“Never again†is the constant phrase we utter about the Holocaust. “Not again†are my words about the latest anti-Semitic scandal to hit. Today, on Good Friday, papal preacher Reverend Raniero Cantalamessa compared recent criticism of the pope to anti-Semitic abuse the Jews have suffered over millennia.
There are many things wrong with the preacher’s statement, but let’s dissect some of them one by one. First, he purports that this claim originated in a letter to him by a Jewish friend, so that makes it okay to compare the pope–criticized by some for casting a blind eye to priests’ abuse of little boys–to the countless trials Jews have undergone, from medieval persecution to the Holocaust. If a Jewish friend really did make this claim in such a letter to the reverend, then why did the preacher keep the name a secret? What self-respecting Jew would make such a claim? It seems to me that the “Jewish friend†comment was just something added on to avoid criticism for his remarks. If that Jewish friend really did write such a note, then he or she obviously thinks very little of his or her Jewish identity.
Yes, Catholic priests have done awful things by abusing unwilling, underage children. But comparing the criticism bombarding Pope Benedict to a massacre of six million individuals, or claims that Jews ate Christian babies? Not so much. First of all, the reverend has an agenda here—not just because he is a Catholic priest but because he is a part of the papal household. He may be defending the pope in that way not because he believes Benedict is such a saintly figure for enduring verbal criticis  but to keep his job. That would make these comments even more disgraceful: they wouldn’t be in the name of faith, but to kiss up to his superiors.
This year, Good Friday coincides with the Jewish liberation holiday of Passover. By making such comments, the reverend taints the freedom message of both holidays. I can’t pretend to know the ins and outs of Good Friday, but it seems to me that the day on which Jesus was crucified, soon to return from the dead and reveal himself to his disciples, would prove the Romans that killed him wrong, freeing the oppressed disciples from the doubt cast upon them by others. Passover deals with the freedom of the Jews from their oppressor, Pharaoh, after hundreds of years of enslavement. Both days celebrate the incipient or recent liberation of two groups. Why bring up such nefarious accusations on a day like today? Indeed, why bring them up at all? Celebrate the positives during holidays that mark liberation from the negative.
A Vatican spokesman said that he regarded the reverend’s statement as the reverend’s own, not representing the views of the church at large. I don’t mean to demean the sufferings of individuals molested by older priests. They have suffered in silence for many years and should never have had to undergo such pain. The reverend isn’t even addressing their agony, though. He’s sympathizing with the pope for suffering criticism, not physical pain or killing. I don’t buy that.
