Passover began this past Monday evening with the sad and disturbing news coming to us from Kansas City of the violent rampage that took place at the Jewish Community Center ending in the death of three innocent people. As of the writing of this column it was believed that the madman who perpetrated this unspeakable crime was inspired by the hate in his heart for Jews as the killings took place at the Jewish Community Center and the Village Shalom assisted living facility in Overland Park, Kan. The suspect reportedly shouted “Heil Hitler” at reporters as he was arrested. All this mayhem took place the day before Passover and a week before Easter and the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s birthday in the past has been the motivation of other tragic acts such as the violence at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Two of the shooting victims were a 14-year old boy and his grandfather who attended the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. During the Church of the Resurrection’s service broadcast online last Sunday, Pastor Adam Hamilton prayed for “your little ones who’ve been hurt today” and for the loved ones of those who didn’t survive, saying “they’re walking with you today in this very hour in paradise.” He said he had been talking with the victims’ family in the hours after the shooting and they asked him to go through with the Palm Sunday service.
The day of the shootings Karen Aroesty, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) St. Louis Regional director, said, “The attacks on the Jewish community centers in Overland Park are a cowardly, unspeakable and heinous act of violence.” She added, “While it is too early to label these shootings as a hate crime, the fact that two Jewish institutions were targeted by the same individual just prior to the start of the Passover holiday is deeply troubling and certainly gives pause. We have reached out to the local, state and federal law enforcement and stand willing and able to offer guidance and assistance to the community if this incident turns out to have been motivated by anti-Semitism.” The shooting comes only weeks after the ADL released a report describing an increase in physical assaults against Jews despite an overall 19 percent decrease of anti-Semitism incidents in the United States. In its annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents, the ADL reported that there were 751 incidents in 41 states and Washington D.C., among the lowest number since 1979, when the ADL began collecting data.
Just last week Pope Francis extended his greetings to all Jews for Passover. He asked for prayers for his upcoming trip to the Holy Land. The pope said he wanted to offer his “best wishes for peace” to Rome’s chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni and the city’s Jewish community. “May the memory of liberation from oppression by the powerful hand of the Lord inspire thoughts of mercy, reconciliation and fraternal closeness to all those who suffer under new forms of slavery,” Pope Francis said in the message, which was printed on the Rome Jewish community’s Moked website. “Turning my thoughts to Jerusalem, which I will have the joy of visiting in late May,” the pope said and then asked the Jewish community “to accompany me with your prayers.” The Moked website said that Rabbi Di Segni would respond to the pope’s message with one from the Jewish community before Pope Francis’ celebration of Easter.
Just a week after Easter, Pope Francis is scheduled to declare two of his predecessors, Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II, saints of the church. Blessed John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council, which formally set a new tone for the Catholic Church’s view of other religions and other believers. These two popes have left a lasting mark on the way that the Catholic Church understands and reaches out to separated Christians and other religious communities. Both men were profoundly influenced by what occurred during the Second World War. The impact that each of these popes had on Jewish-Catholic relations is so strong, said Rabbi David Rosen, director of interreligious relations for the American Jewish Committee, that “in Jewish eyes, there is a total logic to these two being canonized together; in fact, many Jews probably think it’s because of the Jews that they’re being canonized together.”
I pray that all my Jewish friends enjoy their Passover gatherings and my fellow Christians have a blessed Easter.
Father Joseph D. Wallace is coordinator, Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, Diocese of Camden.
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