A righteous pontiff

In his native Argentina, back in the days when he was still Jorge Mario Bergoglio Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was well-known for his friendship with the Jewish community, his simplicity, spontaneous gestures, and involvement in interfaith dialogue.

So much so, it was not only Catholic Argentineans who celebrated when their archbishop was named pope, but Jewish Argentineans also poured into the streets in jubilation. The book he co-authored with colleague Rabbi Abraham Skorka in 2010, “On Heaven and Earth,” came out in English a month after his inauguration as pontiff in March 2013. Rabbi Sergio Bergman, another Argentinean rabbi, who had been close to the pope and is now a member of a national parliament, published his own book in in Spanish in October 2013 – “A Gospel According to Francisco,” which reflects upon the pope’s writings and calls him “my rabbi.”

Less noted in the press, however, has been Francis’s interfaith activity with Muslims. A month after becoming pope he spoke about the importance of intensifying dialogue with Muslims, and on his recent May 24-26 visit to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, the man who has been dubbed by many as the “Superstar Pope” did not disappoint.

Throughout the visit he was not only accompanied by Skorka, but also by Argentinean Muslim leader Omar Abboud, who remained modestly out of the media limelight.

In Israel, their three-way hug in front of the Western Wall was touted as a definitive moment of the visit, while Palestinians made little note of it. Earlier, the pope had paid a visit to the Muslim Mufti on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.

He is the third pope to visit the region in the recent past. In 2000 Pope John Paul II, who has now been sainted, was the first to come to the Holy Land since the 1964 visit of Pope Paul VI, who did not come to Jerusalem nor mention “Israel” even once, while, in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI came on pilgrimage.

Francis’s warm reputation preceded him.

The Argentinean was greeted mostly with wide approval much like that accorded John Paul II from Jordanians, Palestinians and Israelis alike, as opposed to German Pope Benedict XVI whose introverted, theological style – not to mention questions about his membership in the Nazi youth movement as a teen –was more difficult for Israelis to warm up to.

Largely overlooked by Israelis and Palestinians in their rush to capitalize politically on the visit, the expressed purpose of Francis’s trip was to meet in Jerusalem with Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, first among equals in the Greek Orthodox Church, who traveled from Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic 1964 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. For the small Christian community here, it was a significant moment in support of Christian unity, an important issue for their community.

Thousands of Catholics waiting to attend the only public mass to be celebrated by the pope on this side of the Jordan River let out a rousing cheer of welcome as the pontiff’s helicopter flew over Manger Square in Bethlehem directly from Jordan on May 25.

They cheered even louder as they watched him emerge from the helicopter on the large screen TV set at up at the square and the announcement was made that the pope had “stepped onto Palestinian soil” at the nearby helipad. For them, this flight directly into their airspace was an affirmation of the pope’s support for the Palestinian cause.

Israeli newscasters and commentators heralded the fact that this pope – unlike his two predecessors – laid a wreath at Theodor Herzl’s tomb, thus affirming his recognition and support for Zionism and the State of Israel. Never mind that this had become part of Israel’s diplomatic protocol for visiting leaders since 2010.

Still, speaking at a press event prior to the pope’s arrival, Skorka said the pope’s visit to the tomb was a “meaningful act” and added that Francis “understands the importance of the land of Israel and the State of Israel to the Jewish people.”

Said to have been personally involved in every decision concerning his schedule during the months prior to his visit, the pope kept a strict balance between Israeli and Palestinian protocol and spontaneous gestures.

In Bethlehem, the pontiff made an unexpected stop at the security barrier, climbing down from the pope mobile to put his hand on the wall as he prayed and then resting his forehead on the wall, thrilling Palestinians who saw in the gesture a recognition of their suffering.

In Jerusalem, he acceded to a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit a memorial to the victims of terror, apparently in response to his stop at the wall. At Yad Vashem he touched the hearts of Israelis and Holocaust survivors with his prayerful cry against the depth of the inhumanity of the Shoah and with his kisses to the hands of survivors he greeted.

Some have criticized him for being the pope of symbols for the poor and suffering, whom he has championed most of his clerical life (in Argentina he spoke out for the poor of the slums and as pope he has called for world prayer for an end to the violence in Syria and has taken on the cause of refugees). However, issues to the forefront he is advancing these causes by challenging people to look deeply inside themselves to change their own lives by moving away from intolerance and towards their own shared humanity. It is a “feel good” message that resonates for many, even those hardened by years of distrust.

“He is a tzaddik,” said Israeli Samar Michael, 22, using the Hebrew word for “a righteous person” as she smoked a cigarette while waiting for the light-rail train during the pope’s visit, which caused traffic jams and public transportation delays as police cleared the roads in Jerusalem for his entourage.

“Nothing will come of his visit, but it is nice that he came. There is something sweet about him. The traffic is a bit of a bother, but we’ll forgive him.”

Having come from Jericho to participate in the papal mass in Bethlehem, Palestinian Catholic Mike Nabber, 35, said he was happy to see the pope in person after hearing so much about him. “He is a gentle one,” Nabber said. “I hope his message of peace in our land, an end of violence, is heard.”

Even with the pope’s spontaneous invitation to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and President Shimon Peres to join him at the Vatican to pray for peace, Francis’s brief visit did not bring any surprises, says Rabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Congress in Jerusalem, who has long been involved in interfaith relations and Israel- Vatican relations.

“What they are expecting was to get a warm hug and that is what he gives,” Rosen says. “It was a great success for everyone.

Nothing went wrong, there were no incidents, and both sides tried to gain some political capital.

His hugs are very generous, and because the world knows he is a friend of the Jewish people this [visit was] a demonstration of that and it is to our advantage, but hopefully not at the expense of anyone else.”

Still, not everyone was happy with the visit and, fearing extremist reactions, police were on high alert for the duration of the visit. Some 9,000 officers were posted throughout Jerusalem following increased anti-Christian vandalism and provocation just days before the pope arrived, mostly surrounding the issue of the Cenacle or Upper Room (located above the site Jews and Muslims revere traditionally as King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion) where Christians believe Jesus had the last supper.

Several Jewish extremists were placed under house arrest for the duration of the pontiff’s stay and the neighboring Diaspora Yeshiva was cleared of students during his visit to the site. In the days prior to the visit, Jewish extremists had begun making claims that the Vatican wanted sovereignty over the Upper Room.

The Franciscan Custody, which oversees holy sites for the Catholic Church, denied this, noting that they do not want to turn the room into a church but rather want the right to celebrate religious liturgy regularly at a time that does not disturb the current constellation of visitors to the building. Following a mass celebrated by the pope at the Cenacle, a prayer book was burned in the nearby Dormition Abbey monastery, also damaging a storage room.

In his discourses, Francis unsurprisingly called for continuing efforts towards peace, justice, reconciliation, for the recognition of both peoples to live in peace in their own state.

Clearly, says Hana Bendcowsky, program director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, the pope’s invitation to Abbas and Peres – with whom it was apparent he had a warm rapport – to the Vatican to pray will not contribute anything concrete towards the peace process other than serve as yet another symbolic act in support of peace.

“It is just to give hope and a good feeling. And nothing will come out of the meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch either. It will not change Christian unity, but it just gave a good feeling,” she says.

Pope Francis’s warm reputation preceded his visit to the Holy Land and he was greeted mostly with wide approval.