy, No to meeting the pope" were found Sunday spray-painted on the exterior walls of the building that houses Israel's chief rabbinate.
Rabbi Meir Lau, chief rabbi of Israel's Ashkenazi, or European-origin, Jews rejected calls for a boycott. "Judaism has taught us to turn an enemy into a lover. But to take a friend and turn him into an enemy is not sensible and not just," he said.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs