Pope John Paul II will meet with representatives of Poland’s decimated Jewish community during his current visit to his homeland, and experts believe he will issue a strong condemnation of anti-Semitism at that time.
The pontiff’s anticipated statement may not differ from earlier Vatican statements condemning anti-Semitism, experts said. But the fact that the Polish pope will be talking to Polish Jews in the Polish capital of Warsaw will lend more weight to a statement by him.
The pope arrived in Poland on Saturday for his fourth visit to the country since being elected to the papacy. The meeting with the Jews, which is expected to last a half-hour to 45 minutes, will be the first event of the final day of his trip, June 9.
An American Catholic professor who specializes in Vatican foreign policy said a papal statement made in Poland decrying anti-Semitism is important.
David Alvarez, a professor at St. Mary’s College in California, said, “The fact that he appears in a country that idolizes him and speaks bluntly on anti-Semitism is very important. I will be disappointed if he doesn’t.”
Alvarez, speaking of the highest echelons of the church hierarchy, said that “privately, the word has been spread that the church won’t tolerate (anti-Semitism) any more.
“But the trickle-down effect takes time,” he added.
Alvarez said the Poles “will be impressed that their pope is meeting with the Jews, and is giving them what I hope will be the message that anti-Semitism is wrong and won’t be tolerated by the church.”
INITIATIES AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM
The Polish Catholic Church and the Polish state have implemented a number of initiatives recently to root out lingering anti-Semitism in Poland, a country of fewer than 10,000 Jews, down from a pre-Holocaust population of some 3.5 million.
Polish President Lech Walesa, whose election campaign last year was tinged with anti-Semitism, made a state visit to Israel in May, during which he asked forgiveness for past Polish anti-Semitism and pledged peace and friendship with Israel.
A prominent Polish intellectual with wide political and church contacts said, “I think Walesa’s visit to Israel had historical importance.”
“Maybe you can say these are (just) words,” said the prominent figure. “But the fact that they were words pronounced by Walesa, who has enormous prestige, means a blow to anti-Semitic feelings in Poland.”
A Council for Polish-Jewish dialogue has been created in Poland under Walesa’s auspices.
“The council includes a number of prominent intellectuals and several church leaders,” said Stanislaw Krajewski, a leader of the Polish Jewish community and Warsaw representative of the American Jewish Congress.
“The council is aimed at bringing together Poles and Jews, at fighting anti-Semitism and intolerance, at working against the debasement of the dignity of the two nations, at overcoming stereotypes,” he said.
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