Pope Francis and the Embodiment of Human Fraternity
Al-Etihad, UAE, March 7
There is nothing wrong with us, in the Arab world, to admit that the Holocaust of the Jewish people in the first half of the 20th century was one of the darkest and most appalling times humanity has ever faced. There is also nothing wrong with us remembering that, at the time when Jews were sent to concentration camps in Europe, Jews living in the Arab world flourished and thrived in their societies, and lived on equal footing with their fellow Muslim and Christian citizens. It therefore comes as no surprise that many of them reached positions of power and influence, such as government ministries or prominent roles in the arts and theater. Human brotherhood was a true part of their lives. So, what made me evoke the tragic events with which I opened this article? A few weeks ago, Pope Francis emerged from the Vatican compound and visited the home of Hungarian-born Hebrew poet Edith Brock, who survived the Nazi Holocaust. Brock had been imprisoned in a concentration camp as a child. She lost her parents and her brother there. Pope Francis’ visit was an attempt to express our shared humanity. This was the pope’s first visit outside the borders of Vatican City since his last trip to the Cross of San Marcello and the Great Church of Saint Mary. He wanted to express his humanity to a widowed woman, a survivor of the horrors of the Holocaust, who has been living alone behind closed door since the outbreak of the pandemic. Pope Francis spent an hour with Brock, hoping to ease her loneliness and make her feel listened to and thought of. Their differences in religion did not matter. In the first moments of the meeting, Francis told Brock that he had come to thank her for her testimony, in which she spoke about the horrors of the Nazi hatred. The visit took Brock by surprise. She remarked that “we are never ready for the most beautiful moments of our life, nor are we prepared for the worst moments, either.” Pope Francis concluded the meeting by remarking that we are all brothers, even if this fact is sometimes forgotten. – Ameel Amin (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
