The relations between the Vatican and Israel have never been as complicated and tense as they are in this period. The war in Gaza has changed everything. The latest misunderstanding, highlighted by a statement on X by the Israeli ambassador accredited to the Holy See, Raphael Schutz, just days after the audience with Pope Francis, concerns the Pope's impartial approach to the highest authority of the Sunni Islamic world despite his violently anti-Semitic statements. "Interreligious dialogue is constructive as long as difficulties and complexities are not overlooked. On October 31, 2023, Sheikh Al Tayeb issued a terrible anti-Semitic statement. Continuing the dialogue with him in a business-as-usual approach, as if everything were normal, is wrong," the diplomat noted, referring to the long letter sent by Francis to the Imam of Cairo, Al Tayyeb for the fifth anniversary of the signing of the document on Brotherhood signed in the United Arab Emirates five years ago by Catholics and Muslims (Sunnis).
The Pope, in the message sent yesterday, praised Al Tayyeb "for the path of dialogue, friendship and mutual esteem started in Abu Dhabi that continues to bear its fruits" while in many parts of the world "the effects of a lack of fraternal solidarity cause environmental destruction and social degradation that cause immense suffering to a large number of our brothers and sisters. It is therefore essential to draw attention to the principles that can guide humanity through the dark shadows of injustice, hatred and war towards the brightness of a global community, characterized by greater social solidarity and fraternal love". What the Israeli ambassador points out to the Pope is any lack of criticism of the Imam's attitude on the Gaza issue in the aftermath of the October 7 pogrom.
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On that occasion Al Tayyen had, in fact, praised "the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza who are facing the ruthless Israeli aggression against them. The Palestinians are facing the fire of the Israeli occupation's terrorist army (...) stripped of all sense of morality and humanity, committing various brutal crimes, including bombing hospitals; destroying mosques and churches; and killing children, women, journalists and innocent citizens". Al Tayyeb did not condemn in any way the massacres of October 7 that cost the lives of 1,200 Israeli civilians and especially did not criticize the ideology of Hamas aimed at exterminating the Jews and wiping out the State of Israel from Palestine. A program of extermination that Hamas has always highlighted in every document and every proclamation.
Pope Francis: "All wars are crimes against humanity". Appeal 100 days after the anti-Semitic pogrom of Hamas (which he does not mention) Al-Azhar, on that occasion, also praised the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres for his "courageous and chivalrous position" calling for an end to the aggression in Gaza. Guterres before the Security Council stated that "Hamas attacks did not occur in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land constantly devoured by settlements and afflicted by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their situation have vanished".
The misunderstandings between the Vatican and Israel in the last three months of war have developed at various times prompting diplomatic responses and behind-the-scenes contacts. In November a letter signed by 400 rabbis and Jewish religion academics from around the world had urged the Pope for a word of closeness to the Jewish people. The response received a few days ago was particularly appreciated by the American Jewish Commettee: "In a tense moment in relations between Jews and Catholics. It is important that in the message the Pope addressed the explosion of anti-Semitism condemned as a sin".
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