Monday, May 26, 2014

Saint Pius X and Theodore Herzl -- Gesture of Apology by Pope Francis?


(Jerusalem), the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayomand internet radio station Arutz Sheva reported a few days ago on the Pope's visit to the Holy Land, the Catholic Church leader's intention to make a "gesture of apology" to the founder of Zionism, because of the "injustice" that Theodor Herzl had received from St. Pius X.. But what did St. Pius X did to the Zionist leader? Theodor Herzl himself reported.
Israel Hayom reported on May 23. "Next Sunday, Pope Francis comes to Israel, where he intends to make a historic gesture of apology for an injustice that was committed 110 years ago by the Vatican.

In 1904  the Zionist leader Theodor Herzl visited the Vatican to ask the Pope Pius X, to assist in the establishment of the modern Jewish state of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish nation. But Pius refused."

The Visit to Herzl's Grave

Now Francis plans on visiting Herzl Mountain to visit Herzl's grave    to lay a floral wreath on his grave stone as a sign of apology. 
"Should this be the reason for the visit of Herzl's grave, and not an intended by the Israeli government for state as a guest obstacle course, which one could hardly escape from diplomatic considerations, that would be serious,"  wrote the Catholic site Pagina Catolica of Argentina. "On the one hand Pope Francis can not ignore that Zionism is not the identical to Judaism, but represents a particular political nationalist direction, and that this Zionism has caused much suffering among Christians and still causes it. Secondly, such a gesture could be interpreted as distancing and condemning of Pope Pius X, even if this is not the intention of Francis," said Pagina Catolica .
"To create balance in a balancing act is difficult. Playing with compensations can be dangerous in the political ground," said the Catholic site. It seems difficult to imagine that such a gesture would not have been criticized on the Palestinian and Muslim side. As had been already criticized by the Jewish side, the papal commitment to two states in Bethlehem, his prayer at the separation wall and the call for a "just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict" in Jordan. Is the visit to Herzl's tomb "as compensation" for these statements, gestures and demands?
Israel Hayom reported that Pope friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka, who visited with the Pope and the Muslim Omar Abboud Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper described the triad as "Holy Trinity", was announced a few months ago  as a "definitive gesture for Israel."

Theodor Herzl's Report on the Meeting with Pope Pius X in 1904

On the 1st of July 1956 in the journal La Terre Retrovée a text of Theodor Herzl was published about his meeting with Pope Pius X on January 26, 1904:
Yesterday I was with the Pope. The route was already familiar since I had traversed it with Lippay several times. Past the Swiss lackeys, who looked like clerics, and clerics who looked like lackeys, the Papal officers and chamberlains.


I arrived 10 minutes ahead of time and didn't even have to wait. I was conducted through numerous small reception rooms to the Pope. He received me standing and held out his hand, which I did not kiss. Lippay had told me I had to do it, but I didn't. I believe that I incurred his displeasure by this, for everyone who visits him kneels down and at least kisses his hand.

This hand kiss had caused me a lot of worry. I was quite glad when it was finally out of the way. He seated himself in an armchair, a throne for minor occasions. Then he invited me to sit down right next to him and smiled in friendly anticipation. 

I began: "Ringrazio Vostra Santità per il favore di m'aver accordato quest'udienza" [I thank Your Holiness for the favor of according me this audience]." "È un piacere [It is a pleasure]," he said with kindly deprecation. I apologized for my miserable Italian, but he said: "No, parla molto bene, signor Commendatore [No, Commander, you speak very well]." For I had put on for the first time—on Lippay's advice—my Mejidiye ribbon.

Consequently the Pope always addressed me as Commendatore. He is a good, coarse-grained village priest, to whom Christianity has remained a living thing even in the Vatican. I briefly placed my request before him. He, however, possibly annoyed by my refusal to kiss his hand, answered sternly and resolutely: "Noi non possiamo favorire questo movimento. Non potremo impedire gli Ebrei di andare a Gerusalemme—ma favorire non possiamo mai. La terra di Gerusalemme se non era sempre santa, è santificata per la vita di Jesu Christo (he did not pronounce it Gesu, but Yesu, in the Venetian fashion). Io come capo della chiesa non posso dirle altra cosa. Gli Ebrei non hanno riconosciuto nostro Signore, perciò non possiamo riconoscere il popolo ebreo [We cannot give approval to this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot tell you anything different. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people]." 

Hence the conflict between Rome, represented by him, and Jerusalem, represented by me, was once again opened up. At the outset, to be sure, I tried to be conciliatory. I recited my little piece about extraterritorialization, res sacrae extra commercium [holy places removed from business]. It didn't make much of an impression. 

Gerusalemme, he said, must not get into the hands of the Jews. "And its present status, Holy Father?" 

 "I know, it is not pleasant to see the Turks in possession of our Holy Places. We simply have to put up with that. But to support the Jews in the acquisition of the Holy Places, that we cannot do." I said that our point of departure had been solely the distress of the Jews and that we desired to avoid the religious issues. "Yes, but we, and I as the head of the Church, cannot do this. There are two possibilities. Either the Jews will cling to their faith and continue to await the Messiah who, for us, has already appeared. In that case they will be denying the divinity of Jesus and we cannot help them. Or else they will go there without any religion, and then we can be even less favorable to them. 

"The Jewish religion was the foundation of our own; but it was superseded by the teachings of Christ, and we cannot concede it any further validity. The Jews, who ought to have been the first to acknowledge Jesus Christ, have not done so to this day." It was on the tip of my tongue to say, "That's what happens in every family. No one believes in his own relatives." But I said instead: "Terror and persecution may not have been the right means for enlightening the Jews." 

 But he rejoined, and this time he was magnificent in his simplicity: 

 "Our Lord came without power. Era povero [He was poor]. He came in pace [in peace]. He persecuted no one. He was persecuted. He was abbandonato [forsaken] even by his apostles. Only later did he grow in stature. It took three centuries for the Church to evolve. The Jews therefore had time to acknowledge his divinity without any pressure. But they haven't done so to this day." 

 "But, Holy Father, the Jews are in terrible straits. I don't know if Your Holiness is acquainted with the full extent of this sad situation. We need a land for these persecuted people." 

 "Does it have to be Gerusalemme?"

 "We are not asking for Jerusalem, but for Palestine—only the secular land." 

 "We cannot be in favor of it."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Infovaticana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...

Link to AJJC which is the source for the translation of Herzl's account of his meeting with St Pius X.
AMGD

15 comments:

LeonG said...

Not a gesture but a betrayal.

Charles F Byrne said...

Oh to have a pope like this today! St Pius X pray for us, that the love of Christ may once more be put before all politics.

Anonymous said...

This appears as a political trip, like most things the Pope does - not religious, not evangelising the world as leader of Christ's Holy Church on Earth.

Tom said...

If it were only this pope. But it is not; it is this pope, the recent popes before him, and most if not all of the bishops of today who have embraced the false teachings of the Modernist Council.

And although it's difficult to fathom, virtually every one of these popes and prelates began their public spiritual life as holy men seeking to serve Jesus Christ and his Church for the single purpose of leading all mankind to salvation. Yet, look at them today. They are little more than tools that are being used to lead souls astray.

Still, we must all pray for them multiple times a day, as their very souls are in terrible danger.

Anonymous said...

Saint Pius X refused to assist in the creation of a Modern Jewish state because it is a SECULAR, JEWISH state.

If you were a man who believed that Jesus Christ is God and King, would you assist in the creation of a state where He is not a King, and is populated by a people who would not recognize Jesus as God?

Sadly, I think many people believe the lie that Jesus was "Just a moral teacher, nothing more, nothing less." Which is why Jesus does not form a central part in peoples' lives, and therefore does not play any part in their secular governments and everything else that flows from the putrid fountain of secularism.

The notion that Christ is not King nor God is a lie, and I don't care how many hurt feelings this truth incurs; yes, we WILL shove down our beliefs into other peoples' throats much like medicine is shoved down peoples' throats by doctors who know what is good for the patient.

CJ said...

Bingo! Agreed on every word! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Don't really know. Hopefully the Pope's intent is to bring about the conversion of the Jews and others. What we can do is pray for the Pope. Suggest the following:Lord Jesus, please grant to our Holy Father the Pope the grace to preserve the truths of your teachings amidst a mindset demanding compliance to an ever changing perception of righteousness. May Your protection guide our Holy Father in his position of leadership which is not that of worldly dictatorship, power or popularity, but shepherd of a kingdom not confined to a particular time or space, as protector of the dogma of Faith which You entrusted to Peter and his successors. Grant him protection over the powers of darkness and from enemies both within and outside the Church, so the Church’s unmovable commitment to its basic teaching will remain the beacon by which our civilization can continue to orient itself in relation to the Truth. Then offer 5 Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be’s in honor of the 5 wounds of Christ for the Holy Father.

James said...

"Israel Hayom reported on May 23. "Next Sunday, Pope Francis comes to Israel, where he intends to make a historic gesture of apology for an injustice that was committed 110 years ago by the Vatican."

## But there was no injustice. Zionism is a secular ideology - it became acceptable to Jews only because of what they had been through in WW2. Catholics, OTOH, are subjects of Christ the King; as are all Jews, if they did but know it, since the Gospel arose from them, first of all mankind.

""On the one hand Pope Francis can not ignore that Zionism is not the identical to Judaism, but represents a particular political nationalist direction, and that this Zionism has caused much suffering among Christians and still causes it. Secondly, such a gesture could be interpreted as distancing and condemning of Pope Pius X, even if this is not the intention of Francis," said Pagina Catolica ."

## That would make a Papal gesture dangerously ambiguous. If it is understood as an apology, even though not intended as one, this sort of gesture, however well-meant, is the kind of thing that has great power to cause immense ill-feeling, once it is explained that what the Pope means, is not what the Jews thought he meant. When "Dominus Jesus" was published,that was just that kind of disappointment, because the favourable words for Protestant religious bodies had led many Protestants to suppose that the Church had unsaid or forsworn its dogmatic teaching regarding its uniqueness as the Church.

St Pius X did not - quite - live in a world in which the actions of public figures could be endlessly described & analysed and misunderstood. The present Pope does. His public actions are recorded in countless news sources, are liable to to be endlessly garbled, and there is every possibility that Catholics will be teased and bothered with questions arising from what he does. YouTube alone is sufficient to prove this a hundred times over. He needs to be exceedingly circumspect about what he does - because we end up having to account for what he does, and those who require an account from us are very often far from friendly to Catholicism.

St Pius X, pray for him.

Anonymous said...

You can pray all you want but when the Pope visits Jerusalem and in the presence of Jewish rabbis, deliberately conceals from view the crucifix he is wearing then you just know that a lack of real Christian conviction exists in this person elected as the vicar of Christ.

Anonymous said...

I fail to see any point at all in praying for Pope Francis.
He is already prayed for daily in every mass celebrated throughout the catholic world.
It is having little effect as Pope Francis bludgeons down many traditional aspect,s of catholicism in a self hating guilt laden manner.
Sadly it seems to me that Pope Frances personal struggle with catholic truths becomes daily more public as he now unleashes his crusade against a celibate priesthood.

Tancred said...

Presumption.

Unknown said...

TO MARY, ARK OF THE NEW COVENANT

O Mary, Daughter of Zion
Mother of Judah's Lion
bring us, children of Your Tribe,
to Your Son, God's Divine Scribe

Though being the chosen people
we act as dumbed down sheeple
if we keep rejecting Him
our future looks extremely grim

Some of us accepted the Messiah
after prompts by Jeremiah
but most descendants of Judea
live as in the times of Hosea

O Virgin of Israel
bring the ones seduced by Samael
to Jeshuah Savior and Son of God
even "ceaselessly" us do prod.

Rita Biesemans, July 16 2013
Our Lady of the Mount Carmel lead us up the Mountain

Unknown said...

please avoid the word "Holy" Father, he rather is the "false" prophet, I heard too much and saw too much in my life in order not to recognize the days we are living in. In the early 1950's, being in a "nun run" Catholic boarding school for Greek-Latin" Humanities we had our yearly retreat given by Werenfried von Straten,: the Spekpater = the bacon Priest (look him up on Wikipedia). He told us that on the Krim, Russia (Crimea) priests were being formed and instructed to infiltrate and destroy the Catholic Church. His words had such an impact on me that they are imprinted in my brain. This made me very careful and watchful. In 1959 already the Holy Mass
changed in our school : we had to actively participate and do things
The sacredness of the Holy Mass as we knew it got broken !!! Very sad. 20 years ago I called the diocese in Phoenix AZ to ask if there was not a single Church to be found where one could have a Holy Mass without a Show performed by lay people. The answer I got was : "you go to church to socialize not to meditate" !!!!!!!!! I answered : "If I want to socialize I'll go to a bar".
Christ is suffering more than ever, please Lord come and cleanse this perverted earth. Riki

Allie0602 said...

Herzel had no business asking a pope to give him the go-ahead to start Jewish State in Palestine. He should have gone and asked the head of THE TURKS, who ruled the darned place.

Look at what we're stuck with in 2014. Isreal and Palestine about to blow each other up....a chronic, festering situation. in 1993 Esquire magazine interviewd Osama bin Laden, who said he was so ticked off at the United States that he had to do something to teach the Americans about siding with Isreal. And now we have ISIS.

Old Pius X was a prophet. He could smell TROUBLE a century away.

Anonymous said...

Actually,Herzl did ask the Turkish Sultan's approval for the re-establishment of the Jewish state.