Saint John Paul II's Views Of The Holocaust

Pope Saint John Paul II’s speech “At Israel’s Holocaust Memorial” expresses the late pope’s views and opinions of the Holocaust. His own experiences during the World War II, which he shared in his speech, help shape his words during his speech and connects with the Jewish people. As a political leader, Pope John Paul II discusses the problems with the Holocaust and the person that created it. As a religious leader, the pope explains the importance of prayer during difficult times. Pope Saint John Paul II blends his leadership as a religious and political leader, his personal experiences of the Holocaust, and his own views of the Jewish people to create a captivating speech discussing the Holocaust and the sufferings of the Jewish people during …show more content…
“Pope John Paul II is indeed the Pope of the Jews. He opened his arms to embrace the Jewish people. Pope John Paul II took dramatic steps to improve the Church’s relationship with the Jewish people based on mutual respect and genuine affection” (Minerbi, 16) Pope Saint John Paul II had a closer relationship with the Jewish people, unlike any other pope. He understood them and comprehended their problems and sufferings. He especially showed his affection to them in this speech where he suffers next to them. “I assure the Jewish people that the Catholic Church, motivated by the Gospel law of truth and love and by no political considerations, is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place.” (Pope John Paul II) Many times Catholics have implicated themselves with anti-Semitism in the past, and grudges against each other’s religion have always had existed. In his speech, Pope Saint John Paul II demonstrates through his words that although problems between the Christians and Jews have occurred many times throughout history, during that difficult the Christians should weep and suffer along with the Jews. The late pope hoped that the relationship between the Jews and Christians would mend, and that “there will be no more anti-Jewish feeling among Christians or anti-Christian feeling among Jews.” (Pope John Paul II) The saint galvanized to create a bond of respect between the Christians and Jews. As mentioned in the article, “Pope John Paul II and the Jews: An Evaluation,” the late pope went to great lengths to recognize the pain the Jewish people lived through during the Holocaust as shown when he canonized Edith Stein; she was killed for claiming she was “daughter of the Jewish people” and a “believing Christians.” (Minerbi, 15) The late pope throughout his