During the Second World War, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli's efforts are believed to have helped save thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps

Archbishop Roncalli was elected Pope in 1958 and took the name John XXIII.

His pontificate lasted five years until his death in 1963.

While serving in Istanbul during the war, he distributed documents and papers to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis and seeking to make their way to Palestine.

Archbishop Roncalli sent thousands of such documents to the Vatican's ambassador in Budapest, Angelo Ratti, who was working with diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and others to save Jews from the Holocaust.

Archbishop Roncalli made available thousands of Baptism certificates without conditions.

He made it clear that this action to save Jews did not make a single Jew a Catholic.

On May 13, Knesset members also praised St John XXIII for laying the groundwork for Vatican II's Nostra Aetate, which was instrumental in improving Jewish and Catholic relationships.

The declaration repudiated former claims against the Jewish people, principally that they were guilty of Jesus' death.

"John XXIII should serve as an example for all men of the need to bring together peoples of different races, faiths and beliefs," former immigration and absorption minister Yair Tzeven said.

Israel's opposition leader Isaac Herzog spoke of the encounters between his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Hertzog, a former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and Archbishop Roncalli.

"When the news from Europe first reached my grandfather, he did everything to save Jews," Mr Herzog said.

"As part of these efforts, he met many times with Roncalli and stated that at these meetings the archbishop wept.

"John XXIII made tremendous efforts to save Jews, and because of him thousands of Jews were indeed saved."

"He helped the Jewish people in every way through a deep feeling of responsibility," Mr Herzog continued.

"He was not afraid of taking responsibility, unlike the pope at the time of the Holocaust."

On April 27, Pope Francis declared Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II to be saints.

Sources

• Jerusalem Post
• Catholic News Agency
• Inside the Vatican
• Image: Eye of the Tiber

Michael Ben-Ari, along with the other 119 members of the Israeli Knesset, had been sent a New Testament by the Bible Society of Israel.

In a covering letter, the society said: "We are happy to grant you this book of the testaments that casts light on holy writing and helps you understand … to see the link between Biblical writings and the New Testament."

Many members of the Knesset were annoyed to find the Christian book in their mail boxes and decided to ignore it or return it to the Bible Society. But Ben-Ari tore up the New Testament and chose to be photographed doing so.

"There is no doubt that this book and all it represents belongs in the garbage can of history," he declared.

It was not the first inflammatory act by Ben-Ari, a member of a right-wing Jewish party who lives in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. On Pope Benedict's 2009 visit to Israel, he said: "Giving the Pope a state welcome would mean turning one's back on the millions of Jews who were killed throughout the history of Christianity."

Ben-Ari's action was condemned by the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, and by government spokesman Mark Regev, who said it "stands in complete contrast to our values and our traditions".

The Knesset's sole Christian member, Hanna Sweid, described Ben-Ari's action as "an apocalyptic act of hatred". He complained to the Knesset ethics committee, but doubted it would censure Ben-Ari effectively.

Latin Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Boulos Marcuzzo said "all Christian communities are scandalised by this action". He called it "a provocation to all Christian communities in Israel, the Middle East, and around the world".

Sources:

Jerusalem Post

Vatican Insider

Image: Five Towns Jewish Times