Our Debt to Jerusalem - UPDATED The late Pope John Paul the Great was acclaimed throughout his pontificate for being the pontiff that finally aligned the barque of Peter with ‘our elder brothers and sisters,’ the first children of Abraham, the Jews. As someone who had resisted antisemitism throughout his life, his apology, offered in Jerusalem in the extraordinary Holy Year of the Millennium, carried the credibility of one who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust first hand in Poland. His acknowledgement of the debt of all Christians to the people of the first covenant should have consequences not only in the spiritual realm but in worldly matters too. It means that we must ensure the welfare of the Jewish people as members of our extended family. Recent and future events in Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip now demand that the nations of the world respond with diplomatic initiatives, supporting either Israel or Hamas. The question then becomes: Do Christians, as citize...
Reflections from the pastoral ministry of an Evangelical Catholic Priest.