Newsgroup: it.cultura.religioni.cristiani
Titolo: Barukh attah ^ %nu melekh ha-'olam dayyan emet ...

Ovvero: Benedetto sii tu, S^gnore nostro D%o, re dell'universo, giudice di
verità.
È la benedizione per le cattive notizie, e la morte del Papa è pessima. Gli
Ebrei hanno perso un grande amico, ed i Cristiani un padre. Condoglianze.
Ecco i link ai messaggi di cordoglio emessi dal Ministero degli Esteri
d'Israele:
- Il comunicato del Ministero degli Esteri (retto da Silvan Shalom):
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2005/Statement+on+the+Passing+of+Pope+John+Paul+II+2-Apr-2005.htm
- Il messaggio del Primo Ministro Ariel Sharon:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2005/PM+Sharon-+Pope+was+a+friend+of+the+Jewish+people+3-Apr-2005.htm
- Il messaggio del Presidente dello Stato Moshe Katsav:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2005/Statment+by+Pres.+Katsav+on+the+death+of+Pope+John+Paul+II+4-Apr-2005.htm
Condoglianze ancora. Ciao.
--------------------------------
Inviato via 
http://arianna.libero.it/usenet/

 Ebrei hanno perso un grande amico, ed i Cristiani un padre. Condoglianze.
Ti ringrazio caro amico.
La preghiera non è tanto necessaria al padre che ci ha lasciato.
Egli, lasciata la sofferenza,  riposa il sonno dei Giusti.
Preghiere sono necessari a noi ebrei, e cristiani, che ancora 
peregriniamo....
Noi pensiamo che D_O, in natura di Spi_ito Santo, illuminerà la sua Chiesa.
Che illumini allora ogni uomo.
Affinché  ognuno serva D_O come gli è concesso.
Nella Pace nel rispetto nella fratellanza e nell'amore per l'altro.
Shalom. 


Secondo il Jerusalem Post (vedi qui:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112581161251
), ai funerali del Papa parteciperanno:
- il Presidente dello Stato d'Israele Moshe Katsav;
- il Ministro degli Esteri Silvan Shalom;
- il Rabbino Capo Sefardita Shlomo Amar;
- il Giudice della Corte Suprema Salim Joubran (che, guarda caso, è un Arabo
cattolico);
- l'Ambasciatore presso la Santa Sede Oded Ben-Hur.
Sharon non ci sarà perché deve essere negli USA Domenica, e pare proprio che
non abbia un attimo libero.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/562826.html
Una cosa che era stata notata da altri organi di informazione era che a
rendere omaggio al Papa z. l.(zikhrono livrakhah = la sua memoria sia in
benedizione) c'erano molto vicini capi di stati poco amici tra loro, come ad
esempio:
- Moshe Katsav, Presidente d'Israele;
- Bashar Assad, Presidente della Siria;
- Mohammed Katami, Presidente dell'Iran;
- Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Presidente dell'Algeria.
Secondo Haaretz, i quattro non sono rimasti a guardarsi in cagnesco, ma
Assad ha porto la mano a Katsav (e sì che in teoria i due paesi sarebbero in
guerra dal 1948), e Katsav gliel'ha stretta; Katsav poi ha stretto la mano a
Katami, ed i due si sono scambiati qualche parola in Persiano (Katsav è nato
in Iran, e conosce quindi la lingua); infine Katsav ha stretto la mano a
Bouteflika. E nella foto che vedete nella pagina, Katsav e Katami salutano
Re Abdullah di Giordania (di spalle).
Il Ministro degli Esteri d'Israele, Silvan Shalom (un nome impegnativo!),
non è stato da meno, ed ha stretto la mano al suo collega del Marocco
Mohammed Ben-Issa.
Katsav ha poi detto che il suo gesto era puro galateo diplomatico, ma
qualcuno non la pensava così, se la TV siriana (secondo Haaretz), ha negato
che Assad abbia stretto la mano di Katsav.
Io penso che non basterà una stretta di mano a risolvere i problemi tra
questi paesi, ma negarla li avrebbe aggravati, e vedo che i loro presidenti
non hanno voluto farlo, ed hanno anzi avuto la cortesia di trattare in quel
momento Katsav come un loro collega - cosa non dappoco, visto che nella
propaganda di quei paesi non si parla di "Stato d'Israele" ma di "entità
sionista".
E se il funerale si rivelasse l'ultimo capolavoro diplomatico di Giovanni
Paolo 2°?
Per finire, vi allego (scusate, non ho tempo di tradurre) quella che si può
considerare l'orazione funebre redatta da uno dei massimi dirigenti
dell'Ebraismo Riformato mondiale:
(cit)
Dear Friends,
I'm writing you these lines as Pope John Paul II is laid to his eternal rest
in Rome. In recent days, prior to the Pope's passing and even more so
afterwards, the world focused its attention on his life and legacy. Much has
been said in Israel and throughout the Jewish World about his contributions
to Catholic / Jewish relations.
A World Union mission visited the Vatican only a few weeks ago, had planned
to meet with the Pope and engage in a dialogue with Church officials
responsible for relations with the Jewish people, marking the 40th
anniversary of nostra aetate. Alas the Pope was already ill and we were
unable to see him even as we maintained the planned dialogue. Our mission
(led by Rabbi Mark Winer, Senior Rabbi at West London Synagogue of British
Jews and Chair of the World Union Task Force on Interreligious Relations and
myself, including by some of our most prominent rabbinic and lay leaders)
prayed for the healing of Pope John Paul II at his hospital. A few minutes
later when the Pope appeared for the first time in a number of days at his
window, we were hoping that he would indeed recover his strength.
Pope John Paul II passed away 6 days ago, Saturday. That morning we read in
synagogues from Sidra 8, Leviticus 11, "Be holy because I am holy". There
are few in the world who have so remarkably embodied the link between God's
divine and holy essence and his commandment to humanity to sanctify our
lives in recognition of the divine essence God has implanted within us. His
commitment and total dedication to peace and kindness, relieving the pain
and suffering of the needy, advancing democracy and resolving strife and
conflict have inspired millions in and outside the Church.
During his historic visit to Israel and visits around the world, Pope John
Paul II worked wonders in conveying the message of the Catholic Church.
Through his unique personality bridged gaps between the Church and other
religious or ethnic groups, kindling a religious spirit among all those he
touched. This was particularly true in Israel where most Jews have had
little or no personal experience with Christians and where the image of the
Church is tarnished. It was both John Paul II's personality and the
substance of his message that conquered hearts and changed perceptions and
prejudices. The memorable prayer he placed between the stones of the Western
Wall reflected his unwavering commitment to changing the age old teachings
against the Jews and to atone for the suffering inflicted in the past.
Of theological magnitude and importance was his repeated assertion that the
Jews should be viewed as people of the covenant, so contrary to the age-old
belief that Christianity had replaced the Jewish people, that the covenant
with the Jews was abrogated and the "teaching of contempt". It was his
personal encounters with Jews from his early childhood, his own role in
aiding victims of the Nazis, his strong an unequivocal condemnation of
anti-semitism as a "sin against God and against man" and his bold decision
to establish diplomatic relations with Israel that serve as the background
to the unique relationship John Paul II established with numerous local,
national and international Jewish groups. While one should be impressed by
his unique emphasis on the Jews, we should not lose sight of the fact that
this relationship is only a part of an overall desire and effort to see
human brotherhood reign and the respect and coexistence amongst all God's
children advanced.
It is these very values that compel us to play an even more active role in
the interfaith dialogue, as the international alliance of liberal Jews
committed to heeding God's eternal call "justice, justice shall you pursue"
and in viewing all humanity as created in God's image. At the Vatican, in
appreciation of the Pope's example and in commemoration of the 40th
anniversary of the nostra aetate we proposed to Cardinal Kasper (the head of
the Holy See Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews) specific
programs for cooperation on the local and international level with an
emphasis on bringing that message to our respective communities at the
grassroots level, paying special attention to the next generation and the
educational arena.
As we mourn the death of Pope John Paul II we hope and pray that his legacy
left to the Church and the entire world will be shared by his successor. We
commit ourselves to enhancing our relations so as to bring Pope John Paul
II's vision to fruition.
Zichro l'Vracha - His memory will be for a blessing.
Rabbi Uri Regev
Executive Director
World Union for Progressive Judaism
(:cit)
Un punto di vista più ortodosso lo leggete qui (
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Greatest_Confession_in_23000_Years.asp
):
(cit)
As the world mourns the death of Pope John Paul II, we present this
commentary written in March, 2000.
The Baltimore Catechism instructed generations of American Roman Catholics
that the marks of the church are four: It is one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic.
Comes now Pope John Paul II and adds a fifth: It is sinful.
"Lord God," the pope prayed on Sunday, "your pilgrim church ... counts among
her children in every age ... members whose disobedience to you contradicts
the faith we profess ... Forgive our sins."
To be sure, the pope was not technically confessing the sins of the church
itself, but those of "her children." No matter. The Bishop of Rome was
begging forgiveness for the cruelties and evils that have been done in the
name of the Church of Rome. This was unprecedented, another milestone in
what has proven to be the most consequential papacy in centuries.
An abiding commitment to truth has been a hallmark of John Paul's
stewardship. That was apparent from the outset, when he refused to mince
words in speaking about totalitarianism. His challenge to the legitimacy of
the Evil Empire triggered the fall of Communism in Europe. And that
challenge was fueled above all by a determination, as he put it, "to call
good and evil by name."
In his biography of John Paul II, George Weigel quotes a Polish student for
whom the pope's pilgrimage to Poland in 1979 was a turning point. "We might
have to live and die under Communism," the student said. "But now what I
want to do is to live without being a liar." Moscow could withstand much,
but not the pope's assault on the falsehoods that propped up Soviet rule.
John Paul would have been a hypocrite if his passion for truth had ducked
the long history of Roman Catholicism. It didn't. For years, he has spoken
of the need for the church to search its conscience; in a 1994 apostolic
letter, he made it explicit. "As the second millennium of Christianity draws
to a close," he wrote, "the Church should become more fully conscious of the
sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they .
.. . indulged in ways of thinking and acting that were truly forms of
counterwitness and scandal."
He has practiced what he preached. In 1998, one scholar counted 94 occasions
on which John Paul had confessed the sins and failings of Christians, in
matters ranging from the treatment of women to the treatment of Galileo.
Since then, he has pushed the total well into triple digits.
The pope's plea for forgiveness does not, needless to say, undo the crimes
committed in the name of the church. The Jews and Muslims slaughtered during
the Crusades, the innocents burned at the stake during the Inquisition, the
massacre of French Protestants on St. Bartholomew's Day and in the Wars of
Religion, the forced conversion of non-Christians -- the agony of the
victims is not lessened retroactively by John Paul's prayers. Neither is the
guilt of their tormentors. "What's done is done," Lance Morrow writes at
Time.com. "The ashes of heretics burned centuries ago are cold indeed."
In any case, genuine forgiveness can be granted only by the one who was
sinned against. The Talmud teaches that God does not forgive the sins we
commit against others unless we seek their pardon first. That is why murder
is literally unforgivable: How can a dead man absolve his killer?
All this the pope knew, of course. Just as he knew that no confession of the
church's sins would be sufficient for the church's critics. Sure enough,
scarcely were the prayers uttered last Sunday than the reproaches began.
Some of these reproaches were the standard PC litany. "The pope's apology
for discrimination against women is welcome but difficult to square with his
continued opposition to abortion and birth control, and to women in the
priesthood," editorialized The New York Times. "Regrettably, he made no
mention of discrimination against homosexuals." The pope, in other words,
should have apologized for being Catholic.
Other criticisms are not so easy to evade. Why did the pope, many asked,
make no mention of the Holocaust? The stony silence of Pius XII, who spoke
not a public word in defense of the Jews as millions were shipped to the
death camps, was a woeful moral failing. Perhaps the explanation has to do
with timing. Next week John Paul will visit Yad Vashem, the Israeli
Holocaust memorial; that will be the place for him to talk about the
reticence of the church during the blackest moment in Western history.
In the end, however, no amount of second-guessing can diminish what this
pope has done. For centuries the church has claimed to be infallible in
matters of morals. For centuries the church denied responsibility for the
brutality and slaughter committed in its name. Yet now, on the verge of its
third millennium, all that is overthrown. A staunchly conservative pope has
done something revolutionary. John Paul "has struck a blow at the forces of
demonization within religion," says Richard Landes, a medieval historian at
Boston University, "and he has begun with his own religion and his own
institutions."
If the Roman Catholic church -- the most powerful, hierarchical, and
far-flung church in the world -- can confess its gravest failings, what
excuse is there for any religion -- for any institution -- not to do
likewise?
The pope's confession is a moral event of seismic proportions. The 21st
century will be shaped by its aftershocks.
(:cit)
Ciao - e condoglianze ancora.
