‘Build Bridges, Not Walls’ – Pope Francis

Funeral ceremony of Pope Francis in the Vatican City (credits: CC 4.0)

Why would the President of Ireland (after the pope’s funeral) make pungent political pronouncements at a press conference in Rome?

‘When asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Pope Francis’s support for the people of Gaza and subsequent criticism for that, President Higgins had much to say and also included:

“It’s very significant, not only who is at the event today, but who is missing” – yet another sly jab at Israel. That was a poor timing choice for such undiplomatic, pointed proclamations.

It seems that Higgins’ advisers ‘forgot’ to flag the two significant Jewish presences at the funeral: Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome and Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman. (1)

Why did Higgins’ put-down-parsing not also include the absence of representatives from Arab countries such as Egypt, Kuwait, The Palestinian Authority and…Yemen. Another geo-politically important country absent was… China! (2)

Cardinal Giovanni Battista’s funeral homily referenced that:

“... Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions.…build bridges, not walls” was the late pontiff’s call plea.(3)

“Building bridges in global politics means fostering diplomacy, engaging in multilateralism, and working together to achieve common goals…(that) means stepping outside of our comfort zones, challenging our own biases, and making the effort to engage with others meaningfully.” (4)

What we got from ho-hum Higgins was his usual entrenched partisan polemics. He views Israel with political paranoia, knee-jerk suspicion and “anti-Zionist” hostility.

Pope Francis, for all his faults, recognised the importance of Catholic-Jewish relations, also condemning anti-semitism. Most likely he was familiar with the Nostra Aetat Encyclical of Pope Paul VI:

“ …in (the church’s) rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone…” (5)

Torah-observant Jews, intentional biblical Christians and open-minded atheists need to take note.

“Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?”

– Job 8: 8 – 10

Sources:

1. https://www.osvnews.com/pope-francis-spent-papacy-going-to-peripheries-at-funeral-they-came-to-him/

2. Who will be attending Pope Francis’ funeral? A list of world leaders https://www.reuters.com/world/global-leaders-set-attend-pope-francis-funeral-2025-04-22/

 3. Pope’s funeral hears call to ‘build bridges, not walls’

      https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263695/pope-francis-funeral-full-          text-of-homily-by-cardinal-re

 4. Walls vs Bridges https://kashmirobserver.net/2024/11/04/walls-vs-bridges/

 5. DECLARATION ON THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN       RELIGIONS – NOSTRA AETAT – PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI  ON OCTOBER 28, 1965 https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html