Ashdod, one of the oldest cities in the world, and currently Israel’s largest port, will dedicate one of its streets to Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII (1881-1963), in recognition of his work to save a large number of Jews during World War II.

The fifth largest city in Israel will also offer this recognition to another great rescuer of those persecuted by the Holocaust, Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1947), a Swedish diplomat recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations,” since his work saved the lives of over one hundred thousand Jews.

The initiative of dedicating a street in the city to the Pope and to the Swedish philanthropist was promoted by Boris Giterman, acting mayor of Ashdod, in response to a request from the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, which is chaired by Eduardo Eurkenian and was founded by Baruch Tenembaum.

In an interview with Aleteia, Giterman explains how and why he decided to propose this recognition of the actions of Pope John XXIII, who began a new era of relations between Jews and Catholics when he convened the Second Vatican Council.

Why have you presented this proposal, which is so significant for Jewish-Christian relations?

My decisions generally have an emotional basis, since I am a human being. The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s proposal arrived just when Israel was celebrating the Holocaust Remembrance Day, so of course it moved me very deeply. An event in remembrance of the Holocaust was being held in the city of Ashdod on that same day, and I personally arrived with the proposal, which I presented to the city. The Holocaust always moves me deeply. I often visit Yad Vashem, the official Israeli memorial to victims of the Holocaust. In particular I am moved by the example of the rescuers who risked their lives to save the victims of the Holocaust. It is something that must be remembered and taught to the younger generations. The city of Ashdod is very involved in the task of education, especially as regards teaching students about the Holocaust. It is also involved in giving recognition to the rescuers. The city has many immigrants from the former Soviet Union and for this reason, a book was published in Russian about the Holocaust survivors from the Soviet Union. These were “adult children,” since they are people who experienced the Holocaust at a very young age, but the terrible situation made them adults.

What message does this Israeli city want to give to the world by honoring John XXIII in this way?

The city of Ashdod is made up of ninety communities from different places of origin, and the message of the mayor of the city of Ashdod is one of peace, tolerance, brotherhood and respect between all the communities. Therefore it is very important to honor the memory of those who saved Holocaust victims. Here in Ashdod, we realize that each community must preserve its own cultural heritage and respect it. With this gesture, we are spreading a message of love, hope, and peace. We hope other cities will also adopt it. In Ashdod, we say we hope we will always love our neighbor.

In Rome, it will most likely cause great satisfaction to see that a city in Israel has decided to honor the memory of Pope John XXIII. No doubt it will greatly please Pope Francis, who has shown a great closeness to the Jewish people during his ministry as archbishop in Argentina and now as bishop of Rome.

It would certainly be a great honor to visit the Vatican for this reason. To the extent of its ability, the city of Ashdod, contributes to Israel’s diplomatic relations with the world. We have agreements with sister cities in the former Soviet Union. Now we will visit Moscow and other smaller cities. For me it will be a great honor to do everything I can to help diplomatic relations and fellowship relations in the Jewish through the State of Israel, and with the Catholic world through the Vatican.

Published in the magazine New Life (Southern Cone) 9 (2013) 33.35, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Carlos Maria Galli
Doctor of Theology

On March 13, 2013, Francis was elected Bishop of Rome. He came from the end of the world. On June 3, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope John XXIII, The Good Pope, will be marked. Right before his death, on April 11, 1963, on his last Holy Thursday, he read the Encyclical Pacem in Terris (PT). The name of the Encyclical itself shows that its message is an echo of the Good News of Christmas: “Glory to God in heaven and on earth peace to men” (Lk 2:14). Kindness, love, mercy, gentleness, and peace are words that express the Gospel and unite the two pontiffs. Both show the humanity of our gracious God. On October 11, in the inaugural speech at Vatican II, John XXIII called for the use of the medicine of mercy. On March 17, 2013, in his first Angelus, Francis called for the discovery of the gentle nature of God. In these two centuries, marked by so much hatred and violence, the pontiffs urge the Church to exhibit a heart full of kindness, to be the Church of Charity.

John and Francis

The two pontiffs have many common characteristics: they were elected at age seventy-six, they combine an approachable personality with firm convictions  and decisions, and they come from modest families. John was born in Sotto il Monte, a rural town in Bergamo, Italy, in the late nineteenth century, while Francisco descends from middle class, Italian-born immigrants who emigrated to Argentina in the thirties. Despite different paths, both were bishops who were close to their people: Angelo Roncalli in Venice (1953-1958), Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires (1998-2013). Their names reflect their intentions. Angelo took the name of John the Baptist, the precursor, and of John the Evangelist, the disciple; Jorge decided to call himself Francisco for the poor of Assisi, one of the men who most resembles Christ. John XXIII was a devotee of Saint Francis and secular Franciscans. With their names, they try to get closer to Blessed Jesus, as John used to call him.

Both began their ministry by responding to the word of the Lord: “I was in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:36). On Christmas of 1958, John XXIII visited a Roman prison; on his last Holy Thursday, Francis washed the feet of boys and girls in a juvenile reformatory. In a radio message on September 11, 1962, a month before the Council, John XXIII said that the Church in underdeveloped countries should embody “the Church of the poor”. On March 20, before the international press, Francis advocated for “a poor church and for the poor.”

The two have led an austere life that validates their apostolic authority. Poverty, humility, austerity, and service to the poor are all eloquent signs of ecclesiastic credibility. The two popes express universal brotherhood, as well as a call to return to the heart of the Gospel and to promote the reform of the Church. John XXIII was the prophet who called for and initiated the Second Vatican Council; Francis is a Pope who pursues reconciliation and he leads the new evangelization by testimony, service and dialogue. The two draw hopeful crowds and open the Church to the future. Each one, from his historical experiences, encourages ecumenical commitment for unity among Christians and interreligious dialogue with Judaism and Islam. From the papal headquarters at St. Peter and with different challenges, they both assume the cause for peace.

John never came to our country and the current generations do not know him. Francis emerged from Argentina, and everyone is currently discovering him. Paul VI was the first Pope to set foot on North (1965) and South America (1968). John Paul II visited us during the War of the Malvinas, (Falklands, 1982); he led us to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Chile (1984), and he initiated the meetings of Assisi for peace (1986). He again visited us in 1987; he was opposed to all wars, and in 2002 he sent the Decalogue of Assisi for Peace to the Heads of State.  All twentieth century popes worked for peace, as they followed the path paved by Benedict XV during the First World War. For thirty years, Roncalli was the papal representative in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and France. He had a lively sense of the unity of the human family and a great respect for cultural differences. That was one of the roots of his broad ecumenical spirit. Many witnessed his efforts to save Jewish brothers from the Holocaust. Ever since the future John XXIII continued to contribute to Jewish-Christian dialogue.

His Pontificate (1958-1963) evolved in the middle of the Cold War, which generated heated conflicts in the South. John XXIII sought détente between the superpowers led by J. F. Kennedy and N. Khrushchev. Before the Cuban missile crisis, he called for negotiations to try to avoid atomic warfare. He was convinced that in the nuclear age any war is unjust. For his efforts he received the prestigious Balzan Prize for Peace. Don Loris Capovilla was his secretary from 1953 to 1963. Today he is ninety-seven years old. In November he told me that the Pacem in Terris was originated in October of 1962 when they were facing the Cuban crisis. The text was developed confidentially with the help of Pietro Pavan the theologian. It was the first document addressed not only to Catholics but to “all men of good will.” Hence he sent it to all Heads of State and to UN Secretary General U. Thant. Roncalli had confidence in the ability of reason and the goodwill that God placed in every human being. In its five parts, the Encyclical states that the dignity of the human person is the source of the rights and responsibilities that regulate coexistence (8-34) and that it determines the relations between the citizens and public authorities (35-66) while analyzing the constitution of the democratic and republican State (67-79). In its most innovative section, it provides the principles that guide the relations between the States (80-162), and reflects on peace as a gift of God and a human responsibility (163-172).

The national and international community

John XXIII contributed to the new developments on the subject of national society in the social doctrine of the Church. He postulated that human dignity is the foundation of a fair coexistence; the assumption of modern logic of human rights without its individualistic stamp is meaningless; that there are a variety of rights from the religious freedom to family income; that there must exist a balance between rights and duties; that it is important to found a responsible citizenry; that there exists the natural right to the freedom of movement of all migrants; there is a need to analyze the three important indicators of this time: the raising prominence of women in society, the workers’ rights and the emancipation of all nations; the choice of a democratic political system and the legitimacy of representative authority; the balance between the powers of the three magistrates in a republican system; the need for transparency and control of government’s acts.

His doctrine regarding the international community anticipated considerations of the global era: the recognition of individuals  as subjects of mutual rights and duties; equality between countries without dominant authorities; the right to cultural identity of majorities and minorities; the free trade of goods, services and money according to fair rules; a criticism of the arms race as deterrence strategy through balance of terror (in 1963!), the impracticality of war in the atomic age and the questioning of the just war theory; the standards of creating global institutions with some authority in favor of peace; an active international solidarity that Paul VI developed in the Populorum Progressio of 1967.

The four pillars of peace

The universal ethical core of his doctrine asserts that social peace – national and international – is built on four pillars: truth, freedom, justice, and love. Coexistence “is founded in truth, it should be practiced according to the precepts of justice, and it requires to be invigorated and accompanied by mutual love, while fully respecting freedom” (PT 37). The relations between states “should be regulated by the rules of truth, justice, active solidarity and liberty” (PT 80); these pillars govern the ties between people, between the citizens and the states, and between individuals, families, intermediate communities, individual states and the world community (PT 163). This doctrine has been taught by subsequent Popes, and Benedict XVI recalled it last January 1.

John XXIII made ​another great contribution to political dialogue by distinguishing historical movements and their differences in comparison to original philosophical theories. Reasonable discernment in each circumstance can inspire political agreements between different parties for the common good. He expressed this ideological belief at the time when Aldo Moro Christian Democrats and the

Socialist Party started coexisting in Italy. So too this doctrine can inspire people of good will in our Argentina.

For John XXIII, public authorities are primarily responsible for establishing the foundations of peace. But all the citizens must engage with responsibility for the cause of social peace, which builds up with truth, freedom, justice and love.

Rebuilding social friendship

This peace becomes the core of social friendship, and it is one of the tenets of the commongood.

* Peace is the work of truth and freedom. Truth requires reliable data on poverty and inflation, freedom of information without state or private lies, transparency of state action and funds at the national, provincial and municipal levels, dialogue between the official party and the opposition to solve problems affecting the citizens, recognition of the fact that there was a violation of human rights in the past and that currently there remains violations of the rights of the poorest, a system of political parties that do not become factions, and respect for individual rights before hegemonic states.
* Peace is the fruit of justice and love. It requires a change in the consumerist and individual attitude that encourages private consumption but does not provide necessary public goods. It requires cutting the knots of corruption: in 1995, at the first reelection, I wrote the article Corruption as a Social Sin, demonstrating that corruption always harms the lives of the poor. It involves dropping the language of the military and any confrontation, because the opponents are not enemies. Peace encourages dialogue and collaboration among parties in order to shape state policies based on differences. Since 1973, the philosopher Paul Ricoeur denounced both false reconciliations and conflictive ideologies, in a text entitled The Conflict, Sign of Contradiction or Unity? that is so popular nowadays. This type of ideology reduces political action to a struggle to defeat the enemy by removing him symbolically. Such a policy of death is the death of politics.

From John to Francis

Peace demands respect for the truth, the truth of the past and of the present, free dialogue among the citizenship, social justice and judicial justice, love to ensure more love among us, as the solidarity shown by the people who helped others who were affected by the big flood in Buenos Aires and the surroundings. The pillars of peace are the recognition of truth, the promotion of freedom, the building of justice, and living with love.

John XXIII stated these foundations for peace, included them in the doctrine and passed away in Rome in 1963. A year later, in 1964, a young Jesuit in Buenos Aires, Jorge, began his career as a professor of literature at the College of the Immaculate Conception in Santa Fe, Argentina. Surely, in one of his classes, he must have quoted Martin Fierro, our transcendent national poem, which says ‘the brothers are united’. In 2002, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he wrote a pastoral letter to educators based on that poem, using it as a symbol of a culture of meeting and a school of civic virtues. Since March 13, 2013 Jorge is called Francesco (Francis). He is the first Pope to take the name of the Saint of Peace.

Translation: IRWF

On the 29th of April there was in Jerusalem a conference on the figure of Pope Roncalli. Gariwo interviewed Danny Rainer, of IRWF Jerusalem, about the results of this conference and the candidacy of John XXIII as a Righteous among the Nations.

Could you tell me something about this conference, about the reaction after it?

The conference on the figure of Pope Angelo Roncalli took place on the 29th of April. There were some important people from the Vatican, scholars from universities, people from different NGOs. The conference was dedicated to Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII, and to his action during and before his papacy, for example what he did when he was Apostolic Delegate in Istanbul and in Paris. This conference commemorates the 50th anniversary of his passing – he was born in 1963 – and had different panels: the first one dealt with Roncalli and the Shoah, and it analyzed the role of Roncalli in order to save Jews, the second one was chaired by Baruch Tenembaum – from IRWF – and was about Roncalli and the Establishment of the State of Israel; the third section dealt with Nostra Aetate and the Vatican Council II; and the fourth one was about the legacy of Roncalli.

There were many attendance from the Vatican, there was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal and the Custodian of the Holy Land Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

The conference was very interesting, had a lot of echoes because there were many journalists from different newspapers and Mr Tenembaum was interviewed by them. During the conference we also handed over the Papa Roncalli dossier which we submitted to Yad Vashem in 2001 to promote the candidacy of Pope Roncalli as Righteous among the Nations.

Did you get any reply from Yad Vashem about this candidacy?

There was not any official reply from Yad Vashem, but in principle I believe that the opposition stayed in the fact that, according to Yad Vashem, Roncalli did not go against his superior, and this is one of the criteria that Yad Vashem applies when considering the candidacy of diplomats. And despite he was a very high profile figure who became pope, there is the issue of how Yad Vashem sees his superior Pius XII. Yad Vashem was very critical about this question. These are some considerations, but at least we didn’t get an official reply from them.

Professor Yehuda Bauer took part as speaker in the first Panel. What did he say in his speech? He talked about Roncalli’s role in the Shoah?

He made a very interesting discourse, but he did not speak about Roncalli. His intervention was about the example of several Catholics who, during the Shoah, saved Jews, and he analyzed the issue of how many Christians rescued Jews.

Instead Dina Porat, Chief historian from Yad Vashem, presented a very structured lecture of what Roncalli did during the Shoah.

Finally, what do you think is the legacy of Pope Roncalli, especially for Catholics-Jewish relation?

I think that Roncalli during his life showed he was a very good friend of the Jewish world. He saved Jews, we have no doubt about that, and he had a very important role when he was nuncio, by helping the Jewish leadership, before the establishment of the State of Israel, to find a way to establish their State. He helped Moshe Sneh – the Jewish Agency representative – to go to the Vatican and try to convince the Pope not to force the Latin American countries to vote against the United Nation partition plan.

Sneh contacted Roncalli and he arranged an audience with the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Tardini, and convinced him that the Vatican should make pressure on the American countries on this issue, and eventually most of the Latin American countries voted in favor of the Resolution about the partition of Palestine. In addiction, we know what he did with Nostra Aetate, the document that removed one sentence that can be offensive – talking about the perfidious Jews – and that came from the traditional blame of “deicide” directed to the Jewish people.

This revolutionary document opened a new era in relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people after centuries of prejudice and persecution.
We have the feeling that his legacy is very important, and that Pope Francesco will follow it, trying to set better relationship between Christians and Jews and between Christians and any other religion.

Dear panelists, ladies and gentlemen of the audience,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here, as the Founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and the International Angelo Roncalli Committee, chairing one of the panels at the International Conference honoring the memory of Pope John XXIII.
Angelo Roncalli was a great friend of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel, as I hope it will transpire from the presentations of the distinguished members of our Panel which will discuss Roncalli’s relationship to the Establishment of the State of Israel.

During the Shoah, Roncalli went out of his way to help as many European Jews as possible. After the war, he played a significant role in paving the way towards the establishment of the Jewish State, and as Pope John XXIII, he made a significant contribution to a closer relationship between Catholics and Jews.

I thank the organizers of this important event, especially Mr. Zaban, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the AJC, Yad Vashem and the Kantor Center for helping us keeping alive the blessed memory of Angelo Roncalli.

In a sense, I feel like closing a circle. Back in 2006, the Wallenberg Foundation held in Berlin, at the Vaterunse Evangelical Church,  an exhibition called “Ein Visum furs Leben’ (Visas for life).  This event was by hosted Pastor Annemarie Werner, leader of the congregation and head of our offices in that city, together with the then Ambassador of Israel in Berlin, Mr. Ilan Mor. On that occasion we presented the Angelo Roncalli awards to three distinguished persons who, during decades, have worked in Germany fostering of the interfaith dialogue.

One of the laureates was Dr. Michael Mertes, the incumbent Resident Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and main host of today’s meaningful gathering.

The Wallenberg Foundation has devoted many efforts to preserve Pope John XXIII’s legacy, through street and school naming campaigns, monuments, busts, and back in 2011, by submitting to Yad Vashem the Roncalli Dossier, a mass of documentary evidences (we have brought some copies here, for your perusal) which support our claim that he should be recognized as Righteous among the Nations.

Recently, one of our latest initiatives was crowned with success as the Municipality of the City of Ashdod (the 5th largest city in Israel) has agreed, in principle, to name a street or a city public site after Angelo Roncalli/Pope John XXIII.

We feel also very encouraged by the recent election of the Supreme Pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio – Pope Francis I.

We know him very well,  as he was one of the first Members of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. In such capacity and as Archbishop of the City of Buenos Aires, he helped us keep alive the legacies of Raoul Wallenberg, Angelo Roncalli and his likes.

Together with Bergoglio’s predecessor, the late Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, the Wallenberg Foundation promoted the erection of a unique Commemorative Mural emplaced at the Buenos Aires Cathedral. This Mural is a showcase that pays tribute to the victims of the Shoah and of the two terrorist attacks perpetrated in the Argentinean capital, back in the decade of the 90’s, against the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish Community Center. As I said, this Memorial is singular in the sense that it is the only Jewish memorial inside a Catholic Church, let alone a Cathedral.

After Quarracino’s death, Monsignor Bergoglio succeeded him and took custody of this precious symbol, encouraging Jews to visit it and above all, fulfilling Quarracino’s last wish to be buried next to this exceptional Mural.

I believe that Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Pope Francis I will follow the magnificent path set by Angelo Roncalli/Pope John XXIII, nurturing a respectful and fraternal dialogue between Christians and Jews.

Concerning our topic, Roncalli and the Establishment of the State of Israel, our distinguished panelists require very little introduction:
Mr. Yair Zaban is  a renowned Israeli politician,  former Member of the Knesset and Minister of Absorption in the governments of Itzhak Rabin Z’l and Shimon Peres. Few people know that as a young person, Mr. Zaban was the personal secretary of Dr. Moshe Sneh, one of the leaders of the Yishuv and someone who knew Roncalli and his involvement in the creation of the State of Israel.

Prof. Uri Bialer is a world-famous Israeli  scholar, Maurice B. Hexter Chair in International  Relations-Middle Eastern Studies, a specialist in the relationship between the Vatican and Israel. He has published a large number of articles and books, including the Cross on the Star of David – The Christian World in Israel’s Foreign Policy 1948-67, which is very relevant to our discussion.

Last but not least, Prof. Paolo Zanini, presently a fellow researcher of the Department of Historical Studies at the State University of Milano. His main academic interests are focused on the relations between the Holy See, Zionism and the Palestine question during the Mandatory Period.

I am sure that the three panelists will enlighten us, each one with his own perspective, shedding light on this riveting aspect of Roncalli’s actions.

Thank you very much!

8:45 – 9:15 Gathering, registration, light refreshments

9:15 – 10:00 Opening Session

Chair: Mr. Yair Tzaban, Former Minister and MK – Opening remarks

Greetings:

Mr. Michael Mertes, State Secretary (ret.), Director Israel Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
H.B. Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Rabbi She’ar Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi Emeritus of Haifa
Ms. Colette Avital, Chairperson, Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel

Recorded greetings from the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres

Screening of excerpt from “I Am Joseph Your Brother”

10:00 – 11:30 Session I : Roncalli and the Shoah

Chair: Prof. Dan Michman, Yad Vashem and Bar Ilan University

Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Dina Porat, Kantor Center, Tel Aviv University; Chief Historian, Yad Vashem

11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break

12:00 – 13:00 Session II: Roncalli and the Establishment of the State of Israel

Chair: Mr. Baruch Tenembaum, The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Mr. Yair Tzaban, Former Minister & MK
Prof. Uri Bialer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Paolo Zanini, University of Milan

13:00 – 14:00 Light lunch

14:00 – 16:00 Session III: John XXIII, Vatican II and Nostra Aetate

Chair: H.E. Cardinal Peter Turkson, Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace, Vatican

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land
Prof. Alberto Melloni, FSCIRE
Ms. Claire Maligot, Paris IV University
Ms. Yisca Harani, Independent scholar, Expert on Christianity and Christian-Jewish relations

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break555

16:30 – 17:30 Session IV : The Legacy of John XXIII for Catholic-Jewish Relations – Europe & the World

Chair: Mr. Oded Wiener, Director-General, Chief Rabbinate of Israel

H.E. Cardinal Kurt Koch, Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jewry, Vatican
Prof. Amos Luzzatto, Venice

17:30 – 18:00 Concluding Presentation

Rabbi Dr. David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious Affairs, AJC

Simultaneous translation Hebrew-English-Hebrew was provided throughout the conference.

Monsignor Capovilla is 97 years old and due to his advanced age he was not able to attend the Roncalli Conference, but saw it fit to greet the organizers and participants of this important event, through a personal letter addressed to Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian and Mr. Baruch Tenembaum, Chairman of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and Founder, respectively.

Read the letter here.

Next June 3, the world will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passing of a remarkable man: Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, better known as Pope John XXIII.

Next June 3, the world will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passing of a remarkable man: Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, better known as Pope John XXIII.

It is a shame the Israeli public is not well aware of him, as he was one of the greatest friends of the Jewish people.

Back in the 1940s, as the apostolic delegate of the Vatican in Istanbul, Cardinal Roncalli spared no efforts to save as many Jews as possible from the Nazi extermination. He went out of his way to help the beleaguered Jews.
Among his deeds was the dispatching of “certificates of immigration” to Palestine via the Vatican’s diplomatic courier. He also overtly intervened in favor of Slovakian and Bulgarian Jews. Had he only done this, we would say “dayenu,” enough.

In February 2011, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, a global-reach NGO I had the honor to found, together with the late US Congressman Tom Lantos, submitted to Yad Vashem a voluminous dossier with evidences of Roncalli’s life-saving feats during the Shoah and with our strong recommendation to have him recognized as Righteous among the Nations. Our request is still pending.

After the war, as papal nuncio in Paris, Cardinal Roncalli made another great contribution to the Jewish people. This was revealed to me independently by the late Moshe Tov, one of the founders of Israel’s diplomacy and much later by Yair Zaban, who needs no introduction.

As a young man, Zaban was the personal secretary of Dr. Moshe Sneh, a prominent leader of the Jewish Yishuv who in 1947 held the senior post of head of the political department of the Jewish Agency in Europe.

It was Sneh who confided to Zaban the kind of help he got from Roncalli. Sneh’s boss, Moshe Shertok (Sharett) was worried about the voting of the Latin American countries in the upcoming UN General Assembly that was about to address the partition plan. He was concerned about the influence of the Vatican on those countries, fearing that the Holy See would guide them to vote against the plan.

Shertok called Dr. Sneh and instructed him to persuade the Vatican not to object the voting preferences of the Latin American countries in which the Vatican wielded a considerable influence.

Eventually, through a good friend, the Jewish priest Alex Glasberg (who in 2004 was recognized as Righteous among the Nations for his rescue actions during the Shoah) put Sneh in touch with Monsignor Roncalli, who in turn arranged for the Jewish leader an audience with the then-secretary of state of the Vatican Cardinal Domenico Tardini. The meeting took place on October 3, 1947, and it turned out that Dr. Sneh was successful.

Most Latin American countries voted in favor of the motion (with the sole abstention of Cuba). Angelo Roncalli was delighted. Had he only done this, we would say “dayenu.”

His role as Pope John XXIII is better known.

He established a respectful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Jews, as set out in the Decretum de Judaeis (“Decree on Jews”), which was drafted for the Second Vatican Council in 1962. The draft openly mentions the “wrongs done to the Jews in the past or in our time. Whoever despises or persecutes this people does injury to the Catholic Church.”

Pope John XXIII went further and in an unprecedented gesture he ordered to erase from the Good Friday Prayer a derogative sentence which portrayed the Jews as “perfidious.”

Had he done only this, we would say “dayenu.”

On April 29, I will be in Jerusalem to participate at the “International Conference – Honoring the memory of Pope John XXIII, the Shoah, the Jews and the State of Israel,” where I will chair the panel which will deal with “Roncalli and the Establishment of the State of Israel.” This fills me with emotion. A few weeks ago, I learned that the Municipality of Ashdod has accepted the Wallenberg Foundation’s proposal to name a street of this important city after Angelo Roncalli. Perhaps Roncalli is starting to get recognition.

Later this year, together with the chairman of the Wallenberg Foundation, Eduardo Eurnekian, we shall fly to Bergamo, Italy to award a specially-coined medal to Monsignor Loris Capovilla, aged 97. Capovilla was the personal secretary of Pope John XXIII and has devoted his whole life to keeping alive the legacy of his beloved boss.

I am also very moved following the election of my fellow countryman, the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the Supreme Pontiff.

Pope Francis is one of the first members of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.

I know him personally. He is a humble man with a great heart.

As successor of the late Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, he became the custodian of the Commemorative Mural emplaced at the Buenos Aires Cathedral, in memory of the victims of the Shoah and of the two terrorist attacks perpetrated in the Argentinean capital, in the ‘90s, against the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish community center. This monument is unprecedented. In fact, it is the only Jewish memorial in a Catholic Cathedral.

Often I ask myself why this mural does not get the attention it really deserves. It has a strong symbolism and relevance, underscored by the victims of the Holocaust, the victims of the AMIA bombing (a tragedy which has resurfaced following the scandal generated by the Memorandum of Understanding between Argentina and Iran), and all this amplified by the fact that the guardian of the mural is an Argentinean who became pope.

I have a sense of comforting deja vu. A strong feeling that Pope Francis will follow the path set by Blessed Pope John XXIII. Both men share the same humility and the same love and respect for human beings, regardless of their background or religious belief.

The foundation I lead, together with our chairman, Eduardo Eurnekian, is not Jewish, but personally, as a Jew, I feel the necessity of being grateful, of recognizing goodness (hakarat hatov), which is one of the pillars of Judaism.

Therefore, we should cherish the blessed memory of Raoul Wallenberg, Angelo Roncalli and all those who stood-up against evil and made a difference.

*The writer is the founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, a global-reach NGO whose mission is to preserve and divulge the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg and other rescuers.

The event, organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, together with the American Jewish Council (Global Jewish Advocacy) – AJC and Yad Vashem, will take place in Jerusalem, on April 29^th, 2013, at the Konrad Adenauer Conference Center, “De Botton Auditorium”.

Mr Yair Zaban, a former Israeli Minister, will chair the whole event. Together with Mr Tenembaum, many distinguished personalities will participate in the conference, including scholars, representatives from the Vatican, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, heads of NGO’s, etc.

The day-long conference will be divided in four Sessions:

Session I – Roncalli and the Shoah, chaired by Prof. Dan Michman.

Session II – Roncalli and the Establishment of the State of Israel, chaired by Mr. Baruch Tenembaum.

Session III – John XXIII, Vatican II and Nostra Aetate, chaired by Cardinal Peter Turkson.

Session IV – The Legacy of John XXIII for Catholic-Jewish Relations – Europe and the World.

In representation of the IRWF, Mr Tenembaum will be accompanied by Pastor Annemarie Werner, head of the Vaterunse Evangelical Church and the IRWF Representative Office in Berlin, Dr. Yoav Tenembaum, Vice-President of the IRWF, Mr. Danny Rainer, head of the IRWF Representative Office in Berlin and Mr. Heroi Landsman, researcher and Ms. Evelyne Noama, office manager of the IRWF Representative office in Jerusalem.

The IRWF has also invited Ms Nieves Farina, Member of the Board of “Casa Argentina en Israel – Tierra Santa”, an interfaith NGO, affiliated with the IRWF and Rabbi Simon Mogilevsky – a distinguished Argentine Rabbi devoted to the interfaith dialogue and longtime member of Casa Argentina.

The IRWF extended a special invitation to Monsignor Loris Capovilla, former secretary of Pope John XXIII. Due to his advanced age, Mgr Capovilla cannot fly from Italy to Jerusalem but a special letter from him to the organizers and attendants of the Roncalli Conference will be read during the event.

The aforementioned dossier, which includes new revelations and evidences, has been recently submitted by the Wallenberg Foundation to Yad Vashem, with our firm recommendation to bestow upon Roncalli the title of Righteous among the Nations.

It is our strong conviction, and we believe that the body of documents will unambiguously prove so, that few people deserve this title as much as Roncalli who went far beyond the line of duty to save the victims of the Shoah.

The Roncalli Dossier