Statement Read in Polish Churches is Welcomed by Some Jewish Leaders

A statement on Judaism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, read Sunday in Catholic churches throughout Poland, has been warmly received by some Jewish leaders, but called “too little, too late” by another.

The pastoral letter was signed by all of Poland’s cardinals, archbishops and bishops, including the country’s highest Catholic official, Cardinal Josef Glemp.

It addresses theological and historical issues, frequently citing the words of Pope John Paul II and “Nostra Aetate,” the landmark 1965 document issued by the Second Vatican Council that the pastoral letter commemorates.

The bishops’ statement details the relationships between Christianity and Judaism, Poles and Jews, and Poland and the Holocaust, and says, “We express our sincere regret for all the incidents of anti-Semitism which were committed at any time or by anyone on Polish soil.”

“Unfortunately, in our century this particular land became the grave for several million Jews. Not by our wish, not by our hands,” it reads.

But later in the document, the letter acknowledges that “in spite of so many heroic examples of help (saving Jews) on the part of Polish Christians, there were also people who remained indifferent to this incomprehensible tragedy.”

“If only one Christian could have helped and did not stretch out a helping hand to a Jew during the time of danger or caused his death, we must ask for forgiveness of our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

For years, Polish Christians mostly have ignored the Nazi murder of the Jews among them, according to Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, who called the document a “hopeful sign” and applauded it in a letter he sent to the Polish bishops.

‘A SIGNIFICANT BREAKTHROUGH’

Recalling Jews’ historic ties to Poland, the pastoral letter points out that “Poland became for many Jews a second fatherland. The majority of Jews living in the world today are by origin from the territories of the previous and current Polish Commonwealth.”

“That is an overstatement to be sure, since the Land of Israel has always been the one, unique Jewish homeland,” said Rabbi A. James Rudin, national director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee.

But he termed the letter “a significant breakthrough” and “a vital building block in developing mutual respect, understanding and esteem between Catholics and Jews.”

Theologically, the letter says God “has not revoked his selection of the Jewish people as the chosen people, but continues to bestow his love.”

It also affirms the Second Vatican Council’s repudiation of deicide, the accusation that all Jews bear responsibility for the death of Christ, which had long been a major source of Christian anti-Semitism.

It urges expanded teaching of “Nostra Aetate,” which addressed the church’s relationship to Judaism, saying the document “deserves the widest possible dissemination.”

But World Jewish Congress Vice President Kalman Sultanik called the pastoral letter “a seriously flawed document of a problematic nature,” in a letter to The New York Times.

Sultanik was critical of the timing of the bishops’ address to Polish Catholics, recalling that during the Polish presidential election campaigns last year, anti-Semitic tactics were used and Polish ecclesiastical authorities did not condemn the widespread use of such strategies.

While the WJC leader acknowledged that the pastoral letter “represents a progressive step,” he called it “too little, too late.”

The pastoral letter marked the first time that the Polish Church has issued such a detailed and inclusive document addressing these subjects in a country where 90 to 95 percent of the population of 38 million is Catholic.