Pope Francis, did you ignore the intent of “Nostra Aetate” to garner favor with extremist Palestinianism?
Nostra Aetate, translated as “in our time,” may well have been the most preeminent Vatican determination in modernity as it nullified the long standing evil contention that Jewa were to be thought eternally responsible for Jesus’ death. .
Issued by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965, Nostra Aetate would enable greater understanding and shared values between the Catholic Church and Judaism, as well as other non-Christian religions.
The Catholic Church could then “annul Catholic based antisemitism in any form and fashion; a long sought for opportunity allowing in principle for individuals to be judged for their individual deeds; no longer maliciously ascribed to a group or culture.
Yet, too many events post 10-07-2023 seemed to resurrect a ‘Blood Libel’ of a different format under the auspices of dangerous inflammatory PalestinianArab rhetoric, reminiscent of 1930’s Nazi propagandist. Nazi rhetoric was designed to gradually program antisemitism within the then German nation and subsequently elsewhere for the purpose of the eventual elimination of the Jews.
The current intent is to repeat over and over false allegations; in effect to tie Jews to tragedies that befell mankind in the past and thereby ensure that creatively manipulated situations hold Israel and by extension, world Jewry, culpable for all of the inequities allegedly endured by Palestinian Arabs in the greater Middle East, with no fault or responsibilities attributable to the Arabs at all.
To add insult to evil, actual atrocities suffered by Jews throughout the centuries have been redirected (historical revisionism, another Nazi propaganda specialty) ascribing to Israel the perpetration of these offenses against ‘innocent’ Palestinian Arab populations; such as ‘ethnic cleansing’ and other preposterous claims stemming from the expulsions/ Inquisitions/Crusades/Pogroms and other discriminatory and isolating strategies which cumulatively set the groundwork for the “Final Solution” and its liquidation of 6 million European Jewish souls, of which 1 1/2 million were defenseless children and babies.
Before being exported to the Middle East and eventually elsewhere, each step was met with ‘silent’ acquiescence during which Popes and the Catholic Church organizationally appeared to stand down, as Jews suffered ‘ddelegitimization’ and all manners of degradation and denigration making them vulnerable to liquidation with virtually no public outcry, except from the Jewish victims themselves and their uninvolved relatives outside of the line of fire. This is a history lesson not lost to Iran, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Houthi as well as the Palestinian Authority under its President Mahmoud Abbas and its intricate infrastructure of past and present groomed terrorist accomplices.
No matter where, ‘silence in the presence of evil in the making’ has repeatedly proven itself to be the most transparent abetting force enabling extremist antisemitism in the past and demonstrably today; with even more risks as Jews daily face a world existing within an Iranian financed and developed backdrop of nuclear weaponry and sophisticated I.C.B.M. delivery capability threat, shadowing oft repeated shouts of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
This reality coupled with the perennial Passover warning that”…in every generation, one arises to destroy us…” should give all humanity pause to personalize the implied fear permeating Jewish communities, everywhere. For, at the end of the day, no faith will prove immune and their turn will come.
Will today’s Pope and the Catholic Church, before it’s too late, boldly stand and be counted among the righteous to defend Jews and our inherent right to exist within our ‘tiny’ indigenous biblical refuge, our Homeland? Will they instead succumb to silence, sell us out, to protect themselves in the short order?
Perhaps the Catholic and other Christian denominations would be best served by delving into the Hamas definition of ‘Infidels’ and what may eventually befall them should Israel not stand up to Islamist expansion.
Much like the post-Holocaust slogan ‘Never Again;’ ‘Nostra Aetate’ appears to be gradually eroding in purpose, buried alongside the 6 million Jewish graves dug not that long ago.
The last time I visited Bethlehem in the early 1980’s the Christian to Palestinian Arab population ratio was approximately 80% to 20%. Not so now or anticipated in years to come. Keep in mind a startling allegation I came across, that by 2050, the Palestinian Arab population may surpass that of Christianity worldwide.
All the while, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his regular pleadings with Pope Francis; continuously seeks funds and public support for his proclaimed ”innocent”, perpetually victimized and impoverished and stateless constituents, while extremist elements from within seek to occupy Israel in its entirety, without any allowances for Jews to exist within their own indigenous homeland.
I feel it proper to end with “Shame on all who historically stood by silently in the face of evil, and those who have learned nothing from history and are thereby ‘doomed to repeat it, with ever increasing consequences.”
