On this article by Cooper and Adlerstein (printed on July 13)John XXIII and John Paul II: Righteous popes Both men stood against Antisemitism in the Catholic Church.
Cooper and Adlerstein failed to recognize the fact that it was Martin Luther who perpetuated Antisemitism in Germany which helped Hitler is his quest to rid the Jews from Germany and the rest of Europe.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper (left) Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein (right)
In 1543 Luther published On the Jews and Their Lies in which he says that the Jews are a “base, whoring people, that is, no people of God, and their boast of lineage, circumcision, and law must be accounted as filth.”[13] They are full of the “devil’s feces … which they wallow in like swine.”[14] The synagogue was a “defiled bride, yes, an incorrigible whore and an evil slut …”[15] He argues that their synagogues and schools be set on fire, their prayer books destroyed, rabbis forbidden to preach, homes razed, and property and money confiscated. They should be shown no mercy or kindness,[16] afforded no legal protection,[17] and these “poisonous envenomed worms” should be drafted into forced labor or expelled for all time.[18] He also seems to advocate their murder, writing “[w]e are at fault in not slaying them”.[19]
True that the church’s teachings reached, the faithful were taught that Jews had no place among decent human beings, that the Jewish people’s covenant with the Almighty was rendered null and void by Christianity, and that Jews were cursed to eternal tribulation for having crucified Jesus. The Church here is only attesting to the fact that Our Lord was of the Hebrew faith and that the Sinful leaders of His own people rejected Him and had Him killed.
This is a far cry of the Slander Martin Luther professed and at a much latter date in 1543 who by the way, is considered a Saint by many.
Joseph B. D. Saraceno
17024 S Western Ave # 8
Gardena, Ca. 90247