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Editorial

EDITORIAL


One year later!

In the midst of the flood of information which inundates our lives daily, we pause – one year later – to remember the pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II in the land which is holy to both Jews and Christians.

Recent and current events in this same land are both tragic and sad. Will they lessen the impact and significance of a journey more spiritual than political, or even make it appear to have been a failure? The miracle of peace has not occurred; however, the spiritual dimension of the pilgrimage has not been diminished. As the actual event gradually recedes into the past, the power of its symbolic message is increasingly permeating the collective Jewish and Christian memory.

Over the years SIDIC has published major declarations and documents addressing the Jewish and Christian relationship; however, the March 2000 papal pilgrimage was more than mere words. The event itself, the presence and gestures in Jerusalem will forever remain a significant milestone in the Jewish and Catholic Christian relationship. Like the historic visit of John Paul II to the Synagogue in Rome in 1986, the pontiff’s presence “on a sacred hill in Jerusalem” was – in the words of Zev Garber – an “unprecedented moment.” (p. 10) His gestures culminated in the visit to the Western Wall- the holiest site of the Jewish people - where he left, in the name of the Church past and present, the prayer of repentance. Helena Birenbaum (pp. 2-4) poignantly recalls the silence surrounding this moment:


“a silence that we have not heard here for two thousand years”!


This issue of SIDIC attempts to help its readers return to this pilgrimage by publishing a selection of columns and reflections which appeared in the international press after the March 2000 papal visit. We hope they will serve to refresh our memories and also prolong them. The selections are by Jews and Christians from various parts of the world – Israel, North and South America and Europe. They provide reflections from various perspectives, Jewish and Christian, Israeli and Palestinian. (Halevi, pp. 19-20; Mostyn, pp. 16-19) They illustrate how the events of the pilgrimage have given rise to deeper reflection and dialogue between friends. (Stern/Klenicki, pp. 11-13) The articles from Argentina – one Jewish, the other Christian – extend the Pope’s request for pardon by applying it to the situations in their respective communities. (Eroles, pp. 13-15; Rojzman, pp. 15-16)

John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Novo Millenio Inuente (Jan. 6, 2001), recalls his “personal jubilee along the pathways of the Holy Land”. After underscoring his “extraordinary welcome not only from the members of the church but also from the Israeli and Palestinian communities”, he states:


“Intense emotion surrounded my prayer at the Western Wall and my visit to the Mausoleum of Yad Vashem, with its chilling reminder of the victims of the Nazi death camps. My pilgrimage was a moment of brotherhood and peace, and I like to remember it as one of the most beautiful gifts of the whole Jubilee event. Thinking back to the mood of those days, I cannot but express my deeply felt desire for a prompt and just solution to the still unresolved problems of the Holy Places, cherished by Jews, Christians and Muslims together.”