Praising the pope's actions
Darby Harn
University of Iowa
Pope John Paul II, at the end of his remarkable visit to the Holy Land last week, went to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and placed a piece of paper into a crack. Written with the same hope that all who go to the wall share — that God will read it — the paper offered an apology.
The pope asked for forgiveness for the Catholic Church's transgressions in the past, reaching back hundreds of years to the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades.
And still for some, this is not enough.
Though the pope's visit to Israel was very well-received, some still want an outright apology from the pope regarding the Holocaust, specifically the failure of Pope Pious XII to speak out against the Nazis during World War II. The truth is that Pious was an ambivalent figure, one who more than likely consciously chose not to raise his voice for the Jews.
At the same time, though, according to Suzanne Fields of the Washington Times, there are survivors' letters testifying that the Vatican at the time did save those Jews that it could; the Vatican itself was constantly under threat by Hitler. What's more is that Jews were not the only targets of the Holocaust. Gypsies, homosexuals and Catholics were also sent to concentration camps.
Even as the pope makes historic outreaches to Jews, he is criticized for not doing enough. The demands for an apology are too exacting and at times appear selfish. Even Israeli Cabinet minister Haim Ramon said in a news story that ran on Reuters, "I don't think the Jewish people can ask for more."
Who could ask for more from a man who, in deteriorating health, made a monumental pilgrimage to a land where vandals desecrated his landing area? The bravery and certainly the humility of his holiness are hard to question — even harder is his sincerity.
Darby Harn attends the University of Iowa. This column first appeared in The Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa and is reprinted here courtesy of the U-Wire.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, April 3, 2000
