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September
5, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 15Oakland,
CA
Pope makes historic
gestures
to Germany’s Muslims and Jews
COLOGNE, Germany — Capping off two days of interfaith
meetings filled with political importance and religious symbolism, Pope
Benedict XVI met with the leadership of Germany’s fast-growing Muslim
community, Aug. 20, a day after a poignant visit to Cologne’s synagogue.
Even the late John Paul II, who made interfaith outreach a hallmark of
his papacy, never attempted two such highly symbolic events focusing on
other faiths in as many days.
The two visits were part of the Vatican’s ongoing efforts to reach
out to other faiths, initiatives that are a natural fit in Germany, where
the Protestant Reformation was sparked nearly 500 years ago, where the
Nazi Holocaust slaughtered 6 million Jews, and now home to the fastest-growing
Muslim population within the European Union.
The German-born pope was greeted by a Muslim delegation led by Rydvan
Cakir, president of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute of Religion,
a social and religious advocacy group. Afterward, Benedict said he told
Muslim leaders that they had a “great responsibility” to properly
educate younger generations about the evils of Muslim extremism.
“I am certain that I echo your thoughts when I bring up the concern
of the spread of terrorism,” the pontiff said. “Terrorism
is continually reoccurring in various parts of the world, sowing death
and destruction, and plunging many of our dear brothers and sisters into
grief and despair.”
However, he said he also tried to assuage fears that the battle against
Muslim extremism was a proxy for a war between Christian and Muslim civilizations.
Benedict called the terrorists “barbarians” who did not represent
Islam as a whole.
Afterward, Cakir issued a brief statement calling the meetings “informative
and worthwhile.”
Islam is Europe’s fastest-growing faith, and because of increasing
immigration from Turkey, Muslims now total around 3.5 million in Germany
— around one for every seven Catholics in the country.
For 39-year-old Mohammed Zohir, a Turkish taxi driver living in Germany
for the last eight years, the dialogue between Benedict and local Muslim
leaders was a positive step, though he doubted it would have any real
impact on the day-to-day lives of European Muslims.
“They can shake hands and take photographs,” Zohir said. “But
I don’t know how they will make the average European more accepting
of his brothers from the East.”
Only slightly less relevant politically, and far more symbolic, was Benedict’s
visit to Germany’s largest synagogue in Cologne on Aug. 19. There,
the man who was briefly and unenthusiastically a member of the Hitler
Youth movement and the Nazi Army while in his teens, decried rising anti-Semitism
in Europe and vowed to improve relations between Jews and Catholics.
Benedict was only the second pope to ever step foot inside a synagogue
and, like John Paul’s visit to the Rome synagogue 19 years earlier,
this visit was flush with symbolism. Cologne’s Jewish community
is the oldest in Germany, but had nearly been eliminated during the Holocaust.
Nazis had destroyed the synagogue, which has been reconstructed on the
same spot from the rubble that remained.
Inside, the first German pope in more than 500 years was greeted by a
choir singing “Shalom Alechem,” or “Peace be With You,”
before he spoke about brotherly love to a crowd of around 400 local Jews.
At least 40 of those on hand were reported to be Holocaust survivors.
“Today, sadly, we are witnessing the rise of new signs of anti-Semitism
and other various forms of hostility toward foreigners,” the pontiff
said to a standing ovation.
After a pause, he concluded, “We need to show respect and love for
one another,” sparking more applause.
But the event was not without controversy. When Abraham Lehrer, one of
the leaders of the local Jewish community, urged Benedict to open secret
Vatican archives that would shed light on the Church’s role during
World War II and the Holocaust, the pontiff stood stone-faced and did
not reply.
Later, outside the synagogue, Benedict said that he would strive to reach
“a shared interpretation of disputed historical questions”
— a likely reference to the Vatican’s secret files.
On Aug. 20, Benedict also met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
and later with Angela Merkel, Schroeder’s opponent in the Sept.
18 national elections. Merkel’s aides reportedly demanded the meeting
on the grounds that talks with only Schroeder could give the liberal chancellor
an unfair boost ahead of the elections.
Pope Benedict receives a shofar from members of the Jewish
community during his visit to a synagogue in Cologne, Aug. 19. He is only
the second pope known to visit a Jewish place of worship since the early
history of Church. Pope John Paul II visited a synagogue in Rome.
RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Oliver Berg
