Yad Vashem Statement On Pope's Visit, Holocaust

"Yad Vashem attributes great importance and special significance to the visit of Pope Francis, which we hope will foster greater Holocaust awareness around the world. In his remarks at Yad Vashem, the Pope stressed the momentous place of the Shoah in human experience, noting the boundless and incommensurate tragedy of the Holocaust. His remarks in the Hall of Remembrance, which were characterized by poetry and prayer, dealt with the question where was man during the Holocaust and how could man have committed such a crime?…"

Yad Vashem statement on Pope Francis' visit to Yad vashem this weekend:

Yad Vashem Comment on the Visit of Pope Francis
26 May 2014

Yad Vashem attributes great importance and special significance to the visit of Pope Francis, which we hope will foster greater Holocaust awareness around the world. In his remarks at Yad Vashem, the Pope stressed the momentous place of the Shoah in human experience, noting the boundless and incommensurate tragedy of the Holocaust. His remarks in the Hall of Remembrance, which were characterized by poetry and prayer, dealt with the question where was man during the Holocaust and how could man have committed such a crime? In his remarks, the Pope pointed to the terrible rupture, where people lost their humanity. His words at Yad Vashem, together with his speech on arrival in Israel, express shame and pain, regarding the nadir that humankind reached with the crimes of the Shoah. And he called for promoting education for human values, and for building a world without antisemitism in all its forms, and without expressions of hostility, discrimination and intolerance. ----- During his visit, the Pope signed the Yad Vashem Guest Book in Spanish. English translation of his message: With shame for what man, who was created in the image of God, was able to do; with shame for the fact that man made himself the owner of evil; with shame that man made himself into God and sacrificed his brothers.

Never again!! Never again!!

Address of Pope Francis at Yad Vashem, May 26, 2014:

“Adam, where are you?” (cf. Gen 3:9). Where are you, o man? What have you come to? In this place, this memorial of the Shoah, we hear God’s question echo once more: “Adam, where are you?” This question is charged with all the sorrow of a Father who has lost his child. The Father knew the risk of freedom; he knew that his children could be lost… yet perhaps not even the Father could imagine so great a fall, so profound an abyss! Here, before the boundless tragedy of the Holocaust, That cry – “Where are you?” – echoes like a faint voice in an unfathomable abyss… Adam, who are you?  I no longer recognize you. Who are you, o man?  What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you fall to such depths? Certainly it is not the dust of the earth from which you were made. The dust of the earth is something good, the work of my hands. Certainly it is not the breath of life which I breathed into you. That breath comes from me, and it is something good (cf. Gen 2:7). No, this abyss is not merely the work of your own hands, your own heart… Who corrupted you?  Who disfigured you? Who led you to presume that you are the master of good and evil? Who convinced you that you were god? Not only did you torture and kill your brothers and sisters, but you sacrificed them to yourself, because you made yourself a god. Today, in this place, we hear once more the voice of God: “Adam, where are you?” From the ground there rises up a soft cry: “Have mercy on us, O Lord!” To you, O Lord our God, belongs righteousness; but to us confusion of face and shame (cf. Bar 1:15). A great evil has befallen us, such as never happened under the heavens (cf. Bar 2:2). Now, Lord, hear our prayer, hear our plea, save us in your mercy. Save us from this horror. Almighty Lord, a soul in anguish cries out to you. Hear, Lord, and have mercy! We have sinned against you. You reign for ever (cf. Bar 3:1-2). Remember us in your mercy. Grant us the grace to be ashamed of what we men have done, to be ashamed of this massive idolatry, of having despised and destroyed our own flesh which you formed from the earth, to which you gave life with your own breath of life. Never again, Lord, never again! “Adam, where are you?” Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man, created in your own image and likeness, was capable of doing. Remember us in your mercy.

More information of the pope's visit to Yad Vashem.

Comments

[Josh]

Looks like you gotta a bit of a man-crush on the Pope :)

[this is a name]

There have been genocides throughout history the word genocide was only used since the 20th century.

The world can be a very dangerous place.

[ruthie]

i appreciated it so much when i saw the pope at yad vashem...he met survivors and kissed their hands.
thank you pope francis.

[bendinai]

"shamed by what man, created in your own image and likeness, was capable of doing"

Um, Mr. Pope...I have a few questions for you. Why are you blaming "man" for this? Did this happen in Muslim lands? Did this happen to the Jewish communities of India and China? Did this occur in Eastern Orthodox countries? No. This happened in an area dominated for 2,000 years by your church.

[Shmarya]

bendinai –

Please.

The Church did not endorse the Holocaust or help it happen. It opposed it and saved some – but far from enough – Jews.

Past that, since the Holocaust the Church has:

1. Apologized for Church doctrine on the Jews that led to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.

2. Stopped all missions meant to convert Jews.

3. Recognized Judaism as a parent-sister religion.

4. Removed from its theology and liturgy passages that could be used against Jews by anti-Semites.

5. Launched a 5-decades-long and still ongoing dialogue between Jewish leaders and the Church.

These are all very well-known facts.

Try to process them.

[Michael-Meir]

The Catholic Chirch was also a victim of the Nazis. At least 1,811 Polish Catholic priests were murdered by the Nazis in death camps. About 3,000 Polish priests were killed overall during the war.