We are increasingly censoring the Gospel, accepting only that which does not hurt, which does not require effort, which does not disturb our comfortable life.
Yet, we are not the ones to correct the Gospel — it was the 1 to transform us.
We leave the Church's teaching. Step by step, word by word, we blur out what was clear. We justify evil in us, we explain it even to God.
Love of neighbor... how many more times will we say this sentence, but without content? For present besides frequently alternatively of love there is contempt, alternatively of concern — judgment, alternatively of patience — anger. And the hardest part is that we can put it all in spiritual words, make it seem like piety.
We start surviving like Jesus is wrong. As if His discipline were a fairy tale, as if His call to love were naive, impractical, "not for these times."
Yet, he was not the 1 who changed — it was our hearts that went away.
And then it's just a ritual. Beautiful words without cover. A lifeless gesture. religion without fire.
I read carefully the letter of the Polish Episcopal Conference. And I'm left with anxiety. due to the fact that it's not just a text to read. This is simply a mirror. The question that cannot be missed: am I inactive surviving the Gospel... or am I just pretending to know it?
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Letter from the Polish Episcopal Conference
on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of John Paul II's visit to the Roman Greater Synagogue
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
on 5th Sunday of Lent The Gospel read in liturgy moves us to Bethany. It is there, little than 2 weeks before his death on Good Friday, that the Lord Jesus – with large power and transparency – reveals to us present its meaning. Jesus will die so that Lazarus may receive life. Lazarus leaves the grave, and Jesus takes his place. The Gospel describes the tomb of Lazarus analogous to Jesus ’ grave: "It was a cave, and upon it was a stone."
Jesus ’ death is the price of life, which is returned to Lazarus. More: Jesus' death is the price of life, which is returned to each and all 1 of us. This price tells us of the top love: “No 1 has greater love than this, erstwhile 1 gives his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). That is why this price contains the incredible power of a commitment: to respect it, not to trample it, not to underestimate it! Christ does not accept our death—even if he permits it (as he allowed his friend to die), he does not let us to proceed in it! This is the discipline of God's action and redemption: our Lord does not magically defend us from spiritual death (what is sin); but how many times do we choose it, so many times is he willing to bring us out of it. He does not accept our endurance in death! Who's in death? The clear answer is given to us by St. John in his First Letter, “Who DOES NOT LOVE, LIVE IN DEATH” (1 Jn 3:14). Notice: The word does not just talk about hate. He speaks of “no love” and thus besides about indifference, indifference, deficiency of interest, anesthesia.
One specified fatal shortage of love was (and unfortunately inactive remains) ANTISEMITY. But besides from this "death" the Lord has brought us out (and he is walking us out) – especially in the last 60 years – thanks to events that we feel obliged to remind all of us.
On April 13, this year, forty years have passed since the day erstwhile the bishop of Rome, the successor of Saint Peter, first crossed the threshold of the judaic home of prayer since the apostolic era. That spring evening, after a warm common embrace with Rome’s chief rabbi Elio Toaff, St. John Paul II entered the Roman synagogue in a solemn procession at Psalm 150: “Allelujah! Praise God in His temple, praise Him in the firmament, where His power shines!’ “For a long time I thought about this visit...” said the Pope, welcoming the judaic community.
That gathering forty years ago would not have been possible if it had not been for another event, the importance of which is hard to overestimate today. It was 20 years earlier.
On 28 October 1965, the Second Vatican Council adopted the declaration "Nostra aetate" ("In our times"), referring to the Church's attitude towards non-Christian religions. It contained words that became a turning point in relations between the Catholic Church and Jews and Judaism. John Paul II addressed them in his speech in the Roman synagogue. Let's review his words today.
"First, the Church of Christ discovers its bond with Judaism, delving into its own mystery. The judaic religion is not external to our religion, but in a way internal. So we have relationships with her that we have with no another religion. You are our beloved brothers, and in a way, we might say, our older brothers."
There is an echo of the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, which refers to “wild olive branches,” or Gentiles,“ implanted in a noble olive,” which are Jews surviving in a covenant with God. The church “takes food from the root of this noble olive”. More popes will appeal to Paul’s metaphor of the olive tree, emphasizing its actuality. "We have rediscovered that the judaic people are inactive a sacred root for us, from which Jesus grew," recalled Pope Francis. And the request to read the teachings of Jesus and his disciples “in the judaic perspective, in the context of the surviving tradition of Israel” was confirmed by the Holy See.
The second problem which Saint John Paul II pointed out in his speech in the Roman synagogue is the work of the Jews collectively for Christ's death: "The Jews as a nation cannot be attributed any hereditary or collective blame for what was done during Jesus' torture," the pope recalled the word of the council declaration. All acts of discrimination and persecution of Jews, which have occurred for centuries in connection with this accusation, should be condemned.
It is worth recalling that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, following the Council of Trent, clearly teaches: “The church does not hesitate to delegate to Christians the top work for Jesus ’ torture, which was besides frequently borne only by Jews. We must admit that our responsibility is greater than that of the Jews. For they, according to the Apostle's testimony, would not crucify the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8) if they knew him. (...) You crucified him, and you inactive cross him by liking flaws and sins” (KKK 598).
In his speech, the pope radically opposed the depiction of Jews as “rejected or cursed.” For more than 1 and a half 1000 years, these contents, present in Catholic teaching and misinterpretation of the Scriptures, shaped Christian attitudes, contributing to hatred, persecution, and manifestation of anti-Semitism. We should remember that present the Catholic Church clearly states: The Jews are inactive loved by God, who called them with an irrevocable vocation. For God, faithful to his promises, did not cancel the First Covenant. Israel remains a chosen nation.
In 1997, speaking of the roots of anti-Judaism in the Christian community, St. John Paul II called Israel "a supernatural fact". "This people endure in spite and against everything due to the fact that they are the people of the Covenant," said the Pope[4]. The return to sources and theological reflection on the mystery of Israel's duration, taken in the 20th century – especially in the face of the terrible tragedy of the Shoah (Destroy) which took place in Europe – resulted in the fresh doctrine of Jews and Judaism rooted in the apostolic tradition.
Inspired by the council declaration, the reflection of the Church shows an always clearer bond between Jews and Christians. They are especially: worship for God’s Word, prayer and liturgy, and the Messianic hope of the future. For "when the people of God the Old and fresh Covenant consider the future, it is going--even if it comes out of 2 different viewpoints--to the same purpose: the arrival or return of Messiah." Referring to the common eschatological hope, St. John Paul II said: “The fresh Covenant finds its roots in the Old. While the Old 1 can find its fulfillment in the fresh One, it is of course a substance of the Holy Spirit. We people effort not to disturb it.”
The anniversary of the papal visit to the Roman synagogue will take place the next day after the end of Easter Octava. This year, both Jews and Christians celebrate Passover at the same time. This is an chance to remember the judaic roots of the Christian liturgy.
St.John Paul II emphasized that these "roots must be learned even more; especially they must get to know them better and appreciate the faithful" due to the fact that "taking into account the religion and spiritual life of the judaic nation, as they are professed and lived today", can aid us to realize the life of the Church better."
In many towns – sometimes right next to us, sometimes a bit further – there are survivors of the war-torn synagogue. Most of them are no longer heard present by a joyful Sabbath prayer. There are, however, any who live religiously. Following the footsteps of John Paul II, let us visit the synagogue on 13 April. Let us remember men and women whose prayers have been soaking walls of idols for centuries. And where possible, let us meet judaic sisters and brothers. Remembering that we always pray for them in the advanced Friday liturgy, asking God that the people who were the first to get the property should "increase in faithfulness to his covenant" and be able to "achieve full redemption." For “there is no uncertainty that the Jews are partakers of God’s salvation, but how can this be possible without the explicit confession of Christ—is and will stay the unfathomable mystery of God.”
May Mary, the parent of our Lord, “The Chosen Daughter of Israel” support us with her prayer.
Shepherds of the Catholic Church in Poland present at the 404th Plenary gathering of the Polish Episcopal Conference.
Warsaw, March 12, 2026
[1][1] "Letter to the Unbeliever" by Pope Francis – an answer to Eugenia Scalfari, published on "La Repubblica", 11.09.2013, www.vatican.va)
[2] "For the gifts of grace and the call of God are irrevocable," Commission of the Holy See on spiritual Relations with Judaism, 14, 10.12.2015
[3] EG 247; Rz 11,29; KKK 839; NA 4
[4] John Paul II, Speech to the participants of the symposium "The Roots of Anti-Judaism in the Christian Environment", Vatican, 31.10.1997
[5] "Jews and Judaism in the Preaching of the Word of God and the Catechesis of the Catholic Church", Commission of the Holy See on spiritual Relations with Judaism, II, 10, 24.06.1985
[6] John Paul II, “To cross the threshold of hope”16
[7] John Paul II, Address to the National Delegates gathering of the Episcopal Conference and another experts on Catholic-Jewish relations, Rome, 06.03.1982
[8] "For the gifts of grace and the call of God are irrevocable," Commission of the Holy See on spiritual Relations with Judaism, 36, 10.12.2015
[9] "The Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary", 1998, Mass I: Blessed Virgin Mary Elect Daughter of Israel.
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And then Polish hell began...
• K. Daniel Wachowiak refused to read the letter at Mass. He thinks it's blasphemy.
"The Episcopal letter is shameful, and in fact even heretic, for it is against the absolutely fundamental Christian truth, which is the only salvation of the Catholic Church. He besides negates the fundamental fact of religion that the Old Covenant ended with the coming of Jesus. This is an improbable public scandal and an attack on Catholic religion by the bishops themselves.”
• Paweł Chmielewski, PCh24 journalist:
‘KEP letter shocks. I don't know how to reconcile him with teaching the Catholic Church. Even the Second Vatican Council is against the contents of this letter. I wonder how the ideologically pro-Semitic faction in KEP pushed through this scandalous document. However, its publication is simply a milestone. I don't think there's always been specified a clear contradiction to the Church's teaching in KEP's letter. It's inexplicable without mention to ideology. This scandal will be written by textbooks of the past of the Church.”
• Krzysztof Bosak, Confederation:
“No bishop has blocked it... I am not a theologian, so I do not justice how much fact is in this letter, and how much heresy, error, confusion, or ambiguity, or how much acceptable juggling quotes, facts and concepts are in order to best effect the message of Catholic faith. The fact that we gotta ask ourselves specified questions is embarrassing. Your Excellency, come on! In general – why is it that the Pope visited the synagogue a fewer decades ago, to be mentioned present during mass or commemorated?”
• Grzegorz Braun:
"The key IMPROVEMENT that serves the initiators of the deceptive and confusing letter of KEP as a starting point for manipulation of past and soteriology is, with the ground, the false recognition of Talmud Judaism with the Judaism of the Blessed Family. specified an identity does not be and, glory to God, never occurred, whatever he would like to tell himself and others in sheep's clothing. #StopJudalizationPolish.”
• Jacek Międlar, erstwhile priest, nationalist:
"It is simply a letter full of lies, a mixture of manipulation, based on the scrubbing after the bottom of the cognition of the average Catholic. He insists that Christianity grew out of Judaism as a “branch from the trunk” alternatively than explaining that modern Judaism grows out of the Talmud derived from hatred of Christianity, not from old Testamentism. It's apparent manipulation. Oh, you lying bishops, if you so search the life of the unborn. You bastards!”
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I don't know what to say... After all, everything I compose will be cast out...
As a comment, let them usage the words of Turski:
"Auschwitz did not fall from the sky“
