At noon today in Rome (6:00am EST), inside the Consistory Hall at the Vatican, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Dear friends,
I welcome you. Your Center, which is present all over the world, aims to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and hatred of minorities. For decades, contacts have existed with the Holy See: we share the desire to make the world a better place in respect of human dignity, a dignity that belongs to everyone in equal measure regardless of origin, religion and social status. It is so important to educate people about tolerance and mutual understanding, freedom of religion and the promotion of social peace.
You contribute in a particular way to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. In a week, on January 27, we will remember the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. There, in 2016, I stopped to internalize and to pray in silence. Today, absorbed in the vortex of things, we struggle to stop, to look inside ourselves, to be silent, to listen to the cry of suffering humanity. Today's consumerism is also verbal: how many useless words are spoken, how much time is wasted contesting and accusing, how many offences are screamed, regardless of what is said. On the other hand, silence helps to preserve memory. If we lose our memory, we destroy the future. The anniversary of the unspeakable cruelty that humanity discovered seventy-five years ago is a call to stop us, to be silent and to remember. We need to do this, in order not to become indifferent.
Concern about the rise, in many parts of the world, of selfish indifference, for which only what is convenient for oneself is concerned: life is good if it is good for me and when something is wrong, anger and wickedness are unleashed. Thus fertile grounds are prepared for the particularisms and populisms that we see around us. Hatred is growing rapidly in these lands. Hatred sows hate. Still recently, we have witnessed the barbaric upsurge of anti-Semitism. I continue to firmly condemn all forms of anti-Semitism. To tackle the root problem, however, we must also commit ourselves to tilling the ground on which hatred grows by sowing peace. It is in fact through integration, research and understanding of the other that we protect ourselves. Therefore it is urgent to reintegrate those who are marginalized, to reach out to those who are far away, to support those who are rejected because they have no means and money, to help those who are victims of intolerance and discrimination.
The Declaration Nostra aetate (cf NA, 4) points out that we, Jews and Christians, have a rich common spiritual patrimony that we should increasingly discover in order to place it at the service of all. I feel that, in particular today, we are the first to be called to this service: not to distance ourselves and exclude, but to draw close and include others; not to support solutions based on strength, but to begin paving paths of proximity. If we who believe in the One who, from the heights of heaven remembered us and took our weaknesses to heart do not do this, who will do it? I am reminded of the words from the book of Exodus: God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God looked at the condition of the Israelites, God thought about it (Ex 2:24-25). We too must remember the past and take to heart the conditions of those who suffer: in this way we will cultivate the soil of fraternity.
Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment to this matter and I encourage you to intensify our collaboration to defending those who are weak. May the Most High help us to respect one another and to always love one another more and more ... and to make the earth a better place, by sowing seeds of peace. Shalom!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to a delegation from the
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Dear friends,
I welcome you. Your Center, which is present all over the world, aims to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and hatred of minorities. For decades, contacts have existed with the Holy See: we share the desire to make the world a better place in respect of human dignity, a dignity that belongs to everyone in equal measure regardless of origin, religion and social status. It is so important to educate people about tolerance and mutual understanding, freedom of religion and the promotion of social peace.
You contribute in a particular way to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. In a week, on January 27, we will remember the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. There, in 2016, I stopped to internalize and to pray in silence. Today, absorbed in the vortex of things, we struggle to stop, to look inside ourselves, to be silent, to listen to the cry of suffering humanity. Today's consumerism is also verbal: how many useless words are spoken, how much time is wasted contesting and accusing, how many offences are screamed, regardless of what is said. On the other hand, silence helps to preserve memory. If we lose our memory, we destroy the future. The anniversary of the unspeakable cruelty that humanity discovered seventy-five years ago is a call to stop us, to be silent and to remember. We need to do this, in order not to become indifferent.
Concern about the rise, in many parts of the world, of selfish indifference, for which only what is convenient for oneself is concerned: life is good if it is good for me and when something is wrong, anger and wickedness are unleashed. Thus fertile grounds are prepared for the particularisms and populisms that we see around us. Hatred is growing rapidly in these lands. Hatred sows hate. Still recently, we have witnessed the barbaric upsurge of anti-Semitism. I continue to firmly condemn all forms of anti-Semitism. To tackle the root problem, however, we must also commit ourselves to tilling the ground on which hatred grows by sowing peace. It is in fact through integration, research and understanding of the other that we protect ourselves. Therefore it is urgent to reintegrate those who are marginalized, to reach out to those who are far away, to support those who are rejected because they have no means and money, to help those who are victims of intolerance and discrimination.
The Declaration Nostra aetate (cf NA, 4) points out that we, Jews and Christians, have a rich common spiritual patrimony that we should increasingly discover in order to place it at the service of all. I feel that, in particular today, we are the first to be called to this service: not to distance ourselves and exclude, but to draw close and include others; not to support solutions based on strength, but to begin paving paths of proximity. If we who believe in the One who, from the heights of heaven remembered us and took our weaknesses to heart do not do this, who will do it? I am reminded of the words from the book of Exodus: God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God looked at the condition of the Israelites, God thought about it (Ex 2:24-25). We too must remember the past and take to heart the conditions of those who suffer: in this way we will cultivate the soil of fraternity.
Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment to this matter and I encourage you to intensify our collaboration to defending those who are weak. May the Most High help us to respect one another and to always love one another more and more ... and to make the earth a better place, by sowing seeds of peace. Shalom!
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
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