Pope Francis
“May the anniversary of the unspeakable cruelty that humanity learned of 75 years ago serve as a summons to pause, be still and to remember,” he stated. “We need to do this lest we become indifferent.”
“The habit of persecuting Jews is beginning to be reborn. Brothers and sisters: This is neither human nor Christian; the Jews are our brothers and sisters, and must not be persecuted! Understood?”
The Jewish faith and other monotheistic religions constitute the act of euthanasia as actual murder with the assistance of medical personnel.
He communicated “great concern” regarding bigotry against Jews as “an excessive and depraved hatred.”
“For years, Yad Vashem has called for the opening of these archives, which will enable objective and open research, as well as comprehensive discourse on issues related to the conduct of the Vatican in particular, and the Catholic Church in general, during the Holocaust.”
“Hamas has repeatedly led to a severe escalation time and again, while callously exploiting the plight of the residents of the Gaza Strip,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
“I have always sought to emphasize the importance of friendship between Jews and Catholics. It is based on a fraternity grounded in the history of salvation, and it finds concrete expression in concern for one another,” said Pope Francis.
Vilnius had been known for centuries as the “Jerusalem of the North” for its importance to Jewish thought and politics. Each year, the September anniversary is commemorated with readings of the names of Jews killed by Nazis or Lithuanian partisans or deported to concentration camps.
