Shmuley Boteach Meets Pope — Urges Him To Keep Speaking Out on Hatred
By Nathan Guttman March 3, 2016
In a brief audience at the Vatican Wednesday, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach urged Pope Francis to condemn current day anti-Semitism in Europe and acts of hatred directed at Israel.
Boteach, who gained national recognition as the rabbi to the stars, told the Forward that during the short conversation with Pope Francis, he asked the pontiff to raise his voice as a moral authority on issues that are currently threatening the Jewish people.
“Your condemnation of anti-Semitism in unconditional terms and acknowledgement that there is no difference in hating Israel and hating the Jewish people, is vital,” Boteach told Pope Francis.
He added that there is “no difference between anti-Semitism and the hatred of Israel.”
The pope, according to Boteach, listened and asked the visiting rabbi to pray for him to have deeper understanding of this issue.
Boteach also handed him a copy of his latest book “Kosher Jesus,” which, he believes, could help “strengthen the theological bridges between Christians and Jews.”
Credited with arranging the Vatican audience was Gary Krupp, who has been known for his role as the leading voice within the Jewish community in favor of Pope Pius XII, the World War II era head of the Catholic Church. Pius XII’s silence during the Holocaust has led many Jewish activists and scholars to call for rejecting his canonization.
This is the second audience Krupp, who was knighted by the Vatican, arranged for Boteach with the pope, despite the fact that Boteach and Krupp hold opposing positions regarding Pius XII. While Krupp, through a foundation he created, has been tirelessly promoting the acceptance of Pius XII, Boteach is a harsh critic of the former pope and has written extensively against his war time behavior. “Even though I vehemently disagree with him on Pius XII, we have still remained close friends,” Boteach said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
