10th Anniversary of Interfaith Effort by JPII

FRIDAY, it’s the 10th anniversary of an interfaith peace effort by Pope John Paul II—a visit to Israel and, more specifically on this day, to Mt. Sinai. (If you’re interested in the interfaith dimensions of this historic trip, there’s a downloadable PDF by Rabbi Leon Klenicki provided by the Anti-Defamation League aout this “Pilgrimage of Prayer, Hope and Reconciliation.”) In 2000, Pope John Paul II traveled to the Middle East on a pilgrimage that marked for Christians the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus and the start of the “Third Millennium.” (This was the first papal journey to Egypt in history.) On this trip, Pope John Paul II again called for strengthening Jewish-Christian dialogue and remarked on the universal Abrahamic history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. (CNN ran an article on the Pope’s journey.) John Paul II spoke throughout his life about the close relationship between Judaism and Christianity. He grew up in a Polish town where he witnessed Jewish children and their families vanish into the Holocaust—and he bore a life-long sense of responsibility for the long history of Christian anti-Semitism. In Jerusalem in 2000, the pontiff placed a message in the Western Wall, following Jewish traditions of prayer. In his message, he expressed remorse for Jewish suffering caused by Christians. (He also apologized for Christian acts toward Muslims during the Crusades on this peacemaking trip. More is in an article published by the New York Times.)

Diane Fausel