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Next 13 May, the
Israeli Parliament (Knesset) will pay an unprecedented tribute to Pope
John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, in recognition of his
humanitarian activities during the Holocaust and of his contribution to
the promotion of the interreligious dialogue.
In the 1940s, while
serving as Apostolic Delegate in Istanbul, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
helped save the lives of thousands of European Jews persecuted by the
Nazis. Later, during his tenure as Pope John XXIII, he was the great
promoter of a new climate of dialogue, respect and reconciliation,
through the declaration of the document Nostra Aetate, a declaration that
opened the door to the historic Second Vatican Council. Roncalli was also
responsible for removing he word "perfidious" from the prayer
for the conversion of the Jews usually read during the Good Friday
liturgy.
The event at the
Knesset, under the auspices of its Speaker, Mr. Yuli Edelstein, Speaker
of the Knesset will be attended bymembers of the Raoul Wallenberg
Foundation, political, scholar an religious figures.
The tribute will
begin at 11:30 with a special meeting of the Education Committee, chaired
by Amram Mitzna.
Later, members of
the Wallenberg Foundation, along with other personalities will be
received by Mr. Edelstein, at his office.
At 16:30, several
members of Parliament will pronounce short speeches to evoke the figure
and deeds of Pope John XXIII. Among the speakers will be Tzachi Hanegbi,
Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Cardinal Loris
Capovilla, personal secretary of Pope John XXIII, sent a letter of
support to Mr. Edelstein through the Wallenberg Foundation. In 2013
Capovilla received the Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Medal and he is a
founder member of the Angelo Roncalli Committee, presented in 2000 at the
Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.
Besides issuing
stamps in his honor and the identification of public spaces with his
name, the Wallenberg Foundation published a voluminous scientific dossier
supporting the application for recognition of Roncalli as "Righteous
Among the Nations." The document can be reached by clickin on the
link below.
Moreover, in 2003
the Wallenberg Foundation presented a commemorative Postal Card of Angelo
Roncalli at the Apostolic Nunciature in Buenos Aires.
Two years later, in
2005, the Wallenberg Foundation invited Cardinal Walter Kasper, former
President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and of
the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, to bless the
kindergarten room "Angelo Roncalli" in Argentina.
Click on the image and read about the Centennial Activities
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