Sixty-six years after a gathering between leaders of the UJA-Federation of New York and Pope John XXIII helped usher in a brand new period of Catholic-Jewish relations, the federation’s leaders have returned to the Vatican.
Eric Goldstein, UJA’s outgoing CEO, was joined by over 30 leaders from the group in a gathering with Pope Leo XIV on Monday on the Vatican Apostolic Palace.
UJA requested the assembly roughly 4 months in the past, as Goldstein mentioned he hoped to precise the group’s “considerations in regards to the second, and the significance of working with the Catholic Church as an ally in combating antisemitism.” (UJA helps a variety of Jewish organizations in New York, together with 70 Faces Media, JTA’s dad or mum firm.)
The brand new go to marked the newest outreach from Jewish leaders to construct ties with Leo, who has condemned antisemitism on quite a few events since he was elected final 12 months whereas additionally sharply criticizing Israel’s actions in the course of the struggle in Gaza, which he has known as “vengeance” and “barbarity.”
Final month, Chicago-based Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann met with Leo alongside a delegation of Chicago leaders and thanked him for “holding the humanity” of each Israelis and Palestinians amid the battle.
The battle didn’t come up in the course of the UJA assembly, Goldstein advised the Jewish Telegraphic Company in an interview following his return to New York Metropolis on Tuesday.
“The aim of this assembly was to deal with antisemitism and the power he has to make a profound distinction round that, and methods to act round that,” he mentioned. “The aim of this was to not air disagreements with the pope about Israel or the rest.”
Throughout the assembly, Goldstein thanked Leo for “his continued ethical management in talking out and taking motion towards the sharply rising scourge of antisemitism – the world’s oldest hatred,” in response to an account shared by UJA.
The account mentioned Goldstein additionally urged that “we construct a world the place strangers are welcomed – and the robust bonds of friendship between Catholics and Jews continues to function a supply of sunshine and inspiration for all.”
The delegation supplied Leo two items, a menorah that Goldstein advised the pope represented “the sunshine that communities united by shared goal can ignite even within the darkest of instances,” in addition to a Leo XIV New York Knicks jersey that nodded to his help for his fellow Villanova College alumni on the championship staff.
Goldstein mentioned he additionally got here with a particular enchantment to Leo, asking that he take into account appointing a “particular papal envoy to fight world antisemitism.”
The Vatican has by no means appointed an antisemitism envoy. Since 1974, it has maintained the Fee for Spiritual Relations with the Jews, now led by Rafael Starnitzky, a priest of the Diocese of Rome.
Throughout the assembly, Leo praised UJA for its humanitarian work in “New York, the State of Israel and greater than seventy different international locations” and mentioned its efforts “mirror a transparent recognition of human dignity and fraternity, resonating with the Church’s personal dedication to integral human improvement and the decision to like our neighbor,” in response to UJA’s account.
Leo additionally recalled the final time a UJA delegation had visited the Vatican in 1960, 5 years earlier than Pope Paul VI issued Nostra Aetate, which rejected centuries of anti-Jewish theology within the church and reworked Catholic-Jewish relations.
“Sixty-six years in the past, a delegation out of your group was acquired by Pope John XXIII. With the straightforward but profound phrases ‘I’m Joseph, your brother,’” Leo mentioned. “Later, a treatise was ready describing a brand new relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism.”
Goldstein seems to be hoping that his assembly with Leo will plant seeds for the same advance. He mentioned he hoped to “see fruits from that assembly.”
“It is a difficult second for our group, everyone knows that,” Goldstein mentioned. “The extent of antisemitism that exists on the earth right this moment, together with very a lot in our personal yard, in New York, throughout America, is deeply regarding, and having the pope converse out, be energetic in addressing this problem is very necessary for our group.”
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