ROME — Pope Francis called for universal condemnation of anti-Semitism Monday evening in an address to Slovakian Jews gathered in Bratislava’s Rybné námestie Square.
In his speech, the pope noted how God’s name was dishonored when during the Second World War more than a hundred thousand Slovak Jews were killed “in a frenzy of hatred.”
“In an effort to eradicate every trace of the community, the synagogue was demolished,” the pontiff recalled.
“Here, in this place, the Name of God was dishonored, for the worst form of blasphemy is to exploit it for our own purposes, refusing to respect and love others,” he said. “Here, reflecting on the history of the Jewish people marked by this tragic affront to the Most High, we admit with shame how often his ineffable Name has been used for unspeakable acts of inhumanity!”
“How many oppressors have said: ‘God is with us’; yet it was they, who were not with God!” he added.
Pope Francis speaks to the faithful as he celebrates a Byzantine divine liturgy in Presov near Kosice, Slovakia, on September 14, 2021. The Pope is on a four-day visit in Slovakia, where he met with Holocaust survivors and members of the Roma community. ( TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty)
The divine Name is blasphemed “whenever the unique and distinctive dignity of the human person, created in his image, is violated,” he said.
The pope also sought to unite himself to the history of the Jewish people and their struggles and ordeals.
“Dear brothers and sisters, your history is our history, your sufferings are our sufferings,” Francis said. “For some of you, this Memorial of the Shoah is the only place where you can honor the memory of your loved ones. I join with you in this.”
The pope stressed the importance of remembrance, insisting that memory “cannot and must not give way to forgetfulness, for there will be no lasting dawn of fraternity unless we have first shared and dispelled the darkness of the night.”
“Now is the time when the image of God shining forth in humanity must not be obscured,” he said. “Let us help one another in this effort.”
Let us unite “in condemning all violence and every form of anti-Semitism, and in working to ensure that God’s image, present in the humanity he created, will never be profaned,” he added.
In the midst of remembrance of suffering the light of hope shines forth, he proposed.
Pope Francis drives in an open vehicle to greet the faithful celebrating a Byzantine divine liturgy on September 14, 2021 in Presov near Kosice, Slovakia.(TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty)
“Darkness is dispelled by the message that destruction and death do not have the last word, but rather renewal and life,” he said. “Though the synagogue on this site was torn down, the community remains present.”
“In this place, our histories meet once more,” the pope stated. “Here let us affirm together before God our willingness to persevere on the path of rapprochement and friendship.”
“Here in this land of Slovakia, a land of encounter between east and west, north and south, may the family of the children of Israel continue to foster this vocation, the summons to be a sign of blessing for all the families of the earth,” he said.