Monday, January 10, 2005
Responsum ad dubiam
From Mr. Goldston:
So it turns out that the Vatican's newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, did
not criticize Israel for not sending enough aid to Sri Lanka. Apparently
it was a translation error that had the Catholic World News saying that
Israel is "too preoccupied with making war," and l'Osservatore was
actually criticizing Sri Lanka for that. NOW they tell us.
After all, what actually happened was that Sri Lanka originally refused an
aid package and volunteers from Israel on the grounds that too many of the
people Israel wanted to send were active-duty IDF.
If I could read Italian decently I'd check it myself, but I guess as it is
I can take this as one heck of a Freudian slip on the part of Catholic
World News' translators.
As a member of the Jew crew, though, I can't say I wasn't shocked by the
original story from CWN blaming Israel for not sending aid...after all,
the Vatican is putting Eugenio Pacelli through the beatification process,
even as new dirt on him is seeing the light of day, like "a 1946 letter
from the Holy Office...to Angelo Roncalli, the papal nuncio in Paris and
later Pope John XXIII, [which] confirmed the principle that baptized
Jewish children in the Church's care during the Holocaust should not be
restored to surviving parents after it. Even unbaptized Jewish orphans
were not to be turned over to other family members..." (quotation taken
from TNR)
With saints like this...yeah.
Of course, Roncalli gave this letter exactly the attention it merited and
did the right thing, which is why he's my favorite Pope, but yeah.
Given John Paul II's obsession with glossing over Pius XII's record, is it
any wonder that Jews everywhere were in an uproar the instant the CWN
article hit the 'net?
Pius XII's beatification is majorly creeping out those of us who pay
attention to such things.
OK then several points to respond to.
First of all, the Asian aid. I'd urge Mr. Goldston not to associate CWN with the Vatican, expecially since some of CWN's frequent commentators range towards sedevancantism, and CWN has it's own agenda. I'm not too familiar with the story, but I think it has more to say about CWN than the Church in general.
Next, Pius XII. As you, my lieblings, know, I recently found an article that explains exactly what was going on there. Nothing too exciting. The linky is [here] . Unlike most stuff from CWN, it's fully accessable to the public, so no problem there. And, of course, the letter is unsigned, wasn't found in the papers of the Church but in the archives of France, was in French, and in any event doesn't say what the esteemed Mr. Goldston says it says. Moving right along.
JPII. Mr. Goldston should perhaps familiarize himself with the record of the pontiff, who is a great friend of the Jewish people and is on pretty good terms with the Rabbis of Italy and Israel, as far as I know, not to mention the great number of Jewish friends from his WWII years.
So it turns out that the Vatican's newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, did
not criticize Israel for not sending enough aid to Sri Lanka. Apparently
it was a translation error that had the Catholic World News saying that
Israel is "too preoccupied with making war," and l'Osservatore was
actually criticizing Sri Lanka for that. NOW they tell us.
After all, what actually happened was that Sri Lanka originally refused an
aid package and volunteers from Israel on the grounds that too many of the
people Israel wanted to send were active-duty IDF.
If I could read Italian decently I'd check it myself, but I guess as it is
I can take this as one heck of a Freudian slip on the part of Catholic
World News' translators.
As a member of the Jew crew, though, I can't say I wasn't shocked by the
original story from CWN blaming Israel for not sending aid...after all,
the Vatican is putting Eugenio Pacelli through the beatification process,
even as new dirt on him is seeing the light of day, like "a 1946 letter
from the Holy Office...to Angelo Roncalli, the papal nuncio in Paris and
later Pope John XXIII, [which] confirmed the principle that baptized
Jewish children in the Church's care during the Holocaust should not be
restored to surviving parents after it. Even unbaptized Jewish orphans
were not to be turned over to other family members..." (quotation taken
from TNR)
With saints like this...yeah.
Of course, Roncalli gave this letter exactly the attention it merited and
did the right thing, which is why he's my favorite Pope, but yeah.
Given John Paul II's obsession with glossing over Pius XII's record, is it
any wonder that Jews everywhere were in an uproar the instant the CWN
article hit the 'net?
Pius XII's beatification is majorly creeping out those of us who pay
attention to such things.
OK then several points to respond to.
First of all, the Asian aid. I'd urge Mr. Goldston not to associate CWN with the Vatican, expecially since some of CWN's frequent commentators range towards sedevancantism, and CWN has it's own agenda. I'm not too familiar with the story, but I think it has more to say about CWN than the Church in general.
Next, Pius XII. As you, my lieblings, know, I recently found an article that explains exactly what was going on there. Nothing too exciting. The linky is [here] . Unlike most stuff from CWN, it's fully accessable to the public, so no problem there. And, of course, the letter is unsigned, wasn't found in the papers of the Church but in the archives of France, was in French, and in any event doesn't say what the esteemed Mr. Goldston says it says. Moving right along.
JPII. Mr. Goldston should perhaps familiarize himself with the record of the pontiff, who is a great friend of the Jewish people and is on pretty good terms with the Rabbis of Italy and Israel, as far as I know, not to mention the great number of Jewish friends from his WWII years.
