We welcome the French Roman Catholic Church’s recent apology for its silence during the Holocaust while French Jews were persecuted and deported to Nazi death camps by the French pro-Nazi Vichy regime (Main news, Oct. 1).
That this apology came at the beginning of the Jewish New Year and High Holiday season–a time of renewal and atonement when we take responsibility for previous sins and celebrate the future–was particularly meaningful.
The Roman Catholic Church is an important moral anchor for hundreds of millions of people around the world. For the Jewish people, this apology, coming at the start of the Jewish New Year, offers renewed hope that people of good will can work together to make sure that a tragedy like the Holocaust never happens again.
