The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Rome's synagogue stirred considerable controversy. It has not died out, though on the whole it was a success. The synagogue, situated along the river Tiber, and the Isola Tiberina, was declared by the Pope Paul IV as the Jewish ghetto. It was from here that the Nazis, in collaboration with Mussolini's Blackshirts, kidnapped Jews of all ages to the German death camps. Only 17 returned alive and five were present for the Pope's visit.
Though the meeting of the Pope with the Jewish community created a climate of fraternity, like his previous visit to the synagogue of Cologne and of New York, a dark cloud still looms over Benedict. The time has come to clear the air and to deepen Christian-Jewish relations through dialogue.
The hostility against the Pope's visit was not only due to the Church's silence about the extermination of millions of Jews, but the Vatican's decision on the "heroic virtues" and the possible beatification of Pope Pius XII.
Some very heavy accusations have been levelled at the pontificate of Pope Pacelli, known as 'Paston Angelicus'. Since 1963, when Rolf Hochhuth staged the play The Vicar, Pius XII has been labelled as 'Hitler's Pope', the 'Silent Pope', 'Adolf II' or the 'German Pope'. The very active years he spent in Germany as Vatican Nuncio made him pro-German.
Pope John Paul II did his utmost to reach out to, and befriend the Jews. He called them "our elder brothers", while Benedict just limited himself by calling them "brothers". John Paul II was the first to visit Rome's synagogue and sought reconciliation in front of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Benedict has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor. The difference lies in the fact that whatever the Pope does or says falls under a magnifying glass. He does not come across as friendly, warm, open or simpatico in the same way as John Paul II.
I was very struck by an article in Corriere della Sera by the Jewish scholar Bernard-Henri Lévy, two days after the Pope's visit. The writer said: "We need to cast away the bad faith (malafede), and the misinformation about Benedict XVI.
"Since his election he has been under constant investigation as being 'ultraconservative' by the mass media (as if a Pope could be anything else but 'conservative'). Considerable insistence has been made through allusions, if not with caustic remarks, to the 'German Pope', or the 'post-Nazi in a cassock'. The texts of his talks, like the one when he visited Auschwitz in 2006, have been twisted."
Like Pius XII, Benedict has become "a victim of prejudice", writes the Jewish scholar. In his speech at Rome's synagogue Benedict XVI asked for reconciliation and condemned the long- standing "furore" of anti-Semitism, which also "included Catholics".
Pope Benedict recalled how Pope John XXII and the Vatican Council opened "a new era" with the Jews, through documents and continual dialogue. He mentioned the pilgrimages to the Holy Land of his predecessors, the diplomatic relations, the joint Catholic and Jewish Commission (which met again after the visit to the synagogue), the promise to open the Vatican archives to examine the papers of Pacelli's pontificate and the teaching of Vatican II, which are today irrevocable.
What stirred Jewish public opinion worldwide, was the Vatican's declaration on the beatification of Pius XII. The well-known Rabbi Laras even boycotted the Pope's visit. The objections of some Jewish groups are unjustified and a result of prejudice. As a prominent New York Rabbi stated, "This is an internal matter of the Vatican".
Benedict XVI recalled at the synagogue how Pius XII opened the doors of monasteries, convents churches and religious institutions to shelter Jews of all ages. The case of the Vatican and of Santa Marta convent in Florence, are outstanding examples. Many Jews, including the Israeli government, have often thanked Catholics for the risks they took in giving hospitality.
Lévy, in his article, mentioned the "silent Pius XII broadcasts on the Vatican radio (for example, on Christmas 1941 and 1942). On his death, homage was given by the Prime Minister, Golda Meir, who said, "during the 10 years of Nazi terror, while our people suffered a terrible martyrdom, the voice of the Pope rose to condemn these executioners".