Rabbi Skorka: Pope Francis and Judaism -- “We Dreamt, We Embraced in Front of the Wailing Wall"
(Buenos Aires / Jerusalem) Will Pope Francis meet the “mother of his personal faith" in Judaism? That, at least is what his Argentine friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka in an interview with the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica. Pope Francis arrives in a few days with a colorful entourage to the Holy Land.
The Catholic Church leader is not only accompanied, as usual, by
cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church, but this time also the
honorary chairman of the Orthodox Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, Bartholomew I. However, the most importantly will be
a personal friend of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine Rabbi Abraham
Skorka. The Vatican soon made aware of a risk. The very obvious
presence of a Jewish representative in the entourage of the
Pope, who has direct access to the Pope, boasting numerous interviews,
could trigger irritation in the Muslim world in the Middle East.
Above all, the Muslim Palestinians could feel resentment . So there
was a search for an additional, Muslim travel companion. It is Omar
Abboud, who will be the representative of the Islamic community in
Argentina. Abboud is a former Secretary General of the Islamic Center of Argentina .
Two Argentine Friends: Rabbi Skorka and the Muslim Representative Abboud
Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi said the Pope was accompanied by a
Jewish and a Muslim agent with whom he is already in “a friendly
dialogue” in Argentina . In fact, Archbishop Bergoglio, Rabbi Skorka
and Abboud took part as head of the Islamic Centre in the last ten years
prior, as the Pope's choice in numerous joint events part that stood
as a sign of inter-religious dialogue and were largely initiated by
Cardinal Bergoglio.
Skorka About Francis: “We Dreamed of Embracing Before the Wailing Wall"
While Abboud was invited in April to come along on the trip has so far
refrained from publicity, Rabbi Skorka has engaged in intense media
activism since the election of Pope Francis. In his recent interview
for the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica (Volume 3934 v. May 17, 2914: D he Pope, the Rabbi and the Holy Land ),
he said: "Since the election of Francis we have met three times in
Rome.” In one of these meetings, "we began to dream of standing
together in front of the Wailing Wall, embracing, to give you a sign
despite the two thousand years of disagreements between Jews and
Christians, and that I accompany him to Bethlehem to be close to his
mind in such an important moment, as a gesture of friendship and
respect, to give all peoples and nations of this region an indelible
sign of peace."
The interview with Rabbi Skorka led chief editor Father Antonio Spadaro,
who led a now famous, but also controversial interview with Pope
Francis last fall. Skorka also spoke of how Pope Francis see Judaism:
"At the first meeting he said, pointing to me and pointed with his hand
up: 'Our friendship and dialogue is the sign that it is'. And I added:
'You can create the path that leads to peace and the Rome and Jerusalem
brings together more closely.' "
Skorka: "Bergoglio sees in Judaism the Mother of his Personal Beliefs"
In a conversation between Father Spadaro and the rabbi several names are
called as witnesses for the Jewish-Christian dialogue, including the
retired Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Lustiger. There are also
publications mentioned considered by the Pope as fundamental to the
Jewish-Christian dialogue. According Skorka prevails in Pope Francis
especially "an expectation of the church to a Jewish response to the
document Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council, an adopted by the
majority of the Jewish people manifesto, which answers the question:
What does a Christian for a Jew ? "
When asked Spadaros, as Pope Francis see the Jewish religion, Skorka
replied: "The many things that I have seen and experienced around
Bergolio additionally prompted me to say that he sees Judaism as a
mother of his faith. This is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a
feeling, which is an important component in his personal faith.” This
statement is in need of explanation. according to the Catholic
understanding of pre-Christian Judaism (Israel) has risen in
Christianity and found its completion. Post-Christian Judaism, however,
is that Pharisaic cleavage of the original Judaism that rejects Christ
as the Messiah. But what Judaism did Skorka mean?
Pope Reads Rabbinic Writings and is Shaped by Them?
The Rabbi pointed at the same time then that "some
viewpoints and findings of Bergoglio" obviously agree with rabbinical
writings, which he wants to suggest that Pope Francis has read rabbinic
or is reading and was influenced by them.
Other parts of the conversation related to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Of this Skorka said: "I do not expect that Pope Francis will
solve all problems between Palestinians and Israelis, nor all the
conflicts of the Middle East and the world." The "true power of the Pope
is the credibility that he has in his family and the understanding of
this awakened in others."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider / Centro Interreligioso Buenos Aires
image: Vatican Insider / Centro Interreligioso Buenos Aires
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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