Pope Francis Openly Praises Jews “But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” (Philippians 3:20) The head of the Catholic Church recently took a historic step by publicly praising the Jewish people. In an open letter to the Italian paper La Repubblica, Pope Francis responded to questions relating to God’s promises of happiness and prosperity to the Jewish People in light of persecution that culminated in the Holocaust. The questions had been posed by Eugenio Scalfari, the paper’s cofounder and former editor. Pope Francis emphasized that despite persecution, God had not abandoned the Jewish People, and they had not abandoned their faith in Him. “This is a question—believe me—that touches us profoundly as Christians, because with the help of God, especially since the Second Vatican Council [created 50 years ago], we have rediscovered that the Jewish People are still for us the holy root that produced Jesus [Yeshua]. “During all these years of friendship with our Jewish brothers in Argentina, I, too, have questioned God many times in my prayers, especially when my mind turned to the memory of the terrible experience of the Shoah [Holocaust],” he said. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis maintained close ties with the Jewish community. Israeli President Shimon Peres presented Pope Francis with a black leather Bible earlier this year. The Jewish People serve as an example to Christians in that they still await the Messiah’s coming, he said, reminding Christians that they are only pilgrims in this life. “For this, we will never be sufficiently grateful to them as a Church, but also as human beings,” he said. “In the persistence of their faith in the God of the Covenant, they summon all, including us as Christians, to recall the fact that we are awaiting the return of the Lord as pilgrims, and must therefore always remain open to Him and never retreat from what we have already achieved,” he continued. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2 Peter 3:10-12)
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:00:17 +0000
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