A Catholic's commentary on all things cultural, political, and religious.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The appropriate forum?

The Chief Rabbi of Haifa in Israel, Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, was invited to the Vatican to address our most august Roman Pontiff and the Synod of Bishops (meeting to discuss Sacred Scripture) on the perspective of Jews concerning the Torah. Well, upon learning that the meeting coincided with the 50th anniversary of the passing of Pope Pius XII, Cohen went beyond the pale of his discussion topic and went on a tirade about the possible canonization of the late Pope, Iran, and the state of Israel:
"We cannot forget the sad and painful fact of how many, including great religious leaders, didn’t raise a voice in the effort to save our brethren, but chose to keep silent and help secretly... We cannot forgive and forget, and we hope you understand our pain, our sorrow... What happened once should not happen again. My being here makes me feel that we can expect your help, and I am sure your message will be listened to by influential people all over the world... raise your voice, so together with the help of free world defend, we can protect and save Israel from the hands of our enemies.”
All of that is deeply related to Biblical exegesis... of course.