Letter on the 40th anniversary of John Paul II's visit to the Great Synagogue in Rome

[Edited from software translation]

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel reading in the liturgy takes us to Bethany. It is there, less than two weeks before his death on Good Friday, that the Lord Jesus – with great power and clarity – reveals to us today its meaning: Jesus will die so that Lazarus can receive life. Lazarus comes out of the tomb and Jesus takes his place. The Gospel describes the tomb of Lazarus analogous to the tomb of Jesus: "it was a cave and a stone rested on it".

The death of Jesus is the price of life, which is returned to Lazarus. Moreover, the death of Jesus is the price of life, which is returned to each and every one of us. This price tells us of the greatest love: "Greater love has no one than this, that a person lay down their life for their friends" (Jn 15:13). That is why this price hides the extraordinary power of commitment: to respect it, not to trample on it, not to underestimate it! Christ does not consent to our death—even if He permits it (as He allowed His friend to die), He does not consent to us remaining in it! This is the discipline of God's action and redemption: our Lord does not magically protect us from spiritual death (which is sin); However, as many times as we choose it, it is ready to lead us out of it. He does not agree with our abiding in death! And who endures death? St. John gives us a clear answer in his First Letter: "HE WHO DOES NOT LOVE ABIDES IN DEATH" (1 Jn 3:14). Notice: The word here does not speak only of hatred. He speaks of a "lack of love", and therefore also of indifference, passivity, lack of interest, anesthesia.

One of such deadly deficits of love was (and unfortunately still is) ANTISEMITISM. But even from this "death" the Lord has led us (and is leading us out) – especially in the last 60 years – thanks to events that we feel obliged to recall for all of us.

On April 13 this year, forty years will have passed since the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, crossed the threshold of a Jewish house of prayer for the first time since apostolic times. On that spring evening, after a cordial embrace with the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, St. John Paul II entered the synagogue of Rome in a solemn procession singing Psalm 150: "Hallelujah! Praise God in His temple, praise Him in the firmament, where His power shines!" I have been thinking about this visit for a long time..." – the Pope confessed, greeting the Jewish community.

That meeting forty years ago would not have been possible if it had not been for another event, the importance of which is difficult to overestimate today. It took place twenty years earlier.

On October 28, 1965, the Second Vatican Council adopted the declaration "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time"), which speaks about the attitude of the Church towards non-Christian religions. It contains words that have become a turning point in relations between the Catholic Church and Jews and Judaism. It was to them that St. John Paul II referred in his speech in the synagogue in Rome. Let us recall his words today.

"First, the Church of Christ discovers its connection with Judaism by delving into its own mystery. The Jewish religion is not external to our religion, but in a certain way internal. So we have relationships with it that we don't have with any other religion. You are our beloved brothers and in a way, you could say, our older brothers."

We echo the words of the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Romans, where he speaks of "wild olive branches", that is, Gentiles, "grafted into the noble olive", which are the Jews living in a covenant with God. The Church "draws nourishment from the root of this noble olive." Paul's metaphor of the olive tree will be referred to many times by subsequent popes, emphasizing its relevance. "We have rediscovered that the Jewish people are still for us the sacred root from which Jesus grew," Pope Francis recalled¹. And the necessity of reading the teaching of Jesus and His disciples "from a Jewish perspective, in the context of the living tradition of Israel" was confirmed by the Holy See².

The second problem that St. John Paul II pointed out during his speech in the synagogue in Rome is the burdening of the Jews with the collective responsibility for the death of Christ: "No hereditary or collective guilt can be attributed to the Jews as a nation for what was committed during the Passion of Jesus," the Pope recalled the words of the Council's declaration. All acts of discrimination and persecution against Jews that have taken place over the centuries in connection with this accusation must be condemned.

It is worth remembering that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, repeating the Council of Trent, teaches unequivocally: "The Church does not hesitate to attribute to Christians the greatest responsibility for the Passion of Jesus, which they too often blamed only on the Jews. (…) It must be recognized that our guilt in this case is greater than that of the Jews. For they, according to the testimony of the Apostle, would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8) if they had known Him. (…) You crucified him and continue to crucify him through delight in vices and sins" (CCC 598).

In his speech, the Pope radically opposed the portrayal of Jews as "rejected or cursed." For more than a thousand years, this content, present in Catholic teaching and misinterpretation of the Holy Scripture, has shaped the attitudes of Christians, contributing to hatred, persecution and manifestations of anti-Semitism. We should remember that the Catholic Church today states unequivocally: the Jews are still loved by God, who has called them with an irrevocable calling. For God, faithful to his promises, did not revoke the First Covenant. Israel remains the chosen people³.

In 1997, speaking about the roots of anti-Judaism in the Christian environment, St. John Paul II called the existence of Israel a "supernatural fact." "This people persists in spite of everything and in spite of everything because it is the people of the Covenant," the Pope said⁴. The return to the sources and theological reflection on the mystery of Israel's existence, undertaken in the twentieth century – especially in the face of the terrible tragedy of the Shoah (Holocaust) that took place in Europe – resulted in a new teaching of the Church about Jews and Judaism, rooted in the apostolic tradition.

Inspired by the Conciliar Declaration, the Church's reflection shows more and more clearly the bonds between Jews and Christians. These are, in particular: reverence for the Word of God, prayer and liturgy, as well as the messianic hope of the future. For "when the People of God of the Old and New Covenants contemplates the future, they are heading towards the same ends, even if they start from two different points of view: the coming or return of the Messiah"⁵. Referring to the common eschatological hope, St. John Paul II said: "The New Covenant finds its roots in the Old. And if the Old can find its fulfillment in the New, it is of course a matter of the Holy Spirit. We, the people, just try not to get in the way^6".”

The anniversary of the papal visit to the Roman synagogue will fall the day after the end of the Octave of Easter. This year, both followers of Judaism and Christians celebrate Passover at the same time. It is an opportunity to recall the Jewish roots of the Christian liturgy.

St. John Paul II emphasized that these "roots must be known even more deeply; they must be better known and appreciated by the faithful", because "taking into account the faith and religious life of the Jewish people, as they are professed and lived today", can help us to better understand the life of the Church⁷.

In many towns – sometimes right next to us, sometimes a little further away – there are synagogues that have survived the turmoil of war. In most of them, the voice of joyful Sabbath prayer no longer resounds today. However, there are also those that are teeming with religious life. Following in the footsteps of St. John Paul II, let's visit the synagogue on April 13. Let us remember the men and women whose prayers have soaked the walls of synagogues for centuries. And where possible, let us meet with Jewish sisters and brothers. Remembering that we always pray for them in the Good Friday liturgy, asking God that the people whom he first acquired as his property "may grow in fidelity to his covenant" and be able to "attain the fullness of redemption". For "there is no doubt that the Jews are partakers of God's salvation, but how can this be possible without a clear confession of Christ – it is and will remain the unfathomable mystery of God"⁸.

May Mary, the Mother of our Lord, the "Chosen Daughter of Israel", sustain us with her prayers⁹.

Pastors of the Catholic Church in Poland present at the 404. Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference.

Warsaw, March 12, 2026