A book by Simon Wiesenthal, may he rest in peace, told about a confession with no absolution: as a concentration camp prisoner, he was called to the deathbed of a Nazi who, apparently repentant, admitted his crimes and sins against the Jewish people. The story highlights the differing approaches Judaism and Christianity give to the conflict of justice and forgiveness.
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LIke many others, I’ve long admired Mr. Wiesenthal’s work and mission. His death comes at the end of a long and fruitful life of service. Alev ha Shalom — may he rest in peace.
While I am deeply sympthetic to all Halocaust victims, what I am a bit tired of is those like Mr Wiesenthal who continue to bash Pope Pius XII and the church “for not doing enough”. When will some Jewish leader come out and say enough is enough, while no matter how Vatican II and Nostre Aetete spell it, it were the Pharisies who handed our Lord over to death, and God, once his chosen people, punsihed them in the worst way by the destruction of their temple in 70AD after years of Jewish persecution of “Jesus Jews” which continued for the next 3 centuries and of course St Stephen as the first martyr who was stoned by a crowd of Angry Jews outside the city gates for refusing to denounce Our Lord.
Pray for Mr Wisenthal, but I would have been a bit more sympthetic if he would have been as concerned for the other 6 million non-Jews who died in the camps as he was for the 6 million Jews
God rest his soul