https://www.yadvashem.org/events/09-june-2022.html?utm_source=newsletter
Historic Meeting: Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan Meets Pope Francis in
the Vatican
"I felt the weight of responsibility as someone who represents not
only himself and not only the present, but rather the entire Jewish
people throughout its history." Dani Dayan
His Holiness Pope Francis with Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan at the
Vatican
His Holiness Pope Francis with Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan at the Vatican
For more pictures click here
<https://www.yadvashem.org/events/09-june-2022.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Pope#additional_pictures>
09 June 2022
Today,*Yad Vashem Chairman**Dani Dayan*met for a rare private audience
with*His Holiness Pope Francis*in the Vatican. At the meeting, the two
discussed the importance of Holocaust research and remembrance in the
Christian world. This meeting marks the first-ever such encounter: While
the past threePopes <https://www.yadvashem.org/pope-visits.html>have
visited Yad Vashem on Jerusalem's Mount of Remembrance, the context of
these visits reflected the status of the relationship between the
Catholic Church and the Jewish People. This private audience with Pope
Francis, who last visitedYad Vashem in 2014
<https://www.yadvashem.org/pope-visits/francis.html>, had a different
focus – to bolster collaborative activities between Yad Vashem and the
Vatican in areas of Holocaust remembrance, education and documentation,
and to discuss efforts to fight antisemitism and racism worldwide. To
that end,*Israeli Ambassador to the Vatican H.E. Mr. Raphael Schutz*was
also in attendance. Additionally, Pope Francis and Dayan found an
instant connection due to their mutual native tongue and their
Argentinian roots.
Yad Vashem Chairman Dayan stated:
"During this historic meeting today with His Holiness Pope Francis I
felt the weight of responsibility as someone who represents not only
himself and not only the present, but rather the entire Jewish
people throughout its history. This is why I proposed to the Pope
all of Yad Vashem's expertise and influence, our abilities,
materials and scholarship in order to address these issues related
to the Holocaust and the Church in particular, and on the worldwide
stage in general."
Dani Dayan expressed his gratitude to the Pope for his decision to open
the WWII-era Vatican Archives, and to address questions regarding the
Church during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem archivists are currently
gathering information from these collections, with the goal of bringing
them to the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem where they can be studied
and hopefully shed light on the experiences and fate of many Holocaust
victims.
Dayan noted:
"The Pope expressed great emotion when discussing the Holocaust. He
said that the opening of the Vatican Archives related to World War
II is an issue of justice, and that the Church is not afraid of
history. In addition to this, the Pope said that like in every
group, there were those individuals in the Church who acted
correctly and those who did not. This was an important statement
from His Holiness Pope Francis."
Following the discussion, Dayan presented Pope Francis with a gift on
behalf of Yad Vashem; a replica of acolorful synagogue painting
depicting the Tablets of the Covenant
<https://www.yadvashem.org/artifacts/synagogue/chernivtsi-synagogue.html>(The
Ten Commandments) given to the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai. The
original painting, created by*I. Eisikowicz*, was an adornment on a
twentieth-century Torah ark in Cernăuți, Romania (now Chernivtsi,
Ukraine), and is all that remains from this once-thriving center of
Jewish life before it was destroyed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The drawing depicts the scene of the Revelation at Sinai according to
scripture; the Tablets of the Covenant rest on the lush green Mount
Sinai against a background of a starlit sky. The Ten Commandments are
written on the tablets at the base of flames of fire, topped by a crown
adorned with a Star of David. The Tablets of the Covenant represent the
eternal Judeo-Christian values, and the plaque model is therefore a
poignant gift from a representative of the Jewish people to the Pope.
The plaque was kept in dilapidated and abandoned synagogues in Romania
until it was acquired by Yad Vashem during an operation initiated in the
1990s to collect and rescue religious objects and relics remaining in
Romania after the war. This artifact is one of dozens of religious
artifacts on display in theYad Vashem Synagogue
<https://www.yadvashem.org/artifacts/synagogue.html>.
On behalf of the President of Israel H.E. Mr. Isaac Herzog, at the
conclusion of the meeting, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan extended an
invitation to the Pope to once again visit the State of Israel and Yad
Vashem. Likewise, the Pope reassured Dayan that Yad Vashem would always
find a friend in the Vatican. As an expression of this friendship, Pope
Francis presented Dayan with a symbolic gift: a bronze statue of an
olive branch, as a sign of peace and hope.
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