1998

Cardinal Urges Catholics to Advance Ties with Jews

by Charlie Hammond

On the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass," Cardinal Edward Cassidy urged Catholics to remember the sins of the Holocaust and to forge relationships with Jews.

'"It is not enough to express repentance," Cassidy said to his listeners at John Ascuaga's Nugget Monday. "Our sorrow for the tragedy of the Holocaust must lead to a new relationship between Catholics and Jews."

Cassidy is president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. He repeatedly emphasized the need for Catholics to continue to oppose anti-Semitism.
Cadissy

Catholics must be repentant of past ills in the sentence of the service of truth: he said. "The church is no longer to be seen as part of the problem but of the solution."

Cassidy noted Christianity's close spiritual bond with Judaism and how shameful it is for all Christians that the Holocaust occurred in traditionally Christian countries.

He reviewed the Catholic church's long history of anti-Jewish teachings and explained its need to assert morc direct responsibility for the Nazi atrocities. To support this assertion, he pointed to the Christian pastors in pre-World War II Europe, who did not speak out against Nazi evils.

"They bear heavy responsibility," he said.

Concluding his speech, the cardinal said that all people, regardless of faith, bear the responsibility of preventing another Nazi regime from ever coming to power.

"Humanity cannot permit that to happen again," Cassidy said.

Loud clapping thundered through the Rose Ballroom at John Ascuaga's Nugget at the conclusion of the cardinal's 45-minute speech, an indication of the audience's appreciation for his special visit to the Reno area.

"I think his visit is really quite extraordinary considering he came all the way from Rome to address this important subject," University of Nevada President Joe Crowley said. "It's a subject of such historical significance and yet with such hope for the future."

Fr. Frank Hoffman, pastor of Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Newman Community near campus, agreed.

"I thought he was good," Hoffmann said "I thought he talked well about the atrocities but I think it needs to be expanded into our world."

Kristallnacht was the name given to the night in which Jews throughout Germany and Austria were terrorized and imprisoned prior to W.W. II. Hundreds of Jewish synagogues were destroyed and thousands of Jewish businesses were vandalized, so many that shattered glass flooded the sidewalks.

The anniversary of Kristallnacht has been marred in Germany by quarreling between rival political factions; one that wants to move forward and concentrate on the bogged reunification and another that fears the horrors of the Holocaust and its inherent lessons will be forgotten.

Attempting to appeal to both parties, newly elected Chancellor Gerhard Schroder pledged he would lead the German people forward without forgetting the past.

Cassidy was the first of six speakers in the E.L. Wiegand Foundation's Millennium Speaker Series. Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter are also scheduled in the series.