Ambassador Lewy Praises Papal Visit
by Edward Pentin | June 5, 2009
Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy.
Israel's ambassador to the Holy See has praised Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Holy Land last month, saying it showed the best of Vatican diplomacy and helped establish a tradition for future papal visits to the Holy Land.
Speaking today at a conference in Rome, Ambassador Mordechay Lewy said the Pope's statements during his pilgrimage "will nourish our relations for a long time", and he singled out for particular praise the Holy Father's comments against Holocaust denial and combating anti-Semitism.
Vatican diplomacy, he added, "performed at its best during the visit". He noted how the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, tried to accommodate the sensitivities of the Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis, "each according to its own merits, as much as he could," and added that only requests which could put the Vatican's own interests in jeopardy "were boldly rejected."
"It seems the visit has emboldened a tradition that any future pope may visit the Holy Land and Israel," the ambassador said, adding that John Paul II's visit in 2000 originally set the model which "will remain for visits to come."
Lewy recalled how many critics "within the Church and in the media watched every move of the Pope in order to ‘celebrate' another potential mishap." But he stressed that with this background in mind, "the overall success of the visit counts even more." And contrary to speculation in the media, the ambassador said neither the recent conflict in Gaza, nor the lifting of the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, the elections in Israel, nor the historical dispute over Pius XII "had at any given moment endangered the papal visit."
Ambassador Lewy recalled the two previous papal visits to Israel: Paul VI's in 1964 and John Paul II's in 2000. The former, he said, "was a clear expression of a non-recognition policy". It centred mainly around a papal meeting in Jerusalem with the then Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, and took place before Nostra Aetate had been promulgated. The latter visit, which took place in the Jubilee Year, showed John Paul II's "esteem for the Jewish people" but he noted his calls for forgiveness for Christians at the Western Wall led to some controversy within the Church.
He said "potential minefields" this time, such as the Pius XII caption in the Yad Vashem Museum, were excluded in advance, and an "uncontrolled initiative" of the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall not to allow the display of crosses "was thwarted at an early stage." But he also claimed that, "as in the past, the local Catholics were the least excited initially about the papal visit, and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, had to campaign for the visit." He contrasted this apparent reluctance with Israel's willingness to co-operate, and its acceptance of the Pope's explanatory letter over the Williamson controversy.
The Israeli ambassador welcomed Benedict XVI's efforts to elicit invitations from all the heads of state in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority before making plans for his pilgrimage. John Paul's 2000 visit, he noted, was "long pre-announced" and took place without a formal invitation. "It was as if Papa Wojtyla had set himself in motion and later, knocking at Israel's door, announced: ‘I am coming, are you at home?'", said Lewy.
"For Israel, Benedict XVI's visit had an historical dimension and not only because it actually took place," he said. "Israel holds the present Pope in high esteem as he is very friendly towards Jews as well as the interfaith dialogue he promotes with us."
"Bearing events of past year in mind," Lewy said in closing, "we can articulate the present state of mind of bilateral affairs by drawing words from the book of Judges: out of the strong came forth sweetness."