Dear Parishioners:
As I write this column, I am preparing to leave for Rome to attend the Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. We usually meet in the United States, but every ten years, we make a pilgrimage to Rome. During our time in Rome, we will meet with various Vatican Officials to discuss the public policy concerns of the U.S. Church and learn more about the Vatican's positions on important moral issues. We will meet with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary of State. We will learn more about the wars in Israel and Ukraine. Also, we will meet with officials of the Dicasteries for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Doctrine of the Faith.
While in Assisi, I will celebrate Masses at the Basilica of St. Mary the Angels in Assisi and the Tomb of St. Francis. In Rome, I will celebrate Masses at St. Peter's Basilica, including a Mass at the tomb of St. Pope John Paul II. I will remember you and your intentions as I offer Holy Mass on pilgrimage. I ask your prayers for our safe travel and return from the pilgrimage.
The war in Israel overshadows the pilgrimage. The horror unleashed upon the Jewish People of Israel by the evil attacks of Hamas terrorists continues to shock and sadden the civilized world. The brutal massacre of innocent men, women, and children, the beheading of babies, the rape of women, and the kidnapping of the elderly and young children are pure evil acts. They must be condemned in no uncertain terms. They result from hatred and anti-Semitism, as Hamas stated purpose is to exterminate the Jewish People. The attack's purpose and its barbaric methods are devoid of moral or legal justification. There is no room for moral ambiguity on this issue.
Resisting such violent terrorism and anti-Semitism is a moral duty of every human person and of the leaders of every government. The United States is home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, with many members living in East Greenwich. I offer my sympathy, solidarity, and support to my Jewish brothers and sisters amid their suffering and sorrow.
I spoke with my friend, Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, at the Hebrew Day School in Providence this week to offer sympathy and prayerful support. We have worked together on various issues at the statehouse over the years. His community is sad and suffering, and the students at his school are scared. He told me that if this can happen again to the Jewish people, it can happen to anyone.
The German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote First They Came during the Nazi regime in Germany. It is as timely for us today as it was then. It reads:
"First, they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me." We must speak out in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters. We must reject and condemn anti-Semitism. Albert Einstein once said: "If I were to remain silent, I would be guilty of complicity."
Too many of our leaders have remained silently complicit or worse. I was sickened to see rallies at the most prestigious universities in our nation where young students glorified and justified the killing of innocents and the kidnapping of civilians. Something is terribly wrong when the supposed enlightened elite of our nation lauds such evil and hatred.
In the Vatican Declaration entitled Nostra Aetate, St Pope Paul VI said: “The Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jewish people and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”
While we must condemn anti-Semitism and violence, my first duty as a priest is prayer. I pray for those suffering from grief, injustice, violence, and war. During my pilgrimage, I will pray fervently for peace and justice, especially in Israel. L’shalom (towards peace)!