The
Vatican and its Friends Are Not Your Friends
by
Shelomo Alfassa
Published
by Israel
National News 24 February 05
Published
by Israel
Insider 4 April 05
Earlier this month, the Vatican blamed Israel for not
protecting Christians in violence which took place in
a Galilee village, in which members of the Muslim Druze
community attacked Christians. The Vatican demanded that
Israel place a permanent police force in the village to
protect the Christian citizens—however—when
Israel places a police force in towns to protect Jews
from Palestinian attacks, the Israelis are labeled as
occupiers. This type of double standard has become par
for the course when dealing with the Vatican.
The
Vatican knows about terrorism, about Palestinian Arabs
attacking Jews, but when Israel decided to make a defensive
move by constructing a security fence, Israel was criticized
by the Church. The Pope’s spokesman, Cardinal Etchegaray
said the Israeli fence, “inevitably creates a geography
of apartheid, which provokes rather than controls violence...it
lacerates the human fabric.”
We
really need to wake up and reexamine if the Vatican is
our friend. Last week the world newspapers ran stories
and photos of 160 Jews “blessing the Pope.”
The Pave the Way Foundation which organized the meeting
in Rome said “we have traveled here with the blessings
of millions of our faith in order to thank you.”
Well, with all due respect to that group, I doubt millions
of Jews were sending blessings to Vatican City. Halacha
was no where to be found at that event. In the presence
of the chief rabbis of Italy—the Pope was praised,
Catholic saints were spoken of and the Jews presented
him with a cross! The media reported 160 “world Jewish
leaders” which immediately begged the question—what
Jewish leaders? They were not political leaders of Israel,
nor were they top American politicians that happen to
be Jewish. Who they were were mostly businessmen, from
New York, none which wore a kippah, but all who shook
hands with the Pope calling him “Your Holiness.”
For a Jew, what is holy about the Pope?
Website
photos show the founder of Pave the Way Foundation posing
with monks, nuns and members of the Greek Orthodox Church
in Jerusalem. The latter is the Church led by Irineos
I, the very man who said last year that Jews were “descendants
of the crucifiers of our Lord,” the same man caught
trying to smuggle a pistol into Ramallah to meet Arafat,
a loyal friend of his. Irineos’ spokesman, Atallah
Hana, caused controversy for the Greek Orthodox Church
after statements he made in favor of suicide attacks.
In 2004, Israeli Police detained and questioned him regarding
his pro-terrorism statements, his illegal travels to Syria
and Lebanon, his meeting with the head of the Hizbullah
and his remarks of support for “martyrdom by Palestinian
men and women.”
The
Jews operating the Pave the Way Foundation desire to have
part of the Kever David HaMelech (traditional tomb of
King David) on Mt. Zion handed over to the Vatican. Currently,
the building belongs to the State of Israel, but this
group feels it should be taken away from the Jews and
given to the Vatican. This is the very building where
until the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967,
people migrated to pray as it was the closest location
to the Western Wall. Ben Gurion planted trees in its ancient
courtyard, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatszeira (the Baba Sali)
made a pilgrimage there and the place remains holy to
Jews—yet—this husband and wife team which run
their organization from Long Island, New York are working
to convince the Israeli government to transfer this building
to the Vatican. As the husband has been knighted by the
Pope, he can represent him to the Israeli authorities,
some of which he has met with previously such as Chaim
Silberstein the chief of staff of the Minister of Tourism
and Director of Religious affairs Gadi Golan.
The
Pave the Way Foundation, representing itself as leaders
of the Jewish world, have said the Pope has made it a
“sin to be anti-Semitic” and that he has “been
a friend to the Jewish people and has tried to bridge
the ancient gap.” These statements are baseless,
made by tikkun olam pagans in their self-fulfilling desire
to play quasi-ambassador of the Jews. Note, the Papacy
they are talking about, is the same one currently considering
making a “saint” of Isabella of Castile, the
15th century queen of Spain who initiated the Inquisition.
The Vatican already has taken a step forward towards this,
officially granting Isabella the title “Servant of
God.” Where is the outrage of the Jewish community?
This scenario would be like Gerhard Schroder, Chancellor
of Germany taking steps to make Adolf Hitler a saint!
As revisionists and the Vatican turn Isabella into a saint,
this same Pope plans to canonize Pope Pius XII, who was
largely silent about the Nazi genocide against the Jews
when he reigned during World War II. On his sick bed just
two weeks ago, the Pope stated “I will not die before
I canonize Pope Pius XII.”
The
Church has a precedent for making Isabella a saint. In
the 15th century the Vatican canonized Vincent Ferrer.
Vincent was a man who was responsible for inciting furious
mobs which burned Jewish shops and homes and murdered
Jews throughout Spain starting in 1391. When order was
restored one year later, it was estimated that 100,000
Jews had been killed, another 100,000 had converted to
Christianity, and another 100,000 had survived by going
into hiding or fleeing to Muslim lands. Today, schools
named Saint Vincent Ferrer are dotted across the globe,
everyone seeming to have forgotten who he was. The Catholic
Encyclopedia praises Ferrer saying “multitudes were
won over by his preaching.”
Many
in the Jewish community forget there is a well crafted,
strategically minded and highly funded crusade to convert
the Jewish people, and the Vatican is conspiring in this
cause. There is a secretive group called the Lausanne
Consultation on Jewish Evangelism which was founded in
association with American preacher Billy Graham. The Vatican
has participated in this conference which strategizes
on how to target the Jewish people for conversion. One
of their Lausanne Occasional Papers stated that God has
forsaken the Jews for not believing in the Christian scriptures
and Jesus. Their statement is purely anti-Semitic, for
what type of greater anti-Semitism exists than telling
Jews that their God has forsaken them, that it is only
through Jesus that you can be “saved.”
In
2001 the Vatican initiated a meeting between Christians
that call themselves Messianic Jews. These people are
part of the Presbyterian funded proselytization movement
known as Messianic Judaism which is growing tremendously
in Israel and remains problematic across the globe. Shockingly,
Israel just issued the world’s largest messianic
proselytizing group Jews for Jesus an amutah, official
non-profit recognition from the government to operate
in Israel. When The Passion of the Christ was released,
it was met with criticism from orthodox Jewish leaders
in Israel around the world. But even in the face of criticism,
the Vatican thought differently. They released a statement
saying the film portrayed the death of Jesus as accurate,
“it is as it was.”
The
Vatican consider themselves supreme rulers of the world,
superior to all common people, kings, prime ministers
and presidents. All that is missing is a title of power,
and the Pope almost had that. Only a few years ago the
Catholic leader sought the ultimate authority, he was
going to announce himself as the Holy Roman Emperor, reigning
from the Urals to the Atlantic.
Just
last month the Vatican “graciously” opened its
“secret archives” which contains a large amount
confiscated Jewish property. The repository will “loan”
to Israel papers of Maimonides, which they have held captive
since the 12th century. For hundreds of years Jews have
wanted these documents, among other items, but the Vatican
has denied access to them. If the Vatican was intrinsically
good, if they really wanted to make a gesture towards
peace, they would hand over all of the Jewish material
to the Jewish people. These games of “letting us
borrow” our own materials, preposterous and juvenile.
Planning
the conversion of the Jews; working with non-Israelis
to obtain Jewish holy places and give them to the Vatican;
holding priceless historical materials of the Jews hostage;
and making people like Isabella of Spain a saint, how
much more absurdity can we stand! Some keep denying the
fact the Vatican is not a friend of the Jews, how can
they remain so foolish. If the Vatican truly wants to
develop strong ties with the Jewish people they must make
many changes.
###
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Responses
from the public:
Thank
you for your important article. I think that centuries
of persecution have robbed much of the Jewish People of
self-worth. This is leading to many of the troublesome
positions taken by the Israeli government and many Jewish
organizations. May we learn to be proud Torah Jews once
again. --Rabbi Naftoli Melamed
I
take note that the article is both timely and important.
Bravo to Israel National News for running this article,
and thank you to the author for bringing it to the attention
of the world. The Vatican is indeed not the friend of
Israel. The whole saint thing is bizarre. --Menahem Hasson
As
an ex-Catholic..for which I am eternally grateful....
I am glad to read the truth. --Mary Hogan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses
from the Pave the Way Foundation:
The
Catholic Church does not support the conversion of Jews
as the Protestant do...The Church has apologized to the
Jewish people and does not believe encouraging the conversion
of Jews...This Pope has done more to advance relations
with Jews than anyone in history...The Vatican has been
the only entity which has spoken out continuously against
Islamic and European Anti-Semitism. It is a sin, in the
Catholic Church to be anti-Semetic...--Gary Krupp
Note
from Mr. Alfassa: Mr. Krupp is a man "knighted by
the Pope" and thus represents the vested interest
of the Vatican in Israel. When Mr. Krupp gets the Vatican
to halt the idea of canonizing Isabella, when they revoke
"saint" status from Vincent Ferrer, and to stop
honoring the name of the Nazi Pope, then we will be interested
in listening. Mr. Krupp said that the Pope's visit to
Israel in March of 2000, “immortalised in the hearts
and minds of the Jewish people around the world."
To this we say - not! The Pope's visit was not welcomed
from Jews around the world. Link to photos the media did
not want you to see.
Furthermore:
We remind people that after the bombing of the Istanbul
synagogues, the Pope utilized the occasion of the murder
of 27 people to make a political statement which furthered
his goals. The near-death shadow of a man reached out
his window in Vatican Square and said: "In fact,
the Holy Land does not need walls but bridges." Easy
for him to say, he's not getting shot at and bombed on
a daily basis from his neighbors! Instead of just making
an outright statement of condemnation, he tagged on some
statements which slammed Israel for wanting to protect
itself. He added that the new security wall which separates
Arab occupied Israeli cities from non-Arab occupied Israeli
cities is an "obstacle in the face of peace."
What the Church chief does not understand is it is not
an obstacle to peace, but an obstacle from being blown
to pieces! The extrinsic nature of the friendship between
the Jews and the Church in modern times is once again
demonstrated by the Pope's statements. Though he called
for an "end to violence and terrorism spawned by
religious intolerance" I want to remind the gentle
reader that it was the Church and its own "religious
intolerance" and "terrorism" which drove
the Jews to Turkey in the first place. Hypocrites, the
Roman Catholic Church and its leaders should take a long
look at itself before putting it's own foot in it's mouth.
If
secular anti-religious organizations want to support the
Church under the guise of "friendship" so be
it, but these groups should not insult our intelligence.
