On 23 December 2023, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka (SACBC president) wrote an open letter to Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein in reply to his public message where he accuses Pope Francis of “colluding with the forces of evil who seek to annihilate the Jewish people”.
Find:
- a link to Chief Rabbi Goldstein, (YouTube)
- a reaction to it by the Jesuit Institute in South Africa and
- Bp Sipuka's letter
By Jesuit Institute of South Africa
Dear esteemed Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein,
We at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg have been reflecting on your message addressed to Pope Francis, published on social media on 20 December 2023. We do understand your anguish at what has happened over the past two-and-a-half months in Israel and Palestine.
As Catholics, we seek to engage with your message in a constructive way, in the spirit of the profound relationship between Jews and Catholics that has developed over the past decades since the Second Vatican Council.
You call on the Pope to stand fully behind the State of Israel.
He has been closely following the unfolding events. He has been in regular contact with Israeli and Jewish leaders. He has expressed his grief at the deaths of the innocent, especially those cruelly murdered on 7 October, and has received the families of the hostages, seeking to find a way to help and guarantee their release.
In fact, since he became Pope, his promotion of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians has been a cornerstone of his vision for a world based upon our shared values.
(Click here to continue reading)
By Bishop Sithembele Sipuka
Dear Chief Rabbi Goldstein
I am writing to you on behalf of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) in response to your video publicised on social media accusing Pope Francis of “colluding with the forces of evil who seek to annihilate the Jewish people”. You draw this conclusion from the “widely reported conversation” between Pope Francis and Mr Herzog, the president of Israel, in which Pope Francis, referring to the war in Gaza, is reported to have said to Mr Herzog, “It is forbidden to respond to terror with terror”.
We believe the allegations you present as proof of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church’s hatred of Jews lack truth and objectivity and have an air of mistrust and character assassination.
(Click here to continue reading)
