WIESENTHAL CENTER MOURNS POPE JOHN PAUL II: "NO POPE DID MORE FOR THE JEWS"

The Simon Wiesenthal Center deeply mourns the passing of Pope John Paul II. "No Pope did more for the Jews than John Paul II," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who had two private audiences with the Pope at the Vatican.

"For twenty centuries, the Catholic Church has had a turbulent relationship with the Jewish people. Jews were persecuted and held responsible for the death of Jesus, and were often the victims of Church-instigated pogroms and antisemitic attacks. This Pope was determined to embark on a new course and leave that shameful period behind."

On December 1, 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center presented His Holiness with its Humanitarian Award at a private audience in the Pope’s study at the Vatican. In presenting the award, Rabbi Hier said, "As a youngster, you played goalie on the Jewish soccer team in Wadowice… in 1937, concerned about the safety of Ginka Beer, a Jewish student on her way to Palestine, you personally escorted her to the railroad station… in 1963, you were one of the major supporters of Nostra Aetate, the historic Vatican document which rejected the collective responsibility of the Jewish people for the crucifixion… in 1986, you were the first Pope to ever visit a synagogue… the first to recognize the State of Israel… the first to issue a document that seeks forgiveness for members of the Church for wrongdoing committed against the Jewish people throughout history and to apologize for Catholics who failed to help Jews during the Nazi period… the first to visit a concentration camp and to institute an official observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Vatican..."

Rabbi Hier pointed out that to understand how profound Pope John Paul II’s influence on changing the course of Church policy, one has only to remember that during the height of the Holocaust, in June 1943, the Vatican petitioned the Roosevelt administration not to grant a Jewish homeland in Palestine to Jews fleeing the Holocaust. "Sixty years later, the Pope not only recognized the State of Israel, but also prayed at the Western Wall and asked forgiveness on the part of the Church," Hier said.

"We can only hope that the new Pope will continue John Paul II’s legacy," Hier concluded.

Please call the Center's Public Relations department, 310-772-2458. Your call will be promptly returned. You can also reach Avra Shapiro, Director of Public Relations at 818-519-9697.