Mutual Declarations of Respect

By Richard N. Ostling

The two men, Pope John Paul in a white robe and Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff in a prayer shawl, stood side by side in Rome's main synagogue for a moment of silent prayer. Then they joined in an enthusiastic embrace. The throng of 1,000 people packed into the ornate synagogue, 40 of whom were survivors of Nazi death camps, burst into thunderous applause. Some wept openly.

The embrace was the climax of an 80-minute ceremony last week during a historic pre-Passover call by John Paul at the synagogue; it was the first time that a Pope is known to have visited a Jewish house of worship. Initiated by a personal request from the Pontiff, the carefully planned event included mutual declarations of respect by the Pope (who twice used Hebrew phrases) and the Chief Rabbi, Bible readings, hymns and the rendition by a cantor and choir of Ani Ma'amin, a traditional profession of faith sung by Jews as they were led to the gas chambers. Because of the congregation's Orthodox Jewish sensibilities, there was no joint worship.

To the congregation--Europe's oldest, dating to the 2nd century B.C.--the visit was particularly significant. For centuries the Jews of Rome, under papal rule, had suffered discrimination and humiliation, were confined to a ghetto and were forced to attend sermons urging them to convert. An ironic proverb expressed their feelings of hopelessness: "The persecution will end when the Pope enters the synagogue."

Official persecution had ended long before last week's momentous visit--in 1870, when the papal states were overthrown and Italy abolished the ghetto. But the Pope did not flinch from obliquely recalling the church's harsh treatment of Jews. He decried the "gravely deplorable manifestations" of the past and, quoting from a declaration of the Second Vatican Council, stated that the church "deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays of anti- Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and by anyone." Then the Pope added, to ringing applause, "I repeat: by anyone." John Paul also expressed "abhorrence" at the "genocide" of millions by the Nazis and, as did Rabbi Toaff, paid tribute to the Catholics who at great risk helped Rome's Jews, among whom 11,000 of 13,000 survived the German occupation.

In their speeches to the Pope, both Giacomo Saban, lay president of Rome's Jewish community, and Rabbi Toaff called for the Vatican to extend diplomatic recognition to Israel, a divisive issue between the two faiths. "Spiritually and emotionally," said Saban, "Israel is central to the heart of every Jew." The Chief Rabbi took the issue a theological step further by stating that the return of the Jews to the homeland was part of "God's final plan of redemption." But John Paul in his 3,000-word address made no mention of Israel, and a Vatican spokesman later said that the papal visit had been purely religious in nature and that the inclusion of any such political issue would have been inappropriate.

While Jewish leaders were upset at the omission, Israel's President Chaim Herzog termed the Pope's visit an important step toward "the correcting of the injustice which the church perpetrated on the Jewish people during 1,500 years." To Rabbi Toaff, the occasion was "a turning point in the history of the church," one that finally "puts the two religions on a level of equality."

With reporting by Marlin Levin/Jerusalem and Daniela Simpson/Rome