by Mordechai Levin

Before immigrating to the United States from Argentina, I was invited several times on national public holidays to the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires for Catholic Mass celebrated by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis. As a gesture of inclusiveness, the group of approximately 25 clergy from various faiths was invited to sit close to the altar.

In listening to the cardinal’s sermons, I appreciated the many times when he spoke out against injustice, corruption, social inequality, human trafficking and his commitment to building a better society. As a rabbi who is very involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue, I followed his words with great interest.

For several years, B’nai B’rith and the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires organized a Jewish-Christian commemoration of Kristallnach, “the Night of Broken Glass” — the Nazis’ state-sanctioned riots against the Jewish community of Germany in November 1938. The commemorations took place at various Catholic churches, including twice at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the last time in November 2012…more.