Pope's open letter and his gratitude towards Jews

(Vatican Radio) We continue to provide comments by theologians and experts to the open letter that Pope Francis wrote this week in response to a series of questions posed to him by journalist and writer, Eugenio Scalfari, of the Italian daily newspaper, “La Repubblica”.

One of the issues into which the Holy Father delved in his remarks is that of his gratitude to Jews who have kept their faith in God, through the terrible trials of these centuries.

Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni, Joseph Sievers, Professor of Jewish History and Literature at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, says that in his opinion the tone of brotherly closeness that sets the letter is one of the things that most impressed him…

Listen to the full interview...

Professor Sievers says the tone of the letter is “one of speaking at eye-level to a person who does not profess a particular faith, and so in this context the answer to the question about Jews and Judaism, brings up the personal level, the experience of Francis when he was in Argentina”. And Prof. Sievers says: “Also I was impressed that he did not just speak about answers, but also about the deep questions that he brings in prayer to God about the Shoah. He does not pretend to have the answer, but brings that question to God”.

He explains that “from that one understands that he expresses gratitude for the faithfulness of Jews in these thousands of years and especially in the last century”.

Prof. Sievers says this is extraordinary and he “brings together a deep theological statement – not directly citing Paul but referring to Paul’s Letter to the Romans chapter 11 and chapter 9, - but from there bringing it to a personal level and saying that we as Christians must learn from Jews that we are still waiting together for the return of the Lord, and that we cannot rest on our laurels or rest simply on what we already have”.