NEWS FEATURE: For departing Israeli envoy, it’s not all la dolce vita

c. 1997 Religion News Service ROME _ It’s not all la dolce vita. Sure, Shmuel Hadas was driven around town in a chauffeured car, had a palatial office and residence, and had a bevy of assistants. He often dined in the ancient but funky Trastevere quarter and hobnobbed with the princes of the Roman Catholic […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

ROME _ It’s not all la dolce vita.

Sure, Shmuel Hadas was driven around town in a chauffeured car, had a palatial office and residence, and had a bevy of assistants. He often dined in the ancient but funky Trastevere quarter and hobnobbed with the princes of the Roman Catholic Church.”I met with the pope at least eight, nine times,”he said proudly, sipping an espresso in his office.”Most of the ambassadors meet the pope twice _ when they arrive and when they depart. In this sense I was very fortunate.” Still, Hadas, Israel’s first ambassador to the Holy See since relations were set between the two monotheistic religions and states in 1994, said of the last three years:”I didn’t have dolce vita, so I don’t think I’m going to miss la dolce vita.” The sweet life, of course, is for fortunate daydreamers and nostalgia buffs, not practiced diplomats like Hadas, who is retiring after 33 years in the diplomatic corps. The Vatican was his last _ and, he said, toughest _ assignment.


When asked what Israel and the Vatican have in common, Hadas begins with a one-word response:”problems.” Then he elaborates.”The future of the peace process; the solution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; the status of Jerusalem; and the status of the Catholic Church in the state of Israel,”he said, to name a few.

Those and other issues have at times put the complex relationship to the test. Most recently, Pope John Paul II, who also engineered diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority, publicly criticized the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for its decision to build housing in east Jerusalem, which threatens to sever the peace process.”I don’t want to criticize his declaration,”a circumspect Hadas said of the pope. But, he added,”I think that in our bilateral relations when one side has things to say to the other we have a direct channel to do that, and we did that in the past.” Episodes like these have made this posting a”difficult”but”fascinating”three years for Hadas, who was charged with navigating Israel’s uncharted course with the Holy See. It is, perhaps, the Vatican’s most complicated diplomatic relationship.

There was, after all, no precedent for this new relationship, no road map on how to conduct diplomacy between two states that speak for religions that over the past 2,000 years have had prickly and problematic relations.

When one of the founders of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, sought the support of Pope Pius X a century ago for a Jewish state, the purveyor of a rigid orthodoxy was said to respond,”You didn’t accept our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize your right to come back to the Holy Land.””Since then,”Hadas chuckled,”things have changed a little.” The ground began to shift some 31 years ago with the Second Vatican Council declaration”Nostra Aetate”(In Our Age), which shattered the Catholic tenet that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus.

But changes in customs and beliefs are not easily erased, despite new formulations written on parchment. Some Catholics _ priests among them _ to this day refuse to accept”Nostra Aetate.” And some Jews remain deeply resentful toward the church for leading the crusade against them for centuries, blaming the Vatican for inflaming anti-Semitic hatred during World War II. They claim Pope Pius XII was a secret patron of Hitler who did and said little to help the Jews, a claim the church has spent 50 years trying to refute.

In fact, it took nearly 30 years for the Vatican itself to seal relations with Israel, which the Jewish state had eagerly sought. The bilateral marriage went forward only after some 40 other nations _ many of them formerly communist _ established formal ties with Israel. It also followed agreement to begin the peace process between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in September 1994.

Hadas is often asked when the pope will make good on his promise to visit Jerusalem and other holy sites in Israel.”I think they (Vatican officials) expect improvement in the situation, new progress in the peace process,”he said.

Hadas was born in Argentina in 1931 and immigrated to Israel in 1954. He joined the diplomatic service in 1964. Hadas, who is married and has two grown children, worked in senior embassy posts in Mexico and Colombia in the 1980s, and in 1986-87 served as ambassador to Spain.


In a city where one’s personal background can be as important a credential as any degree or posting, Hadas had two key qualifications. He is fluent in Spanish, as is the pope, which allowed the two unimpeded conversation without translation. And, Hadas’ family had come from the pope’s native Poland.”The first time he received me in a very warm way,”Hadas said.”It was a very informal meeting, for almost half an hour. We talked about my relatives who came from Poland. It was a very moving meeting.” Hadas said the Vatican diplomatic officers were accessible and interested in improving ties with Israel, as were numerous Vatican pontifical congregations and commissions.”I think that we learned very quickly to know one another and to deal with issues that are not always easy to deal with,”he said.

The new relationship has united Jews and Catholics on some issues, ranging from the importance of measures to improve family life, to initiatives that increase environmental protection. Religious contacts among scholars and top officials have also been stepped up.

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Nonetheless, both sides acknowledge continuing difficulties in the”formation”or training of priests and rabbis, and the acceptance among Catholics and Jews of each other.”We still have a lot of work to do in the field of formation so that the new spirit of cooperation and better understanding that we have enters into the general consciousness of our two communities,”said Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican Council on Christian Unity, which has regular contacts with the Jewish community.

Jewish leaders, among them Hadas, have credited the pope for bridging gaps between the two religions. The pope has recognized the pain many Catholics caused Jews, from the Inquisition to World War II, and has called on Catholics to admit their sins.

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But old scores remain. One of the most troubling wounds will come into full view next fall, when the Vatican hosts a symposium on how Catholic teachings fostered anti-Semitism, a painful exercise for many Catholics. From that, a Vatican document is expected to be produced, continuing on the path set by”Nostra Aetate.” Hadas said such exercises mean”the relationship, this new attitude by the Catholic Church toward the Jewish people and the state of Israel is irreversible. I don’t think it will change.” He also said he suspects that his successor, Aharon Lopez, 61, will have an easier time than he did in furthering ties.”I should hope it will be a less difficult task,”he said,”because the way is open.”

MJP END HEILBRONNER

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